What a difference Sergio makes...

So last night, I was a little worried about my new family.  Why were they being so quiet and timid?  Why were they so soft-spoken?  Why wouldn't they really make eye-contact with me?  Was it just part of their culture?  Would they ever lighten up?  I imagined myself sitting around, drinking, laughing, having a grand old time with the family.  Granted, I knew that would take time, but still, I wondered as I went to sleep last night whether this would be the right family for me.  But ah, the difference the man of the house makes.  This guy is awesome!  He's totally friendly, outspoken, helpful, etc.  I just had my first real conversation over some great pinto gallo that Dora made (I could get used to that stuff!).  We talked about education here and back in CA, about vacation spots and tourism, where I should go and where I should stay away from, and he even gave me a couple of mini-lessons for some words I was having trouble with.  I am SO much more relieved now that he is part of the equation.  In fact, he just stopped by the room and saw me on it and asked me if it worked.  I told him that I was shocked that it did, and he then told me he works with computers for a living.  Boy did I get lucky with this house...

And BTW, I really didn't expect to want to do this much blogging (I wanted to do "only" English while here) but as my friends Kevin and Myra suggested, I think this will be a good way to give my head a break.  I'm sure that I'll have plenty of time to speak "only" Spanish in the time that I'm here...