I done my mama and papa proud!

This quick little blog is a dedication to the hard work of two people: Mr. Leonard and Lana Farrugia, without whom I would not have had the pleasure of making my senora so happy today.

This is Maria and me one morning. I took this picture because I wanted to show my family in Australia that there is Wheetbix here, but today this photo simply serves to show off Maria.

Earlier today, as is custom every day, my senora, Maria, makes us lunch. I must first say that this whole time I've been with Maria I've noticed she is hard book to read. I've never been certain just what she thinks of me and have always been a little shy to talk to her; that and the fact that my Spanish is sometimes hard for her to understand. But today after lunch I felt inclined to dry the dishes. Maria had cleared the dishes to the table while Blair and I cleared away the condiments. As Maria had washed the dishes, she told us she was going to take her siesta. I had somewhat slept through lunch so I was the last one to leave the table. When I saw that Maria had already done the dishes, I thought it would be easier on her if I just washed my two plates and my glass. I figured washing those would be nice on her hands. But then I thought about every time I heard her huffing and puffing in the kitchen, having to reach to put things away and hearing her tired sighs. So I decided to dry all the dishes and put them away, just like I've done many a time at home. It wasn't till later that I would realize the magnitude of simply putting the dishes away.

It was later in the evening, quite a few hours after lunchtime, when Maria came into my room. She popped her red head in and said with a big smile, "Cati, thank you for cleaning the kitchen. Thank you very much." I'd never seen anyone so happy. I didn't really think anything of just putting the dishes away until that sweet little lady smiled at me. But she wasn't done. After dinner tonight, Maria looked at me again and said, "Your mother taught you well how to work in the home. You are very good at being organized. You will marry well." Haha I don't know about the marrying part, but I do agree with the first one. It is definitely my parent's fault for why I felt inclined to put things away today. It's their fault for teaching me decency and hard work. And for that, I thank you both. I'll never forget that smile and how much it warmed my heart. I've never felt more appreciated and cared for by someone I haven't known for very long. So thanks Mom and Dad, love you, Katelyn.

Italica and It's Once Roman Splendor

So I thought I'd catch you up on a trip I went on a few weeks ago. Our group went to a place called Italica, one of the sites of Roman ruins in Spain. Under Roman rule from century III BC to V AD, the territory of Spain was called Hispania. It was a military republic under Emperor Octavius Augustus and was that way for 8 centuries before the Roman empire fell. Italica was founded in the year 206BC by General Publius Cornelius Scipio as a place of settlement for soldiers wounded in the battle of Illipa (info provided by idealspain.com). During that time, the colony of Hispania was helpful in creating commerce of olive oil, apples, wine, cereal, iron, carbon, silver and salt, with salt being one of the richest commodities in that time. But today the ruins at Italica are simply a testament to a once great city of one of the largest and richest empires of all time.


We started our tour by walking through the labyrinth of passages that were once occupied by the gladiators who faught bloodily for the spectators' pleasure. The passages went on for at least a mile it seemed with tiny side alleys for people to prepare themselves or prepare animals for the great event. After leaving the basement of the arena, we finally got to stand outside in the center of the arena and see what the gladiators would've seen as they made their way to be "entertainers."

The arena was huge with a giant hole, so to speak, in the center of the expanse in the shape of strange cross section. If you copy and paste this address into your browser you can see an image of what I mean, http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/302927.jpg. We were told that is where animals were kept and men would fight inside it or die falling into it. I wouldn't want to fall in here, would you?


But it was a sight to behold no matter where you looked. The old ruins, although only appearing as worn rubble, were riddled with the etchings of an ancient past. You felt it in the air, how much history was in this city. We walked next up a long avenue that was once the upper level of what would have been its marketplace and meeting grounds for all the public, which you can see below.


We were taken next to what used to be a family's home. All that is left now is the flooring, most of which is covered in mosaics of what the family might have believed to be their guardian god. For this family (if I remember correctly), they worshipped to the god Neptune, god of the sea. The ruins of the house contain bedrooms and living quarters, bathing areas and what was the kitchen; the garden area was kept intact by the keepers of the Italica ruins. And moreover, the large mosaic that I think was a part of the greeting room, seems to have been cleaned up so that the tiny fragments of stone could be seen once more.


Although I must say that my favorite part of the ruins were the flowers. The roses and other types of flowers were simply gorgeous and smelt so wonderful. I am no botanist myself but I do appreciate a nice smelling flower every once in awhile. And I also enjoying seeing others enjoy themselves, such as my furry friend who just so happened to be soaking up the sun when we arrived. This Roman treasure just sat there and let us pet him; I don't know if he belonged to anyone but he seemed familiar to the old city and lay there as if the proud owner.


But that's about it for my adventure to Italica. It was a beautiful city with history just bursting forth. So if you are ever in Spain and enjoy going to places like this, I whole-heartedly suggest Italica. Until next time, ciao.

It's been a while folks...

So, it has been a little over two weeks since I last talked to you all and I'm am very sorry for that, especially since a lot has occurred since then.

I am going to go through some of these events very slowly starting with my trip to Cadiz, a beach south of Sevilla (at least I think it's south). This is me with Adrian and Matt repping our school to the max!! Holla!


This is me and my new friend, Rikki, standing in front of the port's entrance sign. (The picture is a little crooked, but I asked a boy to do it, so oh well haha.) This little beach town is absolutely amazing!! It reminds me of home so so much its ridiculous. It took about an hour and a half bus ride there but it was totally worth it. Here's what it looks like!!!


Isn't it gorgeous!! And it wasn't crowded whatsoever, which was a blessing. I actually hate crowded beaches.

But Cadiz was a nice refreshing glass of home so I had tons of fun and got to know my new friend Rikki who is practically me but with blonde hair. We took some really fun pictures in the water such as this one:

It was such a great day!!! Love you Cadiz!! and your crazy old men in cafes who helped me get a picture down so I could look at it, although it was completely unnecessary, and he prayed first, haha it was so funny!!

But that was Cadiz.. not too much to say but that it was great!!

Ok.. so I'm gonna go to sleep because I have to finish my homework and I need rest, but I will catch you guys up some more tomorrow, no worries. Take care everyone, ciao!