I have a list of things that I needed to get done here in San Sebastian before I went home.
I accomplished a ton yesterday.
Weather.com failed me yet again, yet this time in a good way. When I checked on Monday, it said the weather for Monday would be sunny and nice, Tuesday would be rain rain rain, and Wednesday would be super sunny and warm.
Instead, it was SUPER nice on Monday, then later (luckily I was in for the day at this point) it was a HAIL STORM. Yes, it was bright and sunny, kids were eating ice cream, dogs playing in the park, then (while it was STILL SUNNY AND NICE), golf ball sized hail started raining down from the sky along with heavy rain, then there was lightening and thunder. It did this until early evening.
Tuesday was supposed to be terrible, then it ended up being 73 and sunny and cloudless. What!??! Everyone on facebook posted their statuses as "at the beach" "hanging at the playa" "sitting in the sand and soaking up the sun!" It was completely unexpected. To think San Sebastian has NICE weather? I dunno, it sure did surprise me.
And as of now, Wednesday is looking pretty nice too. There are clouds in the sky, but they are wispy and light. Other than that, it is sunny, and it is about 70 degrees.
Anywho, what I am trying to get at is that I got a ton of stuff done yesterday because of the unexpectedly nice weather.
I got to rollerblade around Jesus Mountain, which isn't really called that, but there IS a giant Jesus statue on top. I think it's actually called Mount Urgull or something.
I got to HIKE UP Jesus Mountain. It used to be some kind of fortress back in the 1800's and there are ruins all over the mountain of different stations. There are old cannons, withering stone walls, and lots and lots of greenery. It's also pretty touristy, which isn't what I was expecting. What I mean is not that it was crowded, but that there were signs pointing out what was in which direction, plaques describing what stuff was, and...
When I got to the top where Jesus was, I thought it would just be the statue and stuff. Instead it was a large lookout point with cannons, then some security guide summoned me into this building under the statue and it was a tourist center for the site! You could buy postcards, there was a mini museum of artifacts from San Sebastian, movies playing about the history of the area, posters, maps, etc etc. Up the stairs you could get to the top and see a panoramic lookout of the whole town. It was gorgeous.
After that I went to lunch at this restaurant I've been dying to go to (it was on THE LIST), called La Perla. It is right on the ocean, and there is a fancy restaurant part as well as a cheaper outdoor grill. I got a DELICIOUS cheeseburger with grilled onions and plopped down at a table right on the balcony overlooking the beach. From there I got a wonderful view of the ocean as well as a 65 year old woman tanning topless.
Then I went to La Parte Vieja where I did my last minute souvenir shopping for friends and family. I also got myself a scarf, one of the things here that EVERYONE has.
Finally, I got a "Cookie"-flavored ice cream on the boulevard. That wasn't on the list...but I couldn't resist.
I tried calling up people to do all this with, but as always that failed. Instead I accomplished everything on my own, which was a lot better because I found it more peaceful and fun that way.
Now, all I have left is to get Chocolate y Churros today (wednesday) or tomorrow before I leave for Madrid. It's a super common snack here of rich hot chocolate (basically a liquified chocolate bar served warm) and churros (you know, those fried pastries with cinnamon and sugar...YUM). My host mom recommended a good place to go in Parte Vieja for that, so I am excited.
PS: Sun down here since daylight savings has been around 9:30pm. Like, straight up brightness until 9:30. My parents told me that sundown is like 7pm in the states. That will be weird to come home to.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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/
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/
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cute!
This weekend I am going to Barcelona with Ana and Natalia and their friend Raquel.
For research, I was looking in my Spain guide that Barb and Emily got me. One of the places to go was this little cafe and bakery. I went to the website and this is what I found...
That candle is on a cake. A cake the size of a ring! It says it's a wedding anniversary cake. ADORBS!
That flower on the left? That's a ring too. MADE OF CANDY!
The Spain book says this is a great place to go for the "Art Nouveau fittings" that can only be enjoyed while having a cup of coffee or hot cocoa. I hope this place isn't too expensive because I DEFINITELY wanna go there.
It also says to try the "ensaimadas" because they are irresistable. We shall see.
OH! I am looking at this site and they have chocolate postcards! And CD's! And money! And a little tree that looks like it's made out of icicles but it is caramel!
Who cares about the cathedrals and plazas when you could see THIS?!
They make exploding cakes. Real useful.
Explore.
http://www.escriba.es/
For research, I was looking in my Spain guide that Barb and Emily got me. One of the places to go was this little cafe and bakery. I went to the website and this is what I found...
That candle is on a cake. A cake the size of a ring! It says it's a wedding anniversary cake. ADORBS!
That flower on the left? That's a ring too. MADE OF CANDY!
The Spain book says this is a great place to go for the "Art Nouveau fittings" that can only be enjoyed while having a cup of coffee or hot cocoa. I hope this place isn't too expensive because I DEFINITELY wanna go there.
It also says to try the "ensaimadas" because they are irresistable. We shall see.
OH! I am looking at this site and they have chocolate postcards! And CD's! And money! And a little tree that looks like it's made out of icicles but it is caramel!
Who cares about the cathedrals and plazas when you could see THIS?!
They make exploding cakes. Real useful.
Explore.
http://www.escriba.es/
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Panqueques?
Yesterday my host mom went shopping, and last night at dinner she told me she bought "crema de cacahuete" (Peanut Butter), and Pancake mix.
Because PB is such an American thing, they think we all LOVE it. I like PB, but I can survive without it. It's nice to have it now, though, because I can have some PB and marmalade sandwiches.
It's very hard to come by around here; I hear the only place you can get it is the random Chinese hodge podge shops, and they are the mini jars (2 inches high) for about 6 euros (8 or 9 american dollars). But it's nice to think that she went to the store and got this with me in mind, it was very nice.
And like I said, she also bought pancake batter, and I was just about to ask her if they eat them here with maple syrup (another rarity), when she asked me how they are served. I don't think anyone really eats pancakes here...another foreign thing to them. I told her they are usually served with sweet things. I didn't know the word for blueberries, so I told her strawberries (fresas) and powdered sugar (azucar polvado?) were popular. I also said that some people make really rich ones with chocolate chips. I said bacon and eggs are usually served on the side as well. Like I said, maple syrup doesn't really exist here, so I didn't know the word for that, so I just said it in English. Angela's roommate, who is from here, said she found some maple syrup at the organic store down the street. I really want to get some (I am dying here not having anything to put in my oatmeal!), but I have a feeling that if it is organic AND imported, it's gonna be like 20 euros a bottle or something.
So that is what my host family is doing in the kitchen now. I don't even know if they know how to cook pancakes, ie, when to flip them and when they are too raw or to burnt. We shall see!!!
Because PB is such an American thing, they think we all LOVE it. I like PB, but I can survive without it. It's nice to have it now, though, because I can have some PB and marmalade sandwiches.
It's very hard to come by around here; I hear the only place you can get it is the random Chinese hodge podge shops, and they are the mini jars (2 inches high) for about 6 euros (8 or 9 american dollars). But it's nice to think that she went to the store and got this with me in mind, it was very nice.
And like I said, she also bought pancake batter, and I was just about to ask her if they eat them here with maple syrup (another rarity), when she asked me how they are served. I don't think anyone really eats pancakes here...another foreign thing to them. I told her they are usually served with sweet things. I didn't know the word for blueberries, so I told her strawberries (fresas) and powdered sugar (azucar polvado?) were popular. I also said that some people make really rich ones with chocolate chips. I said bacon and eggs are usually served on the side as well. Like I said, maple syrup doesn't really exist here, so I didn't know the word for that, so I just said it in English. Angela's roommate, who is from here, said she found some maple syrup at the organic store down the street. I really want to get some (I am dying here not having anything to put in my oatmeal!), but I have a feeling that if it is organic AND imported, it's gonna be like 20 euros a bottle or something.
So that is what my host family is doing in the kitchen now. I don't even know if they know how to cook pancakes, ie, when to flip them and when they are too raw or to burnt. We shall see!!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hurricanes, Hockey, and Gyros!
Last night was quite an interesting night, if I do say so myself.
I was texting my friends to go out for the night, but basically one person in each apartment is sick: Katie, Natalia, Cassi, Dave. I watched some TV for the first time since I left the states, and of course every channel was in Spanish. That is, except for the British-run MTV stations and BBC. And Al Jazeera. I watched some American shows dubbed in Spanish, like the cartoon Jimmy Neutron, as well as Lost "PERDIDOS." I was also in severe withdrawl of modern music (I guess they play some hits that are hits in America, but it's like the 2-year old "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse and "Womanizer" from Britney Spears, for the most part). HERE, on their MTV, they ACTUALLY PLAY VIDEOS ALL DAY! It was amazing. Oh, and they had VH1 as well, where they played The Doors and The Who.
My host dad came in the room as I was flipping through some of the music stations, and we chatted about music that he listens to and concerts he's been to. He said he saw Tina Turner a couple years ago, and I told him my parents went to her concert/planned to go to her concert (I actually can't remember if they did now or not) this past year, and they had a special party room with a balcony to watch the concert. He was like "Oh, como los VIPS!?" Only he said VIPS as one word instead of letters and I thought that was funny.
He said he also went to a Michael Jackson concert back in the days of "Bad." He also saw Van Morrison, who he loves. He also mentioned his older brothers, when he was a kid, played in a band. I asked what type of music they played and he said "pop music" like Van Morrison. HOW COOL IS THAT?! He also saw the Rolling Stones in concert three times. Twice in the past 10 years, then once in '85 or something. He also once saw Elvis Costello and he also once saw Steve Winwood. It was hard to catch on to some of these names b/c of the accent he'd say them with, but I eventually figured it out. He mentioned a few other bands he went to go see in the past, but I can't remember them right now.
He also mentioned that Pink Floyd is coming to San Sebastian next month. I am for SURE looking into that. Even though they don't have all their band members.
I eventually got a hold of Luke and made plans to go out with him and a few friends to dinner.
I left the house at around 9:45 to meet up with Luke at the bridge, then we went from there to wander somewhere to eat dinner. On the way, we ran into Carter, another USAC student. We chatted with him for a while until The Columbians showed up, then Carter left to go hang out with his friends in La Parte Vieja. The four of us wandered aimlessly and I noticed this guy dressed in a light brown blazer and tee and khaki pants around our age or a bit older walking in the same direction as us for a bit and told Ana, who started noticing it, too. Eventually, he turned to us and said "Mind if I ask where you all are from?" in English, with an Australian accent. He was 24, his name was Tom Cleghorn, and he played Hockey for the San Sebastian team (http://www.rfeh.com/web/competiciones/goleadores.jsp?competicion=180&fase=1&grupo=1&origen=competicion1.jsp). He heard us talking in english and wanted to know where we were from, since he obviously felt out of place in a country without english-speakers. He was asking us what we were doing, and we said "trying to find somewhere to eat." He suggested a place and we started walking toward it, but on the way we found a gyro place (strangely, I had mentioned eating gyros about 10 minutes before discovering this place) and it had fries which pleased Ana and Natalia, so we went in. We hung out and chatted with this guy for a while, and he was really nice and interesting, telling us about how he surfs around here and is here for about 7 weeks to play hockey for the SS team.
At this restaurant, also, Ana asked for a Bailey's on the rocks, and none of us thought the guy who worked there knew how to serve that, since he basically filled half a cognac glass with Bailey's and put ice in it. I also have no idea what language the men here spoke, since they seemed clueless whether we spoke in Spanish or English. I think they were Turkish.
When we were done, I don't think they knew how to calculate our bill, because in total we had...
A gyro
A gyro and fries
just fries
potatoes
5 beers
a water
a Bailey's
2 cokes
and an ice cream.
And the bill total was 32 Euros or so.
I know for sure the ice cream was at least a euro, the cokes were at least a euro each, and each gyro was about 5 euros. That's 17 euros there, and that wasn't including fries, potatoes, 5 beers, a water, and a bailey's. And I am sure that would not add up to only 15 euros.
But hey, cheap food is nothing to complain about.
After we left (which we had to do since they started turning off the lights...), we wandered around a bit, heading in the general direction of the columbians' apartment, since they live on "Reyes Catolicos" nicknamed "Reyes Alcolicos" because it's the bar street. On our way, we discussed how the USAC people sent us an email about how the weather would be, advising us to not leave. Since my internet was down (i'll explain in another post), I didn't get this email. Now I've had a chance to read it, and summing it up won't do it justice, so I will just repost it here:
____________
Title: Important Weather Alert
Dear Students,
We are expecting severe weather tonight in the Basque Country. Winds of 95
miles per hour are expected and waves may reach as high as 40 feet. You
should avoid being outside during this type of weather as tiles, flower
boxes, trees or cranes may fall. You should not be alarmed but use prudence
when you are outside and try to stay inside for the worst of the storm
between 6:00 pm tonight and 6:00 am.
Be safe!
USAC Office
____________
By the time we were leaving the restaurant and walking to the girls' place, it was midnight, and it was also a balmy 55 degrees F, with light winds, not enough to mess up my hair. Natalia was mocking the email we got, saying "apparently CRANES are supposed to be falling, WATCH OUT GUYS!" It was very mild weather.
We went to WARHOL, a bar, and the boys and Ana got a drink each, but Natalia sat down, saying she didn't want a drink b/c she was beginning to get a bit of a cold.
After a little bit, Natalia said she'd just go, because she wanted to sleep. She left, then about 4 minutes later returned and said there was a salsa bar next door and she wanted to go in. Obviously this is the opposite mood she was in 4 minutes ago, but she said she'd stay out longer if dancing was involved. So everyone finished their drinks and we went next door, only to find that we stuck out like a sore thumb. I am not sure if it was the age difference, with the crowd being in the 30's age group, or that it was only half full, allowing more staring from the patrons. We left as soon as we arrived.
Then, everyone seemed to not be in the party mood anymore, so Ana and Natalia went back to their place, then Luke said he was going to a friend's(Dixon's) house, and that Tom was welcome to join, but it would be in the opposite direction and therefore a longer cab ride home so he decided to just head back now.
Therefore, I was left to go home, too, so Luke and I went in the eastward direction together, across the bridge, until he had to head up north again to go to Dixon's.
I was texting my friends to go out for the night, but basically one person in each apartment is sick: Katie, Natalia, Cassi, Dave. I watched some TV for the first time since I left the states, and of course every channel was in Spanish. That is, except for the British-run MTV stations and BBC. And Al Jazeera. I watched some American shows dubbed in Spanish, like the cartoon Jimmy Neutron, as well as Lost "PERDIDOS." I was also in severe withdrawl of modern music (I guess they play some hits that are hits in America, but it's like the 2-year old "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse and "Womanizer" from Britney Spears, for the most part). HERE, on their MTV, they ACTUALLY PLAY VIDEOS ALL DAY! It was amazing. Oh, and they had VH1 as well, where they played The Doors and The Who.
My host dad came in the room as I was flipping through some of the music stations, and we chatted about music that he listens to and concerts he's been to. He said he saw Tina Turner a couple years ago, and I told him my parents went to her concert/planned to go to her concert (I actually can't remember if they did now or not) this past year, and they had a special party room with a balcony to watch the concert. He was like "Oh, como los VIPS!?" Only he said VIPS as one word instead of letters and I thought that was funny.
He said he also went to a Michael Jackson concert back in the days of "Bad." He also saw Van Morrison, who he loves. He also mentioned his older brothers, when he was a kid, played in a band. I asked what type of music they played and he said "pop music" like Van Morrison. HOW COOL IS THAT?! He also saw the Rolling Stones in concert three times. Twice in the past 10 years, then once in '85 or something. He also once saw Elvis Costello and he also once saw Steve Winwood. It was hard to catch on to some of these names b/c of the accent he'd say them with, but I eventually figured it out. He mentioned a few other bands he went to go see in the past, but I can't remember them right now.
He also mentioned that Pink Floyd is coming to San Sebastian next month. I am for SURE looking into that. Even though they don't have all their band members.
I eventually got a hold of Luke and made plans to go out with him and a few friends to dinner.
I left the house at around 9:45 to meet up with Luke at the bridge, then we went from there to wander somewhere to eat dinner. On the way, we ran into Carter, another USAC student. We chatted with him for a while until The Columbians showed up, then Carter left to go hang out with his friends in La Parte Vieja. The four of us wandered aimlessly and I noticed this guy dressed in a light brown blazer and tee and khaki pants around our age or a bit older walking in the same direction as us for a bit and told Ana, who started noticing it, too. Eventually, he turned to us and said "Mind if I ask where you all are from?" in English, with an Australian accent. He was 24, his name was Tom Cleghorn, and he played Hockey for the San Sebastian team (http://www.rfeh.com/web/competiciones/goleadores.jsp?competicion=180&fase=1&grupo=1&origen=competicion1.jsp). He heard us talking in english and wanted to know where we were from, since he obviously felt out of place in a country without english-speakers. He was asking us what we were doing, and we said "trying to find somewhere to eat." He suggested a place and we started walking toward it, but on the way we found a gyro place (strangely, I had mentioned eating gyros about 10 minutes before discovering this place) and it had fries which pleased Ana and Natalia, so we went in. We hung out and chatted with this guy for a while, and he was really nice and interesting, telling us about how he surfs around here and is here for about 7 weeks to play hockey for the SS team.
At this restaurant, also, Ana asked for a Bailey's on the rocks, and none of us thought the guy who worked there knew how to serve that, since he basically filled half a cognac glass with Bailey's and put ice in it. I also have no idea what language the men here spoke, since they seemed clueless whether we spoke in Spanish or English. I think they were Turkish.
When we were done, I don't think they knew how to calculate our bill, because in total we had...
A gyro
A gyro and fries
just fries
potatoes
5 beers
a water
a Bailey's
2 cokes
and an ice cream.
And the bill total was 32 Euros or so.
I know for sure the ice cream was at least a euro, the cokes were at least a euro each, and each gyro was about 5 euros. That's 17 euros there, and that wasn't including fries, potatoes, 5 beers, a water, and a bailey's. And I am sure that would not add up to only 15 euros.
But hey, cheap food is nothing to complain about.
After we left (which we had to do since they started turning off the lights...), we wandered around a bit, heading in the general direction of the columbians' apartment, since they live on "Reyes Catolicos" nicknamed "Reyes Alcolicos" because it's the bar street. On our way, we discussed how the USAC people sent us an email about how the weather would be, advising us to not leave. Since my internet was down (i'll explain in another post), I didn't get this email. Now I've had a chance to read it, and summing it up won't do it justice, so I will just repost it here:
____________
Title: Important Weather Alert
Dear Students,
We are expecting severe weather tonight in the Basque Country. Winds of 95
miles per hour are expected and waves may reach as high as 40 feet. You
should avoid being outside during this type of weather as tiles, flower
boxes, trees or cranes may fall. You should not be alarmed but use prudence
when you are outside and try to stay inside for the worst of the storm
between 6:00 pm tonight and 6:00 am.
Be safe!
USAC Office
____________
By the time we were leaving the restaurant and walking to the girls' place, it was midnight, and it was also a balmy 55 degrees F, with light winds, not enough to mess up my hair. Natalia was mocking the email we got, saying "apparently CRANES are supposed to be falling, WATCH OUT GUYS!" It was very mild weather.
We went to WARHOL, a bar, and the boys and Ana got a drink each, but Natalia sat down, saying she didn't want a drink b/c she was beginning to get a bit of a cold.
After a little bit, Natalia said she'd just go, because she wanted to sleep. She left, then about 4 minutes later returned and said there was a salsa bar next door and she wanted to go in. Obviously this is the opposite mood she was in 4 minutes ago, but she said she'd stay out longer if dancing was involved. So everyone finished their drinks and we went next door, only to find that we stuck out like a sore thumb. I am not sure if it was the age difference, with the crowd being in the 30's age group, or that it was only half full, allowing more staring from the patrons. We left as soon as we arrived.
Then, everyone seemed to not be in the party mood anymore, so Ana and Natalia went back to their place, then Luke said he was going to a friend's(Dixon's) house, and that Tom was welcome to join, but it would be in the opposite direction and therefore a longer cab ride home so he decided to just head back now.
Therefore, I was left to go home, too, so Luke and I went in the eastward direction together, across the bridge, until he had to head up north again to go to Dixon's.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
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.
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!!!
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