Alzheimer's

Is a fascinating disease.
It has affected my grandpa and to be honest I am afraid it will get my dad too at some point. I went to visit my grandpa today. He doens't know what day of the week it is, nor who I am. I told him that I am his granddaughter. 10 minutes later he was asking me who I am. In the course of the two hours we were there... I think he said about 13 times where he comes from, his age when he arrived in Uruguay (3 years old) and that Uruguay is a small country. He repeats himself very much. My grandpa is such a sweet man. He was an architect and an artist. He built around 100+ buildings in Montevideo and Punta del Este. They say with age you become like a child again, and that's exactly how my grandpa is. I am glad that for his 84 years he seems to be in good health, apart from having moderate dementia (stage 3 of 4). I never had the chance to really be a part of my grandpa's life since, we always lived in Austria. If I get the chance to visit him more frequently, maybe he will recognize me eventually. I wish I could play cards with him or find out more about his history, but he seems to be confunsed about a lot of facts. For example he said that he finished studying architecture at 14. I find that hard to believe hehe. He gets sad when he realizes he forgot something. He wasn't sure about his age even... he knows he is in his 80's.
It would be great if someone could find a cure for Alzheimer's, but I can't imagine anyone will ever be able to stop a brain from deteriorating... the medicine can only help to slow down the process. The most comforting thing about all this is that my grandpa isn't suffering from depression. He is always in a great mood and it seems like he is the one suffering the least from the illness.

Andi went to take the written Spanish test yesterday and the oral exam today. He got 4/8 points, which means he is an intermediate Spanish speaker. I am so proud! I hope I learn Italian as quickly as Andi is learning Spanish. I wish I had some interest like Andi's soccer fascination. He reads the sports section in the El Pais newspaper whenever he can.