Besos y Lagrimas

Its been an interesting day. All week my host family has been telling me about the Real Betis soccer game coming up. As it was not televised in Sevilla, Alvoro and I walked to a local bar to watch the game. For about 2 hours we drank cokes and took part in yelling at the TV with other Beticos (real betis fans). Unfortunately our combined uproar didn't pay off as the game resulted in a tie. We walked home, confused on my part, and angry on Alvoro's as the tie was a result of some very poor calls by the officials.

When we got home we were greeted by an equally angry and confused household, as my host parents had only monitored the score of the game. Fortunately the family's gloomy mood improved over dinner. We ate fried anchovies, calamari, peas, eggs, and sausages as we watched the news. Yesterday I told my host mother that I like mangos, so I was given a mango to eat for desert. The channel was then changed to a soap opera. This meant that my delicious mango was accompanied by an ever present background of Spaniards yelling "Aye no!" ... "Aye si!". Even though desert distracted me from most of the show, I did pick up certain bits of information. For example I now know that Maria is having an affair with her gardener, Juan, and Anna's baby actually belongs to Fernando. Towards the end the episode, my host mother asked me if I understood what was going on. As I hadn't been paying much attention besides what was previously mentioned, I replied "no, estoy con me mango" (no, I'm with my mango). At this comment, the family burst out laughing. Apparently when used in this context mango has an odd alternative meaning...

All together, everything is fun, if not a bit bizarre at times.