Learning to Dance

This morning, Aidan and I went to the library to check out movies and books. He checked out Night at the Museum and Garfield. I checked out My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. We all took a LONG nap after watching Night at the Museum. Then we walked 7 1/2 miles to church because there was a primary activity for the kids. They are part of a talent show act. Aidan and Emma are elephants and Ian is a monkey. They each have four lines to say with actions. Emma has hers almost memorized. Her talent for Spanish is amazing. After the primary activity, she was running around with her new friend Naja and I could hear her saying things like, "He's here! I'm here! There you are! Wait. Let's go. Get up," all in Spanish and all picked up from just playing with Naja for a few minutes. Also, the primary teachers said that she could hear something and figure out what it meant fairly quickly. Emma has already memorized 100 Spanish words and is working on more. I have no worries for her as far as learning the language. I wish I had her natural talent for Spanish. 

I thought once we got to church I would just be able to sit in a corner and read my book. Instead a few ladies introduced themselves and, in spite of my desperate protests, dragged me into a room where they were learning to dance the Sevillana. I could only really do the footwork and only if I was watching someone else do it. The arms were totally beyond me. Collin saw me and hid in another part of the church so they wouldn't ask him to dance. I am not a good dancer at all, so it was pretty nerve wracking to try and follow the steps and listen to the instructions. 

I'm glad we went tonight because I think the kids really needed to play with other kids. Aidan was running around with a little pack of boys. I don't think he spoke much, but I could tell he was having fun with them. Ian followed Emma and Naja around. I spoke some Spanish as well when I was learning how to dance and again while talking to some of the people at the church. I wonder if I will ever get used to the double cheek kissing. I think I had to do that about 6 times tonight. It makes me very self conscious. We were going to try and walk home, but the kids were too tired and I got my first blister on my foot. We were going to let the kids get ice cream on the way home, but the stand was closed so we bought cherries instead. They truly were BLACK cherries, very sweet and delicious. 

It seems like the few days when I don't bring the camera are the days when we see really interesting stuff: a dog nursing 10 tiny puppies on the sidewalk of Gran Via (one of the main roads here), a man wearing white pants with metallic silver shoes, and me learning how to dance the Sevillana at church. We walked 10 miles today:)