...pictures of us USAC students!
Last night in Basque cooking the two USAC supervisors took many, MANY pictures. It was unbelievable how many pictures they were taking. We were in the kitchen an hour and a half doing the same thing over and over, but they would just take a bajillion pictures of us doing the same thing.
"oh, here are some students cutting stuff"
"oh, here are some students cutting stuff!"
"here are some more students cutting things."
"here are some students eating things"
"wait, here are some more students eating things!"
"Oh, more students eating things!"
And then they just go ahead and post them online!
Well, I am sure you all would like to see them.
Go here:
http://www.gastronomica.com/
Click on "Eventos"
Then, under Curso Cocina USAC, scroll to where it says "ver mas" aka "see more" and it will show you some more pictures.
To see even MORE pictures, click the part that says "Galeria de fotos" I will let you assume what that means.
ENJOY!
PS, that website is in Spanish, so if you can read it, enjoy! If not...it says some pretty simple stuff. Like, "here are some American people cooking stuff."
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/
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ick.
Whenever the parents smoke, they smoke in the kitchen with the door closed. Occasionally, when they open the door to the kitchen and shut it, this tobacco-ridden pocket of air occassionally drifts into my room and I get a whiff of the Marlboro man.
It's easy to avoid, however, if I just shut my door.
Sometimes they burn incense in the kitchen to "clear up" the smell.
Therefore, I have to ask myself...
Which is worse:
smelling thick cigarette smoke,
or smelling smoke from burning incense?
Or, should I add a third: dealing with the irrationality of covering the smell of burning with...the smell of burning?
It's easy to avoid, however, if I just shut my door.
Sometimes they burn incense in the kitchen to "clear up" the smell.
Therefore, I have to ask myself...
Which is worse:
smelling thick cigarette smoke,
or smelling smoke from burning incense?
Or, should I add a third: dealing with the irrationality of covering the smell of burning with...the smell of burning?
Figures.
Why could it not have been 22 degrees Celcius EARLIER when it was actually daytime and I was out?
PS, this is four degrees celcius warmer than my host home, but that isn't too hard when the thermostat is set at 62 degrees F.
PS, this is four degrees celcius warmer than my host home, but that isn't too hard when the thermostat is set at 62 degrees F.
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.
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.
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!!!
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