Some time with a spanish - canadian family

Monday...More hostel lady stories... she is crazy!!! She overcharged for the boys room by 90 Euro!!!! After they told us what they had paid for their room, we told them that was crazy! So they went to try and get some money back. After standing in the hallway arguing with her for well over an hour and with the help of some other outraged hostellers who had received the same treatment, she refunded 70 Euro We were happy to just take that and get out of there as we girls had to catch the 3.15 train to Barcelona. We quickly went out and saw some of the Madrid sights. The Palacio (the royal palace, used for some ceremonies) was beautiful. We also went to Rotiro Park and played on the cool swingy things and stopped by the Bull Fighting Pen even tho it's not the season for such a sport. We were hoping to at least get a glimpse of the inside but an American Circus had taken up residence!!! So instead we took crazy photos by the statues (and got a lot more gawking from the locals- nothing unusual!). Cheryl and Char entertained themselves by kissing the cheeks of the Matador (bull rider) statue and Catie and Amanda swung from the hoofs of the horses poised over them. After retrieving our luggage from the hostel, we casually made our way over to the train station to catch our day early trip to Barcelona where we met up with Nathan and Kyle Brown along with their cousin Marc Escuain. It was awesome to meet up with them, we were so excited to speak English!! From there we took an hour train ride to Girona, where the home of the Escuains is located. Upon arrival, we were greeting by the rest of the Escuains and their guests who were all present for a little New Year's Eve celebration. There was lots of yummy food and champagne for everyone!!! We tried caviare, mussels on bread, pork skin and keish to name a few things. Before we go any farther we should introduce the Escuain family to you! Santiago (but he goes by Santi cause he thinks his full name is too spanish sounding) and Cathy. Santi translates B. Anstey's books into spanish, of course that was a surprise to Santi for find out that he had B. Anstey's daughter in his living room!!! WHAT??!! YOU'RE AN ANSTEY!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Cathy's maiden name is Anderson and she met Santi at Otter Lake in the early 70's or something like that. The eldest is Marc who picked us up at the train station with the Brown's. He later saved our life. More on that later. Next is Andrew who has the same camera as Natalie and is a master with technology. Next comes Roger who actually forsook his spanish roots and moved to Canada a couple years ago to become a trucker. He just happened to be visiting at this time and was the one to make sure we cleaned up our plates. :) We were super impressed with his “Trucker on the Roof” show. (Slideshow of pics from his trucker life set to the Fiddler on the Roof song). The last one we met is Ricard who is very intelligent and knows multiple languages. He also wears a housecoat during all hours of the day and tried to redeem himself by telling us to feel how soft and fuzzy it was so that we would understand why he likes it so much. Nathan doesn't want anyone in America to know but he also wears one he borrowed from his cousins. There are a couple other kids, I think, but those are the family members we were privileged to meet. FYI.... *GIRLS IN THE USA/CANADA WANTING HUSBANDS*..... ALL THESE WONDERFUL GUYS ARE SINGLE EXCEPT FOR RICARD!!! We suggest you hurry and if you need any reference information, we are happy to supply it. So we just have to say that the Escuain family went above and beyond for a bunch of crazy girls they didn't even know. The hospitality was out of this world!!!!!!!!! The New Year was brought in by singing hymns in three languages all at once....Spanish, English and Catalan! Pretty awesome!! Us girls and the Brown's tried to sing them "You are my all in all” but ended up forgetting the words halfway through. Santi also said some very nice words about being a Christian in this world and we prayed too. What better way to start 2008??? Char and Amanda stayed up until 4:30 a.m. trying to download the promised photos but to no avail!! So sorry!! We will soon be in Paris and are supposed to have an Internet connection there. During the night, Natalie and Cheryl went into the kitchen for an innocent drink of water and were in for a surprise!!! Please read the following interview done by Char and Natalie. Char: Hello Nat! I hear you had quite a scare on New Year's Eve?? Pray tell! Nat: Well....upon entering the kitchen for a drink I peered through the musky darkness to see a leg with a hoof attached. It was partially covered with a cloth!! Char: And how did you feel upon seeing this supposed part of a creature? Nat: My heart was palpitating very rapidly and I was totally freaked out!! Char: What was your immediate reaction? Nat: I grabbed Cheryl's arm and gasped, ''WHAT IS THAT?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!'' Char: Did Cheryl help you out in any way? Nat: She oinked really loud!!! OINK OINK!!! Char: That would not have helped much!! Nat: No, it did not. Well folks, upon eating breakfast the next morning Roger showed us that it is cured and just sits in the counter waiting for people to carve off of it. Pretty harmless. After breakfast we packed up to catch the train back to Barcelona where we met up with Catie Councell and her friend Maria at the latest and greatest hostel of ours. (This was January 1, 2008). Nothing was open because of the holiday so we just wandered around and drank Starbucks. Some of the girls found an internet café to catch up on blogging while Char went to bed early cause she's the latest on getting sick. During the middle of the night, LeAnne, Cheryl and Natalie were awakened by loud banging on the wall. Char was also in the room but had passed out and absolutely nothing could wake her up. The other girls lay there waiting to see what would happen next. Cheryl was very mad to have been woken up like that and was about to give them a piece of her mind when all of a sudden she chickened out. This was because Char was not awake to protect her. So they held their breath while the guys came to the outside to the door and banged on it and yelled. Finally the scary guys went away and all could sleep peacefully. Until the next morning when Catie, Amanda and Maria banged on the door to wake us up and we thought it was the same people so everyone once again lay in total silence. But they managed to get us up and we spent all day in Barcelona, a marvelous day it was. But that can be saved for another blog.

Char