Elena's Two Homes
My name is Elena Fuentes. For most of the year, I live with my mother in San Antonio, Texas. During the summers, we live in Monterrey, Mexico, with my grandmother. I moved to Texas from Monterrey only two years ago, so I feel that Mexico is my real home. In San Antonio, I live in a small apartment. In Mexico, my grandmother's house is very big. My favorite room there is the huge kitchen. I can look at the beautiful view of the mountains from the kitchen window and smell the fragrant dishes that are always cooking on the large stove.
Like my grandmother, my mother loves to cook. However, she works all day when we are in San Antonio. At the end of the day we usually prepare something quick and easy in our tiny kitchen. On the weekends, we sometimes make flan, a rich custard. My grandmother and I both prefer flan to any other dish.
I think that the hardest part of living in a new country is learning to speak the language. Luckily, my teacher and friends help me learn new words every day. Luckily, too, I have a few close friends in San Antonio. Since we live in different neighborhoods, we ride the bus to school. I do miss my friends in Mexico very much, though. There, I had many friends, and we walked to school together every day.
When I'm in San Antonio, I also miss having pets to play with. I love to play with pets at my grandmother's house. I throw sticks for Pedrito, her dog, and stroke Gato's soft fur. Gato is a yellow cat that loves to lick the flan from my fingers. We're not allowed to keep pets in our apartment. My mother says that when we move to a house, I can have a kitten. I can't wait!
1) How is Elena's kitchen in San Antonio different from her grandmother's kitchen?