Meeting Mi Familia

We got to the university about 6 pm on Saturday (Aug 27) and there we met our families. It was kind of funny because all of the families were sitting in this room and they kind of paraded us into the front. One of our program directors said a brief welcome and then started calling our names followed by the family names one by one. We stepped forward and then our families walked down to meet us. Everyone clapped after each name. I felt like we were being adopted and I guess in a sense we kind of were. I was one of the last names to be called but I had recognized my family from the moment we all walked into the room. My mom, Narcisa, came forward to meet me and I gave her a big hug...she hugs exactly like my mom and they are around the same height so it felt like home. It almost made me cry. Happy tears of course. I was so excited. I then met the rest of my family...my dad, Salvador...my two sisters Wendy and Sussy ( pronounced Susie) who are about Jesse and Beth's ages respectively lol...and my brother Shelby (short for Salvador) who is my age. Sussy's boyfriend Mauricio was also there. My mind was focused and ready to start speaking and hearing spanish so when Wendy asked "Are you hungry? Do you want to go get some pan de yuca?" in English it took me a second to respond because I wasn't sure what language to use. All of my siblings have very good English and my dad is pretty good as well. My mom on the other hand knows very little. They took me out to a shopping center where there is a yogurt smoothie and pan de yuca shop. Pan de yuca is basically bread made from yuca. I asked what yuca was in English and nobody really knows....but it's really yummy. The bread kind of reminded me of sourdough...mmmm delicious. They spoke to me in English but to each other in Spanish. I was trying really hard to concentrate on understanding them and after about five minutes my head started hurting from trying to concentrate so much. I praise God for all of the prayers I know were offered on my behalf for when I met my family. I could definitely feel them...I fell in love with my family instantly. They are loud and talk a lot and love each other and love having foreign students (I think I am their 7th or 8th) I am so thankful for them and have more stories to share but here I just wanted to share my first impressions.