Feliz cumpleaños a Hailey!

Hola amigos! Still catching up on my blog so now I'd like to recount last Tuesday, July 1st, better known as Hailey's birthday! As a reminder, Hailey is the girl from Tennessee who lives with me in my host family. She has to be one of the sweetest people I know! During my time in Spain I have not only learned about Spanish culture, but also Tennessee culture!

Michaela, Molly, Hailey, and me! All of us live together
with our Spanish host family!

What are some Tennessee phrases that I've now adopted as my own you ask?! Well....I have now decided to say "Bless it!" more often in response to cute or comical people, events, etc. My accent isn't especially good for this, but I love the phrase! In addition, Hailey likes to say "[insert word] is a mess and a half!" That's also a personal favorite. To all my Ohio friends and family, don't be surprised if these words leave my mouth when I return! I here 'em just about everyday!

So back to the point...Hailey turned 23 and we had a lovely birthday celebration. Paula and I worked very hard to make Hailey a beautiful birthday card. Of course Hailey loved it! And our host mom had a special dinner with Spanish tortilla (much different from Mexican tortilla...Spanish tortilla is an egg omelette with added potatoes and fried in vegetable oil), San Jacobos (like chicken cordon bleu but with only ham and cheese on the inside of the breading), and the best part...CHEESECAKE! Unfortunately our host mom didn't have many candles, but she did find two #2 candles. We all joked because it was like Hailey had never turned 23...instead #22 candles stood prominently in the middle of the cheesecake. Regardless, it was so sweet how our host mom did her best to make Hailey's birthday great! Dinner was wonderful!

Spanish tortilla--one of my personal favorite foods here!

San Jacobos--in the running for my #1 favorite food in Spain!
Spaniards love love LOVE their ham!

I then gave Hailey a Spanish cookbook for her present! She loves to cook and has been gathering plenty of recipes so she can cook for her family and friends when she returns to the States!

Overall, I'm so glad to have met Hailey! She's part of the reason why my experience in Spain has been so great! I've loved making new friends and becoming so close in such a short time period...it has to be one of my favorite aspects of studying abroad! So to Hailey and all of my new friends: thanks for the fun times so far!

Stay tuned for more updates! I'm workin' hard on them! Adiós for now!

Photo credits:
http://madridfoodtour.com/what-is-a-spanish-omelette/
http://www.congelatsreixach.es/producte/index.php?lg=es&accio=mostrar_producte&id=97