The Adventures Continue!

     It’s a rainy day here in Barcelona. I’ve noticed that the city is quieter when it rains, seems more at peace.

     I attended a cooking class hosted by Yves Nicolier. There were four other girls from my study abroad program that also attended that day when there were supposed to be twelve in total. We had a lovely evening learning about Catalan dishes, especially with a smaller group. I was in charge of making the tostada con tomate, just a toasted bread with a tomato rub, oil, and a little salt. With a little bit of Fuet, a Spanish pork sausage, it is a very simple appetizer that we snacked on while we cooked the rest of the meal. The salad was made of garbanzo beans, spring onions, tomatoes, and a red sauce that goes on the top (I forget the name of this one, but it was delicious!). The main course was pork chops and boiled vegetables with oil. The meat was cooked in a mountain of salt wrapped in orange peels, essentially an oven inside an oven as Yves explained it. I have noticed that Catalan people put oil on everything they eat, and it has become a sort of bragging right for them with their healthy Mediterranean diet that keeps cholesterol low. Dessert was Mato, a type of Spanish cheese, covered in honey with walnuts.

     Yves Nicolier's was the first house that I have been able to see in Barcelona. We ate our dessert on the rooftop while we watched the fireworks in celebration of the end of La Mercé. It was a beautiful view of the lights of the entire city of Barcelona. His house was located on the outskirts of the city, a little ways up a hill. Oh, and if you enjoy driving manual cars, Europe is the continent for you! All of the vehicles here are manual, and make for a somewhat scary experience when stopped on a steep hill.

Fireworks from the rooftop.

     One cultural aspect of Spain that I am having a really difficult time adjusting to is their way of greeting people. In the United States, we either stand back and just acknowledge the new person or shake their hand. If it is someone that is a good friend or family member, we may even hug them. But in Spain, even if you have never met someone before, they will go ahead and introduce themselves and proceed to touch their right cheek and then left cheek to yours while kissing. Yves Nicolier, the chef from the cooking class, greeted each of us in this manner as we arrived even though none of us had met him previously. This gets me every single time. I am not big on touching other people, sometimes even hugs are too much for me, and Spain is definitely pushing my limits! But, I do not want to be seen as rude by not customarily doing so or reacting negatively. Please don’t expect me to bring this part of Spanish culture back with me to the United States though!

     One last announcement: My adventures do not end upon my return home in December. Just eight short days after I arrive home from the big city of Barcelona, Spain, I will be flying to a little town in Mexico. From one extreme to the other, it will definitely be a fun adjustment to make. I am excited to have this opportunity, and I am so excited for the day that I get to be reunited with the one that I love! It still does not feel like real life that I am in a foreign city or that I will be traveling out of the country once again. Prior to leaving for Spain in August, I had never been out of the United States before. I have a lot to be thankful for.