My Señora

Ladies and gentlemen...here she is...who you've all been waiting for...my Señora. While her complete name is Mari Carmen Villalobos Gonzalez, most people just call her Mari Carmen. Apparently that was too long for me and since day one I have just called her Carmen. I love this lady. She is completely responsible for my weight gain too, and I don't even care. It took me FOREVER to get a picture of her because she always wanted me to wait for a day when she looked better. Finally, I put my foot down and just took one.

I live in the house with Carmen, her 16-year-old daughter Julia (pictured above), her son Jose Antonio (Jotín for short) and his wife Joanna (from Colombia), my roommate Erica from California, and myself. We are like the most culturally diverse 6 people ever. Carmen goes to La Iglesia Prosperidad, the church where I go on Sundays, and has been an Evangelical Christian for about 2 or 3 years (converted from Catholicism). Some other people on the program seem to have conflicts with their Señora about laundry (some girls only have had it done 3 times this semester so far!), food (other girls don't get fed on the weekends and just go out to buy their own food), and awkward relationships (some Señoras tend to only see this gig as a job, and don't address the students or try to get to know them).

But I am having a great experience with Carmen. Even though she does the whole laundry and cooking thing perfectly and faithfully, it's how we have become friends that is the best part for me. She asks me about my personality, my faith, my school, and my interests. She also tells me that I need to be careful of who I look for in the boy department. One time she said: "You think bad boys are attractive, like every other girl, don't you?" And I replied, "Well, sure, a little. I guess you could say that most girls do." Which then led into a 30 minute lecture to "set me straight." Ha. Done and done. She also loves looking at pictures of my family (she says my dad is "MUY guapo", very handsome) and thinks it is an amazing thing to have a whole family, cousins and all, of Christians, on both sides. She says I am very lucky. Which I guess I am. But I am very lucky to have her as well. She rocks.

(and I couldn't resist....here's a CLASSIC clip of George Costanza contemplating being the "bad boy" to get a girl named Anna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELRRQIVKHF8)