Anna's Gift

Fed Ex came knocking on our door Yesterday afternoon, and by knocking I mean he was pounding hard enough that I was concerned for the safety of our door.


After signing for the package, I couldn't wait to open it (still some leftover Christmas excitement I guess). It was from Anna, our Spanish host student that stayed with us last Summer, and her family.


She sent us the sweetest letter and said she missed us very much (we miss her too!). She also sent us a cd she made of traditional Catalon Christmas songs (Catalonia is like a "state" in Spain). Since they are sung in Catalonian, and not just Spanish, not even Ashley understands them completely. I listened to them anyhow and I have to say that the melodies are so beautiful that may write to Anna to translate them for me. All I know is that she says they are popular songs during the Christmas season, however not any songs we sing here. I didn't recognize a single melody.


She also sent us 3 great big blocks of cheese. Ok, well, they weren't really blocks of cheese, but I thought they were at first. You can see them in this picture with the cd. Don't they look like cheese?

According to Anna, they are traditional Spanish Christmas desserts. She said they come in many different varieties, but these 3 are her favorites. She said most people have them with cakes or cookies, but she prefers to just eat them plain. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm guessing they are maybe some kind of cream cheese, or even a cheesecake type of dessert. We are having a few friends over tonight, so we're saving them for then.

She also sent a copy of her family Christmas card. It's a little fuzzy because the picture is frosted on the front of the card. That is Anna in the front on the left. Her Father and Mother are in the back. Next to Anna in front is her brother Joan. Behind Joan is her brother Josep, and next to him is their sister Alba. This was taken on their pre-Christmas skiing trip that she told us they take every year.

We were going to call her and thank her right away, but then we remembered the time difference and realized they'd be sleeping since it'd be the middle of their night-time right then, so we'll wait and call her tomorrow. As a mom, I know her mom will appreciate that.

I gotta tell you, that if you ever get the chance to host a student, I strongly encourage you to do so. The five weeks Anna was here was so much fun and we all miss her terribly. She has said that she hopes to come back to America someday and see us, and we hope that happens!