My mom and Mike came to visit me in Oviedo the week before spring break. It was absolutely wonderful. I was so excited to share my little city with them, and couldn't wait for them to get here! I met them at the train station and after a few big hugs, we walked across town to their hotel. For dinner we went to Tierra Astur, a typical Asturian food restaurant that is on the same street as their hotel. For anyone that hasn't caught on yet, Asturias is the region of Spain that Oviedo is located in. Oviedo is its capital, and there are about 250,000 people living in Oviedo. ANYWAYS, the food was good but the portions were huge, and afterwards they just wanted to sleep. I could hardly blame them, because I remember I felt the exact same way after the 24 hours of traveling that it takes to get here. So I walked home and caught up on homework, and then next day after class I met up with them. They had gotten up early and explored, so I continued the tour by taking them down to campus and showing them the AHA office, my university, and my favorite cafe. Emily and I go to the same cafe every Monday, plus usually at least once or twice more each week. It is located right across from school and has an adorable little bookstore inside. Emily was waiting inside since it was a Monday, so I introduced her to my mom and Mike and we all sat and talked for about an hour. I ordered Tortilla Española for my fam since it is my favorite Spanish food. I think they liked it, but nobody seems to be as obsessed with it as I am haha-Every time Em eats it she says she thinks of me! After the cafe, we went back to their hotel to skype with my dad, and then I took them to Calatrava, the "Spaceship Mall". We had fun walking around and shopping, and then I had to go tutor. After that I met back up with them and we stopped by the Iberian museum on the way to my house. The Iberian museum is a traveling exhibit that was in Oviedo from February until last week, and it has clay models of aspects of the lives of the people who first inhabited the Iberian Peninsula. It was interesting, and since it was free it was definitely a win-win. Marisa told me I could have my family come over, so we headed there next. In Spain, people other than family rarely come into the house. I have never had a friend come inside, except the one time Estela brought Laura, which was a special case. So the fact that Marisa was willing to open up her home to my family for the night meant a lot to me! When we got there, Marisa had the dining table set up with the nice china and tons of desserts from the bakery. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen, and it made me appreciate her so much! Since Luisa was still staying here, Marisa's sister was here visiting and we all sat down and talked and ate postres. Lucia and I can both speak English and Spanish, so we translated between the two groups. Lucia kept making me translate cause she says it's good for me haha. We talked for about 2 hours and I had a great time! Mike is studying Spanish and he said that he could understand a lot of what we said, so that was good! Afterwards, we went to La Tagliatella, a delicious Italian restaurant that I am obsessed with.
I do have to admit that I was a little nervous for my family to get here. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited! But I have 2 very different lives now, and the thought of mixing them for the first time was a bit frightening. Everything in Oviedo is 100% mine. I came here knowing absolutely no one, and I have managed to make tons of friends, get a job, volunteer at the elementary school, become a regular at cafes, make tons of connections, and overall just have a life here. I know I am leaving in 2 months, but I do know that if I didn't have to leave, I would still have all my connections and would be welcome to stay. In other words, this is more than just an extended vacation. If I ever do move back to Spain, I know I can call Marisa, Reme, Carmen, Silvia, Tere, Loures, etc for help getting settled and finding a job. Therefore, sharing everything that I have built for myself in the last 3 months was a bit intimidating. My mom and Mike are 2 of my best friends in the entire world, so I wanted so badly for them to love Oviedo as much as I do! When my mom told me that I was right, that Oviedo was a gorgeous city which pictures couldn't even begin to capture, it made me so happy! She said she loved it, and that she would like to return with my dad in the future. Oviedo definitely gets overlooked, but I'm glad she could appreciate it as much as I do :)
The next 2 days we explored the Cathedral and the old quarter, and went to breakfast on Wednesday before they left. Tuesday night we went to a Sidrería so that they could experience Sidra, a famous Asturian cider drink.Laura came and joined us, and we talked for over 3 hours and lost track of time. Mike and I both tried to pour Sidra, since you have to do it a special way. We epically failed, so I don't think that will be a potential career in my future :)
Overall, it was a wonderful visit and I am so glad that I got to show off my city :) They ended up going to Barcelona the same time as my friends and I, so I got dinner with them there as well before they were headed back to the US. I love you guys so much and I can't wait to spend some time at the beach house with you, Mom, upon arriving in the US!
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