Mother's Day

In Spain, Mother's Day is May 3rd or something like that.

Yesterday I would have wished you all a Happy Mother's Day, but it isn't Mother's Day yet.

My mom changed it officially until I come back home.

I don't get you, Spain.

A brief commentary...


Two things that are currently on my mind...

1. "batido" here is the word for milkshake. Yet batido does not always signify something with ice cream. Or milk. Or any dairy, for that matter. I think it basically is anything that's blended in a blender. Therefore, smoothies are also batidos. I find this greatly disappointing.

2. In Spain, Tuesday the 13th is the big scary day. Not friday the 13th. Tuesday. Tell me, Spain, what is so scary about a run-of-the-mill mid-week day? Lame.


That is all, for now.

More on my vacation later.

Tortilla de Patatas

Okay, so I will be honest and say that I am not putting full effort in this b/c it is 1:48 AM and I have to wake up early tomorrow. You'll have to deal.


Okay, so last week was my last cooking class. We had normal class on Tuesday, which is when the class normally is held, but then we met again Thursday to take our final.
First, we showed up and instead of meeting in the kitchen as usual, we met upstairs in the second dining room, where we were given the test. We previously received a copy of the test so we could study, but the copy we had received had way more questions on it than the actual test.
This fake test we got also had tons of errors. All of the questions were in Spanish, and one question asked something along the lines of "What ingredient is indispensable in ajorriero" or something like that. Ajorriero, or so I think it's called, is made with ajo, or garlic, as well as about 2 pounds of cod. There are other things too. The answer options were: garlic, cod, onions, and cream. Obviously, if something is made with 2 pounds of cod and that is the main part of the dish, other than the garlic of course, wouldn't you think that was also indispensable? Anywho, I asked Patricia before the test and she said that it was in fact an error, since obviously you couldn't make a dish without the garlic or the bacalao. She told me not to worry since it wasn't on the test, though.


We got the test. The question was the first question on this test.

I called over Patricia and told her, and she laughed and said I could put A and B since they were both technically right.

We finished the test fairly quickly. One kid in our class (Alec) didn't answer the entire back side of the exam and instead wrote: "Touching squid in the kitchen last week was MY 'A'"

They graded the tests and informed us that we the class was pass/fail and we had to get a 15/25 to pass. Two people failed. The aforementioned kid was one of them. As well as another girl. All of which was announced to the class. Then, the chef guy continued to read every single person's name and grade they got on the test. I got a 21, so of course I passed. I thought it was completely rude, though, that he read out loud everyone's grades. The girl who failed (Annette), for example, is only in Track 2 Spanish, which is like the equivalent of the Spanish level I had in high school about 5 years ago. Therefore, a class completely taught in Spanish about Basque culture would be quite hard for her to follow. Then telling the entire class she failed is just over the top. She didn't even understand him when he said she failed. Because it was in Spanish. But still, her face turned completely red when she found out and I felt angry for everyone that didn't want their grade announced, however good or bad it was.

Anyways, we moved on downstairs, where we had put our Tortillas de patatas. We had to do this in groups of three or so, where we got together and made tortilla de patatas, which is basically a type of egg omelet with potatoes. We had to just do it for a grade, and then, for fun, they had a competition to see whose was best. We were told ahead of time if we didn't follow the basic recipe (eggs, olive oil, onions, and potatoes) then we wouldn't qualify for the competition, but we'd still get a grade on it. The one I made with Cassi and Alex Ireland contained the traditional stuff as well as green peppers and chorizo. We made an extra one for ourselves to eat before class and it was DELICIOUS. So we got to taste everyone elses and some were good, some bad. One group, with a student (Alex Plotkin) who is ambitious to be a chef, put caviar and other stuff on top.

After we tasted those, we sat down for our formal dinner of some veggie stew, duck(?) and salad. In our end of the table, someone found the bladder of the duck on the platter and we all decided to be "daring" and each eat a chunk of it. It was dry and mushy.
We finished the dinner with some kind of flaming dessert that they finished off before us, where they lit some liquid on fire and poured it on top. It was very...foamy. There was fruit as well as some ice cream, but the ice cream was similar in color and texture to the foam, so it was hard to pick that out (b/c the flavor was of course different, the ice cream being WAY better). Ryan commented that the foam part was like jacuzzi foam. The flavor and texture was dead on, which was quite gross.

After coffee, our chef-teacher dude as well as another cook from the kitchen and some dude we'd never seen before came out in the dining room wearing some funny beret-like hats and gowns. They then called our names in threes and each gave us a certificate of accomplishment. Then they announced the winners of the tortilla competition. Apparently the rules of the "traditional" tortilla didn't apply since a lot of people changed the recipe to their liking. He announced third, which was Alex Plotkin's group, then second, then first. Cassi, Alex Ireland and I won first place! Cassi was so excited, you'd think she won $500. We went up and they gave us these blue aprons to wear and we posed for pictures. Then they told us it's traditional in something like this that the winners sing a Bertso, or a freestyle Basque poem. Of course we couldn't do that since we can't speak basque, nor freesyle poetry, so instead we sang the only song we knew in Basque, the Basque numbers song. The chef and them knew the lyrics too, since for them it's like some children's song like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." We sang, everyone sang along, they clapped, and we got to keep the aprons.

That's right, people, a BASQUE GASTRONOMIC SOCIETY said that our tortilla WAS THE BEST.

And if you wanted to know what song it was, I happened to make this great video for you to enjoy.



And here's the link to our Cooking class's photo album...where they have not yet posted pics of our "graduation," but still you can enjoy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35262595@N02/sets/72157613605054986/

St. Patty's Day

So yesterday was St. Patty's day. Let's make this clear: Dia de San Patricio HERE in SPAIN is next week. Like, next Monday. And every day on the calendar is a saint day. Literally. So, really, it's no big deal. Today's probably St. Juan day or something.
So it was super American of USAC kids to celebrate it.
Next, let's also make this clear: I did say "AMERICAN" to celebrate it because YES, it is an American Holiday. There is an Irish girl in our program who claims it is very American, and they don't quite celebrate it back home.

Also, does anyone else realize that we are insulting Irish people when we celebrate "their" holiday by getting drunk as the stereotypical Irishman would do?

Anywho, last night people went to Molly Malone's (which is one of the 4 bars we USAC kids go to anyway), to celebrate since it is "Irish." There was a group of Irish guys there who are studying in Spain as well...but I honestly didn't understand what was going on with them, if they were here for a week or if they were studying here and have been here for a couple months already. A ton of people in the bar had green facepaint graffiti on their faces of clovers and other random things, and the bar passed out giant felt hats with Guinness on them.

While many bars I saw yesterday had Guinness drink specials to "celebrate St. Patty's Day" I am pretty sure no one here knows what that means. My host family sure as heck didn't. They don't really know why we celebrate it. I am pretty sure no one else does either.
Plus, having Guinness drink specials on American St. Patrick's day here in Spain is like McDonald's selling burgers on 4th of July to be "American." They sell Guinness here all the time ANYWAYS...like, if you ask for a beer, it's gonna be Guinness or something long that starts with an S. Those are usually your only 2 choices, the latter being more common.


So, HOORAY for St. Pattys day.

A different perspective...

Today my host family had Francis's brother over for dinner.

He knew some English and practiced it a bit with me, but some of his stuff he was completely wrong with, like he said "I am Andrea's uncle, his favorite uncle. He is my daughter." There was some gender confusion, as well as words used for family members. When I said I was from Chicago, he was like "oh, sweetie sweet Chicago!" I gently corrected him saying it was "sweet home chicago." He switched back and forth between English and Spanish during dinner, mostly sticking with Spanish.

He also was talking about smoking, and I am not sure if everything he said was true, but he claimed Europeans die more of old age and other things than lung cancer, and Americans die more of lung cancer. He said it was odd because Europeans clearly smoke more. He claimed the reason for Americans dying of cancer so much is because people in America smoke anxiously, since they aren't allowed to smoke anywhere.
I told him bars and restaurants in many states and cities ban smoking indoors, and many buildings have a no smoking perimeter around them, including the dorms at universities. He said that people then smoke and inhale quickly before they go to work or on their breaks or whatever, and it is more dangerous, whereas here in Europe people chill out, have a cup of coffee for an hour and a cigarette and enjoy the fresh air, etc etc.

I didn't argue against him, but wouldn't a European and American be inhaling the same, if the European is inhaling one cigarette in an hour and the American inhales one cigarette, just in a five minute period instead? In the course of one hour, they both inhale the same amount of smoke, right?

I still think Europeans smoke more, and are exposed to it more since it is EVERYWHERE, even if you don't smoke.

He also was under the impression that people can't smoke in public at all. HAH! Please walk 10 feet outside of my dorm, buddy, and you shall see tobacco monkeys with clouds around them much like Pigpen from Charlie Brown.



He also referred to America as "Yankeelandia" aka Yankee country/land. I was amused by this.

Differences Pt. 1

Obviously, being an American, I have noticed cultural and legal differences here in Spain. Let me list a few.

Dessert. Usually, in America, when we have dessert after dinner, it usually consists of ice cream, cookies, or cake. Here, they ask if I want a pear or yogurt. Everyone likes their yogurt here in Spain.

Dogs. Um, I don't think there are leash laws here in San Sebastian. You walk along the river and there are people walking around along with what looks like stray dogs. Then you realize the dogs have an owner. I like to play the "Who do I think is the owner of this dog" game. Even though the dogs wander pretty aimlessly, they are very well behaved and usually stay with their owner. A street could be very crowded and the dog will be 30 feet in front of its owner, but the dog will never leave them. I like watching the owners occasionally throw a ball or something ahead of their walking path, the dog chases it, picks it up in its mouth, then stands there, as if frozen in place, looking back at the owner waiting for her to approach the dog and re-throw the ball. Or the dog will wander ahead (again, about 30 feet) and if the owner wants to "reel" them in, they quietly whistle or say the dog's name and the dog surprisingly comes running back to the owner. Oh, and what's also different here is that dogs are allowed to relieve themselves anywhere on the streets, or so it seems.

Seating at restaurants. In Spain, apparently you pay different prices depending on where you sit. The prices, from lowest to highest, are at the bar, at a table inside, and a table outside. You can pay up to a 20% "tax" for sitting outside on the patio of a restaurant, just because it's nicer. Therefore, if you are eating alone, the best deal is at the bar since you pay practically nothing.

Eye contact and smiling. I was told this before I came here that people don't make eye contact or smile much. It's still hard not to do so. When you are walking around Chicago, or especially in the suburbs, one usually smiles at a stranger if they cross paths on the sidewalk. Here, if you make eye contact with someone, especially if it is a girl to a guy, the guy will most definitely start hitting on you/approach you to hit on you. It's so weird to completely ignore people, like last night when I was walking home, I'd have my head up looking straight, and if I briefly glanced at a guy walking with some friends, he'd start curving his walking path toward me unless I'd look straight again and ignore him, then he'd swerve back to his friends. It's so odd. Smiling is also pretty uncommon, and it's more "come hither" than eye contact, again when it is a girl to a guy. People walking down the sidewalk stoicly walk past one another looking straight ahead. Unless they think you are an American (if you talk to your friends in English) then Spaniards staring at you is highly acceptable.

Milk. I am pretty sure they don't have 1% or 2% milk. Therefore, I am dying a bit inside. I can't drink a half gallon at each meal like I do at home. I think it's whole milk, which I don't mind in cereal since the cereal's flavor takes over. And it's also weird because when you go to the grocery store, all the milk is packaged in what looks like large juice boxes...and they are in the store on the shelves. That's right...at room temperature. It's a little disconcerting. My family keeps it in the fridge after opening, though.

Mayonnaise. This seems to be really popular on burgers here, just as normal as tomatoes and lettuce. Of the 4 times I've had a burger here, I've had mayo on the burger.

Open beer laws. In America, it is illegal to have open liquor on public property (in most places). i.e: you cannot carry a 6pack in one hand and an open Heineken in the other while walking down Michigan Avenue. Here, that is not the case, as tested by my friends. This was especially not the case in Madrid, where we'd walk in a group of 15 or 20 people and I'm pretty sure half or more would have a bottle of Heineken, wine, or beer in their hands. Last night while we were walking around, Angela was a bit nervous anytime she'd drink from one of the boys' bottles, but we literally walked 4 feet away from 6 or 7 cops througout the night who stared at us and said nothing.

Here's Luke and Bo when we were walking to a club last night, Luke demonstrating the open beer law perfectly.

Efficiency. I feel like Spain is just a more efficient area in general compared to the US. EVERY apartment building I've been in since I have been here has either motion sensor lights or lights you must turn on when you enter the halls. Therefore, when you walk into the lobby of my apartment, it's pitch black unless you switch on the light. At the hotel in San Sebastian, you had to crazily wave your arms around in the staircase and each floor's elevator lobby to turn on the lights. It was creepier/cool on the staircases there because you'd run down the stairs in darkness, and the more you progressed, the more lights would go on. It was cool. At the Madrid hotel, you had to stick your hotel key in the light switch to turn it on. No key, no lights. It helped I guess to not leave your key in the room. It sucked a little though, because the heating was also attached to this key mechanism and we couldn't warm up the room while we were away, so we'd return after being in 38 degree weather to a 50 degree room. The cars here are also very small, so I guess that would fit into the efficiency aspect as well.

Above: The lightswitch at the Madrid hotel. Slide the key into the top, press the giant square below to turn on.

Below: Katie's and my room at the Madrid hotel, Hotel Regina.

Above: Tiny car on the tarmak of the Madrid airport

Cigarette Warnings. In Spain, the cigarette warnings are similar to those in the US: very small and vague. In Heathrow airport, however, I had a chance to see the British cigarette warnings, which were quite specific as far as what cigarettes can do, and the size of the warning increased with the size of the box. They seriously don't want people to smoke there. Then you go to the Madrid airport and they have an impractical "smoking room" with open ceiling and no doors...so the smoke would just dissipate into the rest of the airport. As far as being effective, they were close, but no cigar. (get it?!)

(the two above) Smoking warnings on cigarette boxes in the Heathrow airport.

(below) The smoking "lounge" at the madrid airport.

The big year. In the US, the 16th birthday and 21st birthday are HUGE, but here in Spain, number 18 is the biggest, since it is somewhat of a combo of both. At 18 here, you can drive, buy cigarettes, drink, carry liquor on the streets, etc etc. Also, you know how in America, the underage kids sneaking into bars are around 18-20 since the age is 21 to drink? Well, since it's so low here in Spain, the kids sneaking into bars are as young as 14.

Curfew. There is no legally set curfew here in Spain, but instead it is set by the individual families. The 15 year old daughter I live with is allowed to go out whenever she wants, since she's pretty well-behaved. Last night, for example, she stayed out on a Saturday until 4am. But that's not that unusual as I will explain next...

Time. People always say "oh the Europeans like to be late to everything, blah blah blah." I haven't quite experienced that as I have experienced the times people are out. Here's how it is in Chicago, for example.
11am-1:00pm normal chunk of time for lunch
4:30-8pm normal chunk of time for dinner
7-midnight normal chunk of time for Going out/party time

In Spain, however, this is waaaaay different.
1-3:30pm normal chunk of time for lunch
8-10pm normal chunk of time for dinner
11pm-6am normal chunk of time to go out/party

Therefore, when we leave my friends' apartment at midnight to just begin going out, it's just getting started. The streets by the bars are DEAD from 9-11pm, usually. The places are usually hopping at 1am. I don't think they even have happy hour here.

Oh, and time here is written in military time (aka, the store opens at 16:00!) But the people say it normal ("hey, the store opens up at 4pm!) It's a little inconsistent.

Above: Here's a picture I took while walking the streets in Madrid at 1am. This is how packed it was.

Below: a picture of last night at midnight outside the club my friends went to.

PDA/Couples. In Chicago, you'll see couples linking arms or holding hands on the street, occasionally pecking kisses while waiting to cross the street. It's also common to see a guy and a girl walking and it is a possibility that they are only friends. Here, anytime you see a boy and a girl walking, it is GUARANTEED they are a couple. And they have their arms around eachothers' waists, and they will walk 5 or 6 steps and full on make out beside a store front. And no one looks twice. Yesterday I saw a couple walking, then they stopped, the man dipped the woman down and gave her a big kiss on the lips. It's pretty intense.

Buses. I don't know what they are in Chicago for the CTA, but the public buses here are Mercees-Benz brand.

I had to take a picture of this since I always take the #147 bus in Chicago to get to class...and here is one right in Madrid! I am not sure if the Madrid buses were Mercedes, but the ones in SS most definitely are.

Keyboards. Katie and I had the hardest time figuring out how to type the @ symbol at an internet cafe in Madrid. Plus the extra buttons were everywhere. And notice the extra letter by the L.

Motorcycles/vespas. There are two differences. In Chicago, I'd say 95% of motorcycle drivers are men, and they usually only ride them when the weather is super nice. Here, it's raining/snowing/sleeting and people are riding around on two wheelers. Also, I've seen a lot of women riding. I wouldn't say it's 50/50, since there are still more men, but I'd say it's more like 60/40 men/women.


Above: Spaniards on their vespas, making their own lane of traffic in Madrid.

Here's Angela and Katie on a motorcycle parked on the street. Katie wanted to look like she rented one, so she hopped on, then I took the picture and they jumped off and we ran, fearing the owner would see us.

La Comida

I am sure you are curious about the type of food I am eating here. It's surprisingly not that weird. I am a picky eater, but I'll try something if necessary to "assimilate."

Back in Madrid, our breakfast food was supplied by the hotel, so it was a continental breakfast style meal. They offered cocoa puffs, Smacks, and corn flakes for cereal, then water, juice, coffee, tea and milk (whole) for drinks, then toast and jam/butter, then some deli meats and cheese. I have never had the desire to wake up early and eat salami, so I would usually pass on the latter two offerings.

Above: A group of us USAC students the last breakfast we had in Madrid. I am not sure who the two girls in the foreground are, but the back row is me, Tyler, and Josh, and the middle row ignoring the two I don't know are Adam, Kyle, and Katie.



When I arrived here last Sunday, my host mom had leftover noodles for me to eat from their lunchtime. It was very much like Pesto Cavatappi from Noodles and Company, no joke. It was DELICIOUS. They also, of course, had baguettes.
For dinner that night she made hamburgers. I don't know if it was because I mentioned I liked them during lunchtime, or if it was because she had stacks of frozen patties in the freezer. The most curious part of that meal was the "hamburger sauce" which looked like either 1000 Island dressing or ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together. I stuck with the mayonnaise that was already on the burger and that's all.

The following night she made "vegetable puree" that I thought would be a sauce for something when she was describing to me what we'd have for dinner that night. However, it ended up being soup, and it was a mix of spinach, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, and other veggies, and looked much like pea soup. It was great. I thought that'd be it, which I was fine with, then she brought out pot roast with mushrooms. Twas DELICIOUS.

Her husband, Francis, came in from out of town on Thursday, and we had a dinner with the four of us, which I think was the most odd thus far, but I ate it. We started with cucumber soup, then moved on to what looked like tuna salad spread on top of bread. I ate it, and it was great. Then came the main course, which was chicken with some kind of beer sauce. It was good, except Elena, the mom, kept putting more on my plate when I was basically finished, including the pieces of chicken that, to this day, I have no idea what part of the bird it came from. There were so many bones in weird directions that I couldn't determine where it was from. I only enjoyed the chicken breasts. THEN, even after this, they had more, and Francis was explaining that this was some kind of special cheese that was smoked for more flavor. Let me tell you, I'd hate to know what flavor it originally had since the smoked aspect didn't help it's foot-like qualities of flavor. It was a hard cheese that looked like Parmesan, and they served it with some kind of candied fruit and walnuts, and you were supposed to pick up all three with your fork and eat it at once. Good thing they served this last so I had the "I'm full" excuse to not eat any more. The candied fruit hid some of the disgusting flavor, but not quite enough. I wonder if the family noticed my extreme desire for water during this part of the meal.

Then, yesterday, I ate hamburgers again but only Francis was home for lunch. I didn't realize this the first time we had hamburgers for a meal, but the fries they made were in their very own FRENCH FRY FRYER. Homemade. They were delicious.

As for breakfast, I usually have been eating alone, since the family is usually up and out by now. Even though I've said I'll eat some cereal and a muffin, the mom usually leaves out an entire kitchen's worth of breakfast food. This includes, but is not limited to: 3 types of juice (punch, peach/grape combo, pineapple), coffee, tea, toast (little crusty bread cracker things), pears, apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, donuts, jam, nutella, milk, corn flakes, and muffins. I usually eat only the cereal and a muffin and I'm good. Yet every morning, it's the same. It's great. And the presentation is 5 star, reminding me a bit of the scene in A Little Princess when the girls wake up to a feast of every imaginable breakfast food.

Today, since it is Sunday, the breakfast fare was a bit different. I woke up and Francis and Elena made eggs and some meat. The table was filled with food, including what looked like grilled ham slices, salami, scrambled eggs, juice, baguette and jam, yogurt, dates, and warm tomato slices with olive oil. Elena told me it was their version of an "American breakfast." As you can probably tell from the offerings, I was RIGHT AT HOME.

And I think it's especially cute that the host family has a different napkin ring for each member of the family. Therefore, I have my own little napkin ring with a flower-type design. That way I know which one is mine when I grab it out of the drawer, and I know where to sit at the table if it's already out. I think it's still a little weird though that we use the same napkin practically all week, but also at every meal we have paper napkins. It's different.

Oh, and if I haven't already mentioned it above, every meal is served with baguettes. EVERY MEAL. I have eaten my body weight in baguettes since I got here. I bet the Spaniards measure their yearly expenses in gas, heat, water, groceries, clothing, and baguettes. Yesterday when we ate soup at Luke's and Dave's place, Katie offered to buy the baguette for dinner because she's always wanted to walk down the street with a baguette sticking out of her grocery bag.

And, since living with a host family permits 2 meal offerings a day, I can ask Elena to pack me lunch (since walking back home for lunch would take too long). I have only done this once, and when she asked me what she should pack, I said I would eat whatever. I was pleasantly surprised with cookies, a ham and cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off, a juice box, and an apple. It was so cute!!!

Apple Coldplay

Yesterday I saw a Spanish version of Chris Martin (lead singer of Coldplay). He looked just like him...but he was Spanish. He had blondish brown hair, blue eyes, tall, long black pea coat, dark jeans and brown shoes...and he was pushing a baby around in a stroller. Do you think the baby's name is manzana?

No Gwyneth Paltrow in site, though.

This makes me think...does everyone have a foreign doppelganger?

Textbooks!

Can I just say that I love European textbooks! They are so cheap! Last semester at Loyola, I spent around $400 on textbooks. Most books were $30 and up; one was around $98. Very typical for college.

Then I come here and look at my textbook list, and the most expensive one is 19 Euros. MOST EXPENSIVE! And a few of the books I don't even have to buy b/c my host mom has them in her house (some of the literature books). Very nice.