Spanish Hospitality... Or Something Like That.

Alright before I just hop right into the story of my night, on Friday, November 20, I'm going to give some necessary info to help understand the story. First off about 3 or so weeks ago, Ariela and I went along with the grade 7's from Montes Obarenes on a field trip to a park/mountain called Monte de Santiago. Our bus driver (Carlos) had put on a Gloria Estefan CD for the ride, personally making me feel like the bus was weaving through the streets of Miami or Havana instead of wizzing down the skinny highways of Basque Country. Carlos made small talk with me since I was sitting with Ariela in the seats right up by the driver's seat. By no means did we have a full blown conversation, due to my disease of not being able to stay awake on buses!
Anyhow, about a week later (on a Friday I remember..) I was talking to a fellow teacher in the staff room at Montes Obarenes, and the secretary came in and called my name, telling me that a young man was waiting in the front hall for me. Now, this is very strange. My first thought was that it was student from one of my grade 12 classes, but when I got to the front hall, it was Carlos! Since I had mentioned that I snowboard during our small talk on the bus, he had come to the high school to ask for my phone number to go skiing/snowboarding sometime with Ariela and I. This made me really happy because meeting people that snowboard too makes it a lot easier to get to the mountains, get equipment, etc. So of course, I gave it to him.
A couple days later I get a text from Carlos inviting Ariela and I out to cena (which is Spain's late eating hour, around 9-10pm and also the one that people usually go out together for (instead of lunch or 6pm dinner in Canada)). After talking this over with Ariela and Isa numerous times, Ariela and I agreed that we would go together so make sure that no false impressions were given (aka Carlos thinking this cena was a date!) So yesterday afternoon came around, and at about 8:30 we leave the apartment to go meet Carlos at the Bus company's office that's just around the corner from our place.
After waiting a couple of minutes, we see Carlos walking up the street, with a friend. Ariela and I just looked at each other..and she said to me, "Oh shit Jenn. Oh. Shit." clearly we were both worried that this was some double date plan! Well, just after Carlos and Nicolas (the friend) came up to us, Carlos knocked on the door of the office, so that Nicolas could go to the bathroom. While we were waiting for him we were introduced to two older men, one was Carlos' jefe (boss) and the other, a friend of jefe's. So, after leaving the office we headed over to the bar Chicago that happens to be right below our apartment building, and had some wine/beer. While we were in the bar, Ariela and I curiously pushed to find out what the plan was for the night. When Ariela asked specifically where we would be eating, Carlos and Nico looked at each other, and chuckled a little. Of course, this made me a little nervous! One of them then told us that would be eating at "Casa Lopez" (aka Carlos' house!!!) Oh but wait, there's more. Carlos then began to explain that this hadn't been the original plan, that originally he had planned to have a family meal in the afternoon, and then meet up with us for a cena at night. However, because of some unknown reason, things hadn't worked out the way he planned, and the family lunch got moved to the night. Because he didn't want to cancel the plans he'd made with us, he figured that he'd just invite us along to the family dinner. What we then proceeded to find out is that this "family dinner" is really to celebrate his mom's birthday (who we had obviously never met before). After seeing the look of chock on mine and Ariela's face, Carlos continued by saying "Don't worry, it won't be any problem at all, I already bought presents for you to give to her. Ariela you will give her a pair of gloves, and Jenn, you're going to give her a book by a Canadian author." Fly off the seat of your pants plan by Carlos = check.
So, after leaving the bar hopped into Carlos' car and headed over to "Casa Lopez" for mom's b-day party. When we got there we walked up the steps and before Carlos opened the door he told us once more not to worry, that his Mom would love us. Ariela and I looked at each other nervously, trying to not to laugh at this completely random situation we'd gotten ourselves into. We followed Carlos into the house and were introduced to his young-looking blonde Mom who had the music playing nice and loud when we came in. She was really sweet to us, and invited us to sit down in the living room. After some small talk we gave her "our" presents, and watched her open them. She actually LOVED the presents, and I think really believed they were from us! Nico, being one of Carlos' childhood friends, didn't bring a present, and Carlos surprisingly didn't have one for his Mom either.
After the present opening, Carlos gave us a tour of his incredible house, complete with 4 floors, 4 or 5 bedrooms, and beautiful style. each room was full of memories and beautifully framed photos from family vacations. My favorite room was the attic, which had one whole wall fun of funky laminated pictures from the families travels around the south of the U.S. During the tour we found out that Carlos is part owner (along with his Dad, Uncle and Brother) of the only bus company here in Miranda, A. Herrera.
After the tour we headed downstairs to the "basement" where they had a nice wood burning fire and a big table set for everyone (everyone being, Mom, Dad, Brother Jorge, Sister In-law Diana, Ariela and I, Carlos, Nico, and "Rambo" (haha!!)) I forgot to mention, that when Carlos' Dad got home, we realized that jefe at the office is Dad! "Rambo" is a 50 year-oldish family friend from what Ariela and I understood, who was given the name Rambo for being a tough guy during winter and not needing a jacket... haha. During dinner the whole family was so great, asking us lots of questions and giving us suggestions about traveling. We ended up getting into a few political discussions too (which were very interesting!!). On top of the great conversation, the food was excellent! We had goat cheese and wine to start off with and then a first plate of salad and whole shrimp. The main meal was some really nice pork with roast peaches and peach sauce on the side, and then for dessert Pilar had made a blackberry cheesecake and apple strudeles. After dinner we had a shot of Pacharán, a typical Spanish liquor, to settle our meal down, and then a good cup of coffee. We ended up heading home around 1am, stuffed and ready for bed. Overall, for being as unsure as we were at first, it was such a great night, full of great company (strangers really..). We were told to keep in touch, and that the fam would be more than happy to help us out with anything we needed. So great. I guess we'll have to hope that those gloves are good quality, and that that book is actually by a Canadian author...