My dad left the day before yesterday for Santiago to visit their daughter and her family, which means that for about a week and a half my mom and I are in charge of the house. It is interesting to see my mom in this position because I don't think she is used to being alone much. She began dating my dad when she was 14 and they have been married since she turned 18 or something like that. Therefore she's never had the need to be completely independent so even things like setting the house alarm or starting the fire in the heater are unfamiliar concepts to her. She is a strong person and she found out she has Lupus about five years ago so I can understand why it's important that she not overwork herself. Plus, she is an avid cleaner and takes her household duties very seriously. She takes pride in her bed making abilities, and when I make my bed I know that she will redo it and do it much better than I ever could. Between the two of us things are running smoothly, but I can tell that even though she keeps talking about how it's nice to have a break she'll be relieved when he gets back. Therefore, when Marcelo dropped off my birthday cake it provided a nice excuse for her to invite him over for dinner so he could provide a male presence in the house for a bit. I always end up eating at his place, so it was an interesting change to have him come over here. I thought my mom was going to be eating with us so I was prepping him for the fact that she tends to tell the same stories more than once and that she might ask some probing questions...But as it turns out, she only set the table for two and insisted on cleaning upstairs while we ate. I thought it was a little weird but Marcelo had a good point and was saying that she probably just liked the idea of having other people in the house and didn't want to be alone. It ended up being cool because during her rampant cleaning my mom came down and chatted with us as she was washing dishes and folding laundry. I was a little embarrassed when she called him my "pololo" or boyfriend, which we haven't really talked about. But, overall the night went better than I was expecting and I think it meant a lot to her to finally meet the guy who I was always spending time with. I went back with Marcelo to his house afterwards and we ended up hanging out with Devin too. It's great because the three of us get along really well together and since we are all friends no one feels left out. I gave his family a box of chocolates I bought in Bariloche and Marcelo's mom invited me over for lunch the next day, but I figured I should be with my mom because I wouldn't want her to eat alone. It's so interesting for me to be living a completely different life, but at the same time feel so comfortable here.