“Today I am in France. Today is a gorgeous day: the sun is shining, the air is crsip like the first bite of a golden delicious apple. The atmosphere is relaxed yet chic, modern yet antiquated, and despite the prevalence of most signs in English, still deliciously un-American. It’s amazing to be here – hearing a new language and seeing incredible views around every corner. The scenery in Europe truly can’t be beat. Kind of stinks that the US is newer than all of this and we’ve already done a great job of screwing up quite a bit of our own scenery. Cultural faux pas aside, I think this trip has been great. I want to rent a motorbike and drive it all around France. But first… to learn French!“

- October 2007 in Biarritz, France, on a trip to the Basque country (Bilbao, Biarritz and San Sebastian) while studying abroad.

So my problem? The incessant, harassing nagging of a storage unit, the current resting place of nearly all of my belongings since birth. In college, I lived in no fewer than eight different places, including my study abroad residence, and since then, tack on another 9 more if you count the various apartments and friends’ houses that I inhabited while in Madrid over three years. (This isn’t counting my mom’s three residences since we left our house in 2003 or the one apartment my dad had). Grand total? A whopping 23 places that I have inhabited for a month or longer, including my house in East Lake and my current residence with family in NY. So one may say that I have too much stuff or am disorganized… but consider the circumstances.

That being said, it’s now me vs. the storage unit. Pictures, notes, sheets, clothes, appliances, clocks, shoes, notebooks, college swag, funny gifts, yearbooks, empty CD cases, shot glasses, sheet music, books, cookbooks, stuffed animals – you name it, it’s probably there. I don’t want all of these things. After living abroad for three years, starting with two suitcases (okay, ending with a bit more) – I never once sat down and nostalgically yearned for the bean bag Oscar Mayer Winiermobile or my notes from my Marketing Strategy class in college. What I did yearn for, however, were my friends, family, and usually peanut butter.

What do I keep? What do I give away? What do I donate? What do I throw away?

The good advice that I’ve been given is that if I haven’t used it or thought about it in a year, to just chuck it. But what if my future children will want to play with my stuffed animals or 90′s outfitted Barbie dolls? What if they’ll think seeing a tape collection that belonged to their grandpa is so cool? What if I get my own apartment and realize that the only thing missing to create perfect feng shui in my new habitat is that electric wok?

I can’t answer these questions. All I can do is make three bins: Save, Toss and Bring to New York, the latter limited by space in my car and my extended family’s sanity.

I”m going to do all that I can to maintain Graham Hill’s ideas, though I kind of refuse to have a bed that folds up into the wall since I will feel rather astronaut-like. Hopefully by tomorrow I can kick this nostalgia and get to the gritty part…. relentlessness filling up all of Goodwill’s donation containers.

It´s hard to escape the fact that yes, I am an American citizen, born and bred. But it´s never come to my attention so frequently and forcibly as in the three years or so that I spent in Spain. I don´t confront the scrutiny as much as I think I would in a smaller village or out in the country since, hello, I live in the capital city of a modern country, and many of the big city dwellers have made it across the pond to visit my homeland. So they can relate. But nonetheless, I still find myself constantly defining and redefining what I am and how it relates to my native culture, all the while trying to stave off typical comments from the typical Spaniards about how the typical United States citizen typically acts.

There are some people here that are obsessed with the American culture. I have met more than a few who would drop their current lives here to have a shot at living and working in the United States. I don´t know what it is that makes them want to live there so badly – if it´s the big cties, big cars, big houses, expansive stretches of land, outrageous selection of restaurants, or the fact that capitalism, despite its many negative aspects, allows people by its very nature to succeed and live fabulously and successfully, creating a potentially more comfortable level of income than in other more socialized countries? But on the other hand, there are throngs of people ready in the wings to try and make me feel bad about who I am, what my forefathers did, or how America’s politics and international behavior in general is ruining everything globally.

So what does it mean to be an American in Spain (or abroad, in general?)

I want to know your opinions. Leave a comment about your experiences how you were treated, or are currently being treated, as an American ex-pat. Anecdotes requested, criticisms accepted, rude comments discouraged, however, all opinions welcomes.

I’ve been meaning to call. Meaning to write. Meaning to visit. Nearly three years have past, and I’d wager the same number of phone calls have been made the whole time.

The last time I saw him, I knew it could really be the last time. But there was so much to say. I wanted to know more about his childhood, about his parents, his parents’ parents, life as a first generation American, his favorite foods, how much wine he made and what was his technique. So many things that I’m thinking of now that I should have thought of during the past 25 years of my life, when I had him so easily accessible at the other end of the phone line.

This is how it works. You’re young until you’re not. You love until you don’t. You try until you can’t. You laugh until you cry. You cry until you laugh. And everyone must breathe until their dying breath. – Regina Spektor

I’m sad I wasn’t there to see him at the end. I’m sad that my mom has to go through this alone. I’m sad that I can’t be with the rest of my family and go to his funeral. But most of all, I’m sad that I procrastinated. The Spanish are famed for their idea of “mañana”, they’re notorious for putting things off until tomorrow (though I can say that reputation is not always 100% true, I’ve met plenty of efficient and punctual Spaniards… but I digress). I want to cherish the time I have left with my one remaining grandparent, and when I go to my cousin’s wedding in August, where I was hoping to see him again, I want to learn about my grandpa, see more into his life, visit his old house, and cherish the memories I had with him when I was young. Until then.

My Christmas loot, compliments of the school I work at

So to make the Spanish tapas experience truly special (in the past, I’ve cooked tortilla, garbanzos, ensalada campera, and a number of other Spanish foods for my family), I decided to make a few additional plates:

- Champiñones rellenos de chorizo a la plancha / Sauteed mushrooms stuffed with chorizo

- Ensalada con queso de cabra con salsa de vinagre balsamico reducido / Warm goat cheese salad with balsamic reduction dressing

- Papas arrugadas con mojo picón / “Wrinkled” potatoes with spicy mojo sauce

- Gambas al ajillo / Shrimp in garlic and olive oil

Since I never do food posts, here’s the recipes I made with a couple special adaptations. They’re all pretty easy, you can try them at home!

1. Champiñones rellenos de chorizo a la plancha / Sauteed mushrooms stuffed with chorizo

Stuffed mushrooms

• INGREDIENTS: Button mushrooms, chorizo, lemon juice, fresh parsley, smoked paprika (pimentón), salt, pepper

• First, clean mushrooms and carefully separate the stems from the caps. Set aside the caps and sprinkle with some lemon juice to prevent them from getting brown.
• Stuffing: Chop the stems finely, and heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a sautee pan. Add some chopped garlic, and add the chopped mushroom chunks until golden. Add in finely chopped chorizo towards the end so that it doesn’t get too crispy. Season with a bit of smoked paprika, a pinch of salt (the chorizo gives it a lot already, be careful), pepper and freshly cut parsley. Set mixture aside.
• In the same pan, add a little more olive oil if necessary, and place mushroom caps opening side down and cook until the bottoms turn dark brown or black. Carefully flip them over, and as the top of the cap cooks, fill with mushroom stem/chorizo/garlic mixture. Remove to serving platter and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.

2. Ensalada con queso de cabra con salsa de vinagre balsamico reducido / Warm goat cheese salad with balsamic reduction dressing

(Okay, this isn’t REALLY Spanish, but I always make it in Spain, so it counts, right??)

• INGREDIENTS: Goat cheese (works best if it comes in a roll and you can just cut round slices, about 1/2 inch thick), italian bread crumbs (if you’re feeling spicy, you can even combine with or use panko breadcrumbs too), 2 egg whites, 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, a good mixture of greens (I like arugula and Spinach, or a nice Spring mix), about 1 cup of balsamic vinegar, vidalia onion, dried cranberries, carrot slices, chopped walnuts

• Warm goat cheese rounds: Slice goat cheese into pieces about 1/2 inch thick. Beat two egg whites with about 2 tbsp of water. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl. Pass goat cheese through egg white wash and coat in breadcrumbs. Place on a plate and put in fridge for about 15 minutes before you are ready to cook them. When the salad is about ready to be served, combine 2 tbsp of butter and olive oil in a pan and heat until just before smoking. Flash fry goat cheese rounds, careful not to let them melt, and place them on a plate. Top each salad with 2-3 rounds.
• Balsamic vinegar reduction: Pour balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and heat to high. Whisk briskly, even before it starts boiling, and keep going through the whole process. Though it naturally sweetens, you can throw in a tablespoon of white sugar. When the vinegar begins to take on a syrupy quality, remove from heat and let cool. CAREFUL: Don’t overcook it or it will turn into sticky, tar-like molasses. Also, be careful to open lots of windows and turn on some fans, or your kitchen will smell like a meth lab. Though I’ve never smelled a meth lab, I have to imagine this is what it’s like.

• Assemble the salad: Arrange greens in a bowl and toss with some slices of vidalia onion, carrot (cut on a bias looks beautiful!), dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and whatever else you’d like… I like to play around with the sweet flavors, so you can also add apple or pear slices. Serve on each plate and top with 2-3 goat cheese rounds, drizzle with balsamic vinegar reduction and some olive oil, add some salt and pepper if necessary and dig in!

3. Papas arrugadas con mojo picón / “Wrinkled” potatoes with spicy mojo sauce

So, this one didn’t turn out quite as good as I hoped because getting the potatoes properly “wrinkled” is an art unto itself. This is a specialty from the canaries that I still have yet to master, or try in its original place, but I first tried them at my dear friend Miguel’s house in Alcalá de Henares, and Rolando passed me the recipe. Roughly.

I’m going to write the recipe here that I found on this website and hope that it even comes close to what they should have tasted like. Though mine turned out okay, there’s definitely room for improvement. Also, the recipe for mojo that Rolando sent me is best made after observed, so if you really want to try Miguel’s authentic recipe, let me know and I’ll try and communicate it to you properly.

Don’t be scared of how much salt is in here, most of it is dumped out towards the end leaving just enough to make the skin wrinkly and delicious.

Ingredients for the potatoes:

• 2 pounds of small potatoes (either red/new or creamers or a mixture of both)
• water
• 2 to 3 cups of coarse salt

Ingredients for the mojo picón:

• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced and smashed into a paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 small to medium red pepper, roasted, skin removed and deseeded
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• 3 teaspoons of sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar

• Make the potatoes: Boil enough water to hold the potatoes and add the salt. When the water comes to a boil, add the potatoes and allow to cook uncovered for 20 minutes. After the potatoes have cooked for 20 minutes, drain the excess water and put the potatoes back in the dry pan and turn the heat on up to medium – high.  Allow the potatoes to “dry” the excess water off in the hot pan.  Swirl the pan around so that the potatoes don’t stick.  Do this for about five minutes.  You should see the potato skins get a white film on them and the skin will wrinkle a bit.

• Make the mojo picón: Add all ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor or blender.  With the motor going, slowly add the olive oil and taste for seasonings. Add more seasoning if you like it more acidic, or more olive oil if it’s a little too spicy.

4. Gambas al ajillo / Shrimp in garlic and olive oil

There is hardly an easier dish to make, even for the culinarily incompetent, than this staple of so many restaurants and bars of Spain. This is usually cooked in a medium-sized, shallow casserole dish. Start with raw, small-medium sized shrimp, peeled, and cook in garlic and red-pepper infused oil. Essential is some nice crusty bread to soak up all that goodness after the shrimp is gone!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs raw medium shrimp (peeled)
• 1/2 a cup of olive oil
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp (or more!) of red pepper flakes
• 3 tbsp white wine

• Make the shrimp: In a shallow casserole dish or sautee pan, heat oil to low-medium heat and add garlic and red pepper flakes. Allow that to infuse the oil (careful not to burn it!) for 20-25 minutes. In about 20 minutes, in a separate pan, add some of your infused garlic and throw the shrimps in. Pour in the white wine (sizzleeeee) and allow it to cook down, constantly moving shrimp so as to cook evenly. Add shrimp to oil in casserole dish and when they are pink and cooked through, serve immediately.

The finished product, complete with some chorizo and white asparagus.

All of this we served with a nice bottle of Rioja red wine and finished off with turrón for dessert (and some of my mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies… yesss). Thanks to Jen for the lovely plate arranging and gracious food sampling!

With my sous-chef Jes and taste tester Jillian.

JANUARY: Madrid Blizzard

So it’s not so much a travel, but how excited was I when Madrid was blanketed in a snowstorm the first week of January?! The city looked BEAUTIFUL!

Snowstorm in Madrid, January 2010

January: Salamanca, Spain

Something about this post just didn’t feel right. I had almost finished listing all of the destinations, when suddenly, I realized that I almost left this little gem out completely!! Salamanca is a beautiful university town about 2.5 hours west of Madrid (obviously all of these distances are approximate) in Castilla y Leon. The university here is incredibly, they have a massive enclosed Plaza Mayor in the same style as Madrid’s, and the buildings are beautiful. We also visited the Museo de Art Nouveau and Art Deco, that has some incredible stained glass windows and a kind of bizarre collection of dolls that frankly freaked me out.

Salamanca's Plaza Mayor

Rolo doing kung fu outside of the cathedral in Salamanca. Hey, it was closed for the day, we had to amuse ourselves somehow!!

February: FITUR

Okay, so it wasn’t quite the month of massive world traveling, but we did get to simulate it thanks to FITUR (Fería Internacional de Turismo) held annually in Madrid. Hundreds of countries have a featured pavilion, divided by continent… many of them, especially the Latin American countries, really went all out with cooking demonstrations, free drinks, food (Bolivian empanadas absolutely rocked my world!!) and even local dance and music acts. An absolutely AMAZING event that made my inner adventurous spirit tingle with delight! And to top it off, the individual Autonomous Communities of Spain each have a massive display… wine tasting, celebrity impersonators (Mr. Bean was in England’s pavilion!) and enough free stuff and brochures to warrant bringing a suitcase or two to carry it all, or just to practice traveling for real.

Swag from FITUR

Sampling a delicious Dominican cocktail... and take home the Brugal glass!

A visit to Israel without ever leaving Europe!

February: Jerez/Cádiz, Spain

February is the month of Carnaval, and there’s hardly a better place in Spain to celebrate it than Cádiz (though if we could have made it to the Canary Islands, I hear the parties there are also wild). Jocey, Perla and I decided to make a weekend trip out of it, so we hopped the 8 hour overnight bus to Jerez, a city in the south of Spain known for its sherry, enriched wines, jumping/dancing horses and flamenco culture. We visited the factory that produces Tio Pepe sherry (Gonzalo Byass), sampled all kinds of “olorosos” and “vino fino” and “vino dulce”, and spent a day in Cádiz, dressing up to celebrate Carnaval along with the rest of the crazies walking around and singing in the street. In Cádiz, we ate some delicious fried seafood by the beach, and in Jerez, which was much quieter and smaller but still gorgeous, we found a bar with delicious Andalucian tapas and glasses of sherry for 1 euro, saw the Alcazar (old fort) and even found a Sunday morning flea market that sold all kinds of odds and ends. The hospitality in the south os Spain is hard to beat, and though their accents are so thick I could hardly understand some, this was really an amazing Carnaval experience.

Sherry and flamenco bar in Jerez

My favorite Tio, and the best dressed bottle around.

Calles de Andalucia

A view by the sea of Cadiz

Dressed up and ready to party for Carnaval. Still can't decide if this is awesome or embarrassing.

March: Cuenca, Spain + Tara Visit!

A visit from my lovely seester, en route to Japan, brought a fun group adventure to Cuenca, a city about 2 hours east of Madrid, in the community of Castilla-La Mancha. It features a gorgeous cathedral (the first in the gothic style built in Spain) and is well-known for its “casas colgadas” (hanging houses, that look like they’re basically going to fall off the side of a cliff).

Our little group posing in front of the cathedral in Cuenca

Our Lady of Grace cathedral in Cuenca

A delicious dinner at Casa Miguel-Carmen. This album wouldn't be complete without a photo of them, since I spent so much time this year in their house, sampling Miguel's creations, drinking wine, and learning some new recipes. Tara didn't really like the cuttlefish, but the stuffed roasted red peppers were AMAZING!!

March: Semana Santa (Italy & Czech Republic)

The end of March brought Semana Santa, a.k.a. Holy Week, when Spanish children and workers alike get about a week of vacation for the Easter holidays… and the rest of us go travel all over the place. Rolando and I took a multi-destination trip…

1.  Duino/Trieste, Italy

After a flight to Milan and a 5 hour train ride we arrived in beautiful Trieste, Italy, to eventually stay for two days in Duino. It’s a small city that houses a castle that was, at one point, visited by Rainer Maria Rilke, who wrote the Duino Elegies during his stay there (one of Rolo’s favorite books). A quaint little town on the Adriatic sea, it provided a tranquil and beautiful first stop on our vacation. Trieste, only about 20 minutes away by bus, was a breathtakingly gorgeous city with delicious food and incredible Roman ruins. We spent some time wandering though the city’s snaking alleyways, up to the Trieste cathedral, which has some incredible views of the city and the sea.

Castello di Duino

Trieste Cathedral

Homemade linguini with mussels... AMAZING! And in the background, a huge and delectable pizza... for one.

2. Milan

We only spent one night here, due to an early morning flight to Prague the following day, but had a really nice visit to il Duomo, the 4th largest cathedral in the world and a stunning example of Gothic architecture. The city was definitely not my favorite, but again, the food in Italy can’t be beat, and we had a great dinner and gelati and then it was time to head off to the Czech Republic!

Il Duomo, Cathedral in Milan

3. Prague, Czech Republic

This was one of the destinations that I’ve been dying to visit for years, and it definitely did not disappoint. This is the farthest east in Europe I had ever been, and much of its art and architecture remained unharmed during the wars that ravaged Europe. I loved walking around Old Town Square, the Prague Castle, and a visit to the Kafka Museum was super interesting. We accidentally went into the Natural Museum thinking that we were going to learn all about the history of Prague. Instead, we found ourselves strolling through exhibits with thousands of specimens of taxidermied mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles. Though initially I was freaked out, it turns out we saw some pretty interesting and unique animals that we never would have seen anywhere else in the world (see photo below) And the best part? THEY HAD BAGELS! Prague had this old-world feel to it, while a bit more touristy than I’d like, definitely met and exceeded all of my expectations and I’d love to go back and visit again.

Týn Cathedral in Prague's Old Town Square, decorated for some kind of Easter celebration

This is a taxedermied Dodo bird from the National Museum (Národní muzeum). THEY ARE EXTINCT! THIS WAS AMAZING!!!

Interpretive statue of two men peeing in front of the Kafka Museum. Deeply moving.

Stained art nouveau glass by Mucha in the St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle. Absolutely one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

April: Chinchón, Spain

For Rolando’s birthday, we took a quick trip out to a city about 45 minutes away from Madrid, Chinchón. Known for its round Plaza Mayor where they used to hold bullfights, and its production of Anisette (a liquor that frankly I do not like one bit as I hate black licorice), we had a great time, a great meal and a very interesting stop at a bakery that specializes in personalized breads. Want to declare your undying love to someone in a loaf? They can make it happen!

Plaza Mayor in Chinchon

I love you, Eva. Here's some bread.

April: Barcelona

A trip to one of my favorite cities in Spain was planned to see V.I.T.R.I.O.L., a performance piece that my friend Miguel had written the texts for. All was going well until my appendix decided it wanted to emancipate itself, leading to an emergency room visit, a 4 day hospital stay and a 3 week recovery.

El Boqueron, one of the biggest and most beautiful markets. One of the only pictures I took before my grand entrance into the hospital

April: JESKA FUN 2010

Okay, this doesn’t technically count as a trip for me since I could hardly move very far out of my bed (she arrived the day that I returned from Barcelona, post-op)… but that doesn’t mean we didn’t cause as much trouble as possibly while she was here!!

Yeska and I in front of the bear and the madrono tree... aka the symbol of MADRIIIDTH!

May: Manzanares el Real, Madrid, Spain

This city, in the mountains of Madrid, is home to a very well preserved castle (that I had actually visited in 2007 while studying abroad), and in May, a pretty fun Medieval Fair.

Manzanares el Real Castle, built in the 15th century, but all dressed up for the Medieval Fair 2010.

Clandestine photo shoot inside the castle alcove with Rolo, Sergio and Adriana.

"Look at that archer's skillful use of his crossbow!" Okay, if we were to be real, they were probably talking about bad action movies from the early 90's.

June: Torremolinos (Malaga), Spain

The first weekend in June was a “puente”, or long weekend, and I joined 6 of my closest girlfriends in Madrid for a getaway in Malaga, on the southeastern coast of Spain. We went to a smaller city called Torremolinos, where we rented an apartment on the beach for the weekend, and spent it lounging on the beach, cooking, painting our nails and having a really great time.

Going to see Sex and the City 2 in Torremolinos... let's be real, what else would we do on a girl's weekend?

View of the Mediterranean from our condo in Torremolinos

Endlessly changing nail colors

June: Alicante, Spain

The last weekend in June, I headed south to Alicante, my current favorite beach in Madrid, to celebrate “Las Hogueras de San Juan” (Bonfires of St. John). They build giant “Ninots”, or wooden statues that are beautifully crafted, that normally represent an event or a famous person, and normally are making fun of it. There is a huge firework at midnight (la Palmera), and then they start burning down all of the ninots. This is similar to Las Fallas, an event held in Valencia in March, but this time the firefighters, who were there to keep the bonfires in check, turned their hoses on the crowd and we left soaking wet. The weekend was beautiful, relaxing, and a sad good-bye to some friends who were returning for good back to America.

The burning of one of the ninots in Alicante... MUUUUY CALIENTE! And that giraffe is not going down without a fight!

Getting ready to watch one Spain vs. Chile in the World Cup... on a bar's terraza, in front of a church, with Germans, Scots, Spaniards, Greeks, Americans and Italians

aftermath of the burning and being sprayed down by the firefighters.

July: Navamorcuende, Spain

For two weeks at the end of June I headed to a small pueblo of Talavera de la Reina (near Toledo, Spain) to work with 6-14 year olds at a bilingual summer camp. We swam, we hiked, we played games, we learned a little English, I saw some goats and some amazing sunsets and apart from the table falling on my foot and almost breaking it, the stomach virus plague that sickened 1/4 of the kids in the second week, the spider that tried to attack me falling from the ceiling onto my shoulder, and a few other late night shenanigans… it was a great time!

Cathedral and central plaza in beautiful Navamorcuende. Population: about 700.

Sunrise from the campsite on top of the mountain. Right after, the rain came and woke everyone up... and we hiked back down.

Fellow camp counselors on the last night... tanned, exhausted, but still smiling!

July: Spain wins the World Cup 2010!

Madrid was insane. Got back from camp just in time to see an entire country united by a soccer team. It was a beautiful thing and a very uplifting experience to walk down the main streets of the center of Madrid and see thousands of people yelling, singing, crying, laughing, celebrating and jumping into fountains. Waka waka indeed.

Post-fountain jumping, and with my mini Pulpo Paul (the octopus), the German "oracle" who allegedly correctly ascertained the outcome of a number of World Cup games.

August: Barcelona, Granada and Madrid, Spain with the Baumans

My family made a visit to the Iberian peninsula and we had an absolute blast traveling around three beautiful cities in Spain. From topless swimming in Barcelona, flamenco dancing in Granada and exploring the Palace (the real one and the hotel) in Madrid, we really had a wonderful time.

The Baumans on top of the hotel in Barcelona

About to watch some flamenco dancers in Granada... practicing in the backseat of the bus!

Atrium of the Palace Hotel in Madrid... not bad to enjoy breakfast here!

August: Dallas, TX

A quick trip to Texas allowed me to spend some QT with a one Ms. Lauren Wise, a great friend from middle school who is currently flying the friendly skies as a stewardess.

Cheesecake Factory with Laury Povich

August: Puerto Rico

While home in the USA for the summer, I decided to drop down to San Sebastian, PR to visit Rolando… and while there, we did a literal tour of the island, eating at the chinchorros (little food huts by the beaches), swimming in the crystal clear Caribbean waters, and enjoying time at his parent’s beautiful house in “El Pepino” (San Sebastian).

LECHON!!!! (roasted pork, boiled plantain, meat pie? (like a tamale perhaps?), avocado, boiled yuca and sweet potato... yes.)

Playa de Luquillo (Luquillo Beach)

Parque de Bombas, Ponce, PR

September: New York, New York

Though I go here at least twice a year, I got to spend some time and a crazy night out with my cousins in the Big Apple, and visit my family on Long Island. Since I was there for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, I went to temple with them and we had a big delicious dinner. The next day, we did what any normal Jewish family should do when you are actually allowed to take another day off from work and call it a holiday… we went bowling. Duh.

With Aunt Amy, Uncle Stew, Jaclyn, Stef, Pearl and Leo at the bowling alley!

October: Asturias (Oviedo, Cangas de Onis, Covadonga), Spain

The marketing campaign really is true… “todo el mundo lo dice” (everyone says it)… because everyone says that Asturias, in the north of Spain, is fabulous, the food is divine, that it’s green and beautiful, the people are friendly and the air is clear. During the last weekend of October, I took a mini-road trip with four friends in a rented car, and though it rained the entire time, that only helps the beautiful green grass and lush landscape develop. We ate chorizo and drank cider until we couldn’t take anymore.

We visited Oviedo, including visits to the city Cangas de Onis, which has a beautiful roman bridge, and the area of Covadonga, which included a rather terrifying bus ride winding through the mountains and an almost-visit to two lakes perched up in these same mountains. Pouring down rain for three days straight (only a few brief breaks in the clouds allowed us to enjoy sight seeing without umbrellas) prevented us from going any futher towards the lakes in Covadonga, but to be honest, just the bus ride was enough to see the amazingness that is this area.

Romanic architecture, post-modern friends

Oh yeah... they eat WELL in Asturias!

November: Aachen, Germany (and Maastricht, Holland)

My life was made very sad over the summer when a great friend, Beth, moved from Alcalá de Henares to Germany with her husband Edu. But I hopped a plane with Jocey and three of Edu’s friends (Fernando, Jose and Ruben) to check out their newfound German lives and spend some quality time straddling the borders of Germany, Holland and Belgium, including popping over to Maastricht, Holland, “just for dinner”. We rented a van to drive from the airport, chaos ensued and we sang “Barbara Streisand” all the way home.

At the border between Holland, Germany and Belgium, goofing off on a fallen tree. (Not pictured: Boobin' Ruben)

Dinner in Maastricht with some lovers.

November: La Rioja Wine Tasting

Yet another girl’s weekend, this time a bit north of Madrid in the famous wine producing region of La Rioja, in the city of Logroño. We hopped on the “VinoBus”, a mini-bus that took us to three wineries in about 4.5 hours, where we sampled wine, learned about the history and production of the delicious Rioja wines, and ate some tapas.

With the ladies tasting some wine at winery #1... we still remember this one.

Fall fashion, footwear style.

Playing Apples to Apples and getting ready to go out from our cute little hotel.

December: Guadarrama, Spain

Okay, so it’s not that far away but I’m going to include it as a travel adventure… got a problem with that?!? We headed up to stay with David and Jess, who live in a chalet in Guadarrama. It was snowy and fabulous, but we drank wine and huddled around the fire when we weren’t busy visiting  Valle de los Caídos (a controversial monument built by Spain’s former dictator, Franco, after the Spanish Civil War) or having lunch at a delicious restaurant called el Chivo Loco in Cercedilla, that had the best mushrooms I have ever eaten in my life!!!

David, Jessi and the Sierra de Madrid.

Lots of crosses, lots of snow.

December: St. Maarten / St. Martin

Most recent trip and a most incredible experience, because although I’m from Florida, I have never actually spent Christmas or New Year’s in a bikini soaking up the sun. This little island in the Caribbean is half French, half Dutch, and borders the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed at Dawn Beach, on the Dutch side on the Atlantic Ocean, and spent the days lounging around, playing card games in the cabana by the pool, visiting the capitals (Philipsburg on the Dutch side, Marigot on the French), and went to a small protected island called Ille Pinel that had a pretty incredible restaurant. One French restaurant, La Salle, was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever eaten at, and I have never heard anyone describe a menu so passionately as our waiter did. New Year’s was spent crashing a party that the hotel had organized and gambling a bit at the hotel casino (hey, I ended up winning about $150 from three card poker and roulette!)

At Dawn Beach with my cousins Stef and Jackie, on Dutch side of the island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Sunset in Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side of St. Maarten.

Dinner on New Year's Eve with Uncle Stew, Stef, Aunt Amy, Grandma Pearl, Grandpa Leo and Jackie... what a fine lookin' crew!

I can only hope that 2011 will be as full of amazing adventures as this past year. I’m finishing writing this while at home in Oldsmar, Florida, USA, as I’m continuing my plan for world domination. I’m going to be updating this bad boy a lot more recently, though probably with topics far less interesting, since I currently have no immediate definite travel plans. But never fear, I’ll try and think of some ways to entertain you all or distract you from work.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with an exceedingly excellent photo to ponder from this past week… because after a whole year of excitement, sometimes in the end there’s just no place like home. Au revoir and Happy New Year!

Home sweet home in Oldsmar, Florida... sneak attacking my mom with a lobster hat on.

- Rolando with pneumonia for 5 days in the hospital in Barcelona (June 2009)

- Rachel getting pharyngitis and not being able to speak or move in Berlin (May 2009)

- Rolando coming down with a 24-hour stomach virus and being stuck in bed the last day in Prague (April 2010)

….I had to get my APPENDIX taken out in BARCELONA!!

Yes, ladies and gentleman, that’s SURGERY on the COSTA BRAVA, May 2010!  And the best part is that I was in the same hotel that Rolando was in just under a year before. Amazing.

During a highly anticipated trip to Barcelona to see the showing of V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (a show that has texts written by our dear friend Miguel Orbaneja), I began to feel stomach pain and developed a fever on Saturday (May 1). After taking some Ibuprofen, it kept coming back. A trip to the ER Saturday night told us that I had a virus, but after I got worse on Sunday, we headed back to the ER instead of the bus station. And within about 5 hours, they were chopping open my poor belly to get to a big stinkin swollen appendix. Gross.

I stayed in the hospital for 2 days, this being the first time I’ve ever gotten surgery done, and sweet Rolando was amazing and helped me with everything. It’s been about two weeks now, and I’ve gotten the staples out (which left cool shark bite looking holes… from the shark.. with the straightest teeth ever…). It was unbearably painful at first, but with time I’ve gotten better and am now scampering around almost like normal. Tomorrow I head back to work for the first time in two weeks, so hopefully no kids decide to punch me in the scar. Owww.

In other news, I received a beautiful surprise visit from JES GAGNON, who brightened up my life with her presence. She came here to celebrate her birthday and see why I am obsessed with Spain, and I hope I gave her a pretty good show even though the first few days she was here I could barely get up out of bed. We managed to see a flamenco show with a drag queen in it, a Chinese restaurant in a murder hole, markets and stores and tapas (oh my) and I just wish I could have kept her here for forever. It reminds me how wonderful life in America still is, and how I probably need to return to its orbit sooner or later.

Bringing me to my next point… next year?! No idea. This year has been frankly too much fun (Dublin, Zaragoza, Jeréz, London, Salamanca, Cuenca, Chinchón, Barcelona, Prague, Milan, Trieste, La Rioja…. why is life so cool?!) and next year is like flying into the wild blue yonder without a parachute. I cannot for the life of me decide if it’s worth staying here another year (or half year) teaching some English, or maybe getting another miscellaneous job, or if I should just give up and scoot on back to the USA and try and begin again from there. I love Madrid, it’s such a fun place to live, but Rolando is also unsure of what is going to happen and that makes my life even more difficult. If anyone could just figure this out for me now, I would really appreciate it.

Also, in breaking news, headed to the beach (FINALLY) in Málaga the first weekend in June, and cannot believe that in the end of May in Madrid I’m still wearing a winter coat.

Ahh, and San Isidro. That was this weekend. The big festival of Madrid, which happened to have one of its epicenters about five blocks from my house, at the Parque de San Isidro. Carnival rides, carnies, donut and bocadillo stands, games, ham raffles, little kids dressed up in fake moustaches… the fun never stops. Also, since Madrid was celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Gran Via (one of the main traffic arteries in Madrid), they cleared the street, put down a big blue carpet and had lots of musical and dance acts all night. Unfortunately, it was too crowded to really see anything, but the thought was nice and we had fun.

Coming up in a future post, I’m planning to write about all of my favoUrite eateries in Madrid to give all of you loyal readers (all one of you, I’m sure) the opportunity to know where is delicious here, so if you come visit, you’ll at least know where I’m taking you in advance.

I decided it was time to share some of my experiences and learned behaviors with the blog-reading community, so that you can know what to expect during an extended stay in Spain, and maybe determine if you, too, have been here long enough to agree with some of these. Comments and opinions welcomed!

1. You’ve mastered the “dos besos” (two kisses) and how to properly administer them without accidentally kissing someone on the mouth. At least when sober.

2. You’ve realized the power of goodbye – or the endlessness of goodbye, because every time you leave a place you have to make sure to “dos beso” everything with a pulse so as not to seem rude. This being said, you have learned to prepare to leave at least 10-15 minutes before your actual intended time of departure to avoid hurt feelings.

3. Going out at 11 PM just seems ludicrous – that’s the time you START getting ready. Also, you need to be careful with your digestion, because you probably just finished eating dinner.

4. You know exactly which doors you have to enter on the train or metro so that it drops you off directly in front of a door or escalator or flight of stairs to exit as quickly as possible and avoid the crowd.

5. Speaking of public transportation, you’ve developed a seething hatred for: really smelly people who don’t know they’re smelly but sit down next to you or across from you therefore trapping you in their nasty bubble of B.O.; that group of teenagers or middle aged women that won’t shut up because their opinion is more important than the delicious silence and tranquility that could be your journey; that guy with the music on his cell phone that starts playing hip hop or techno music as loud as possible because clearly, we all want to hear it; people who stand directly in front of the doors as they open; and, of course, the starers, who for some reason, can’t get enough of looking at your for extended and awkward periods of time, all the while with a murderous glare.

6. You know which “chino” (convenience) stores are the “good” ones (that sell alcohol after 11 PM secretly) and actually have a preferred fruit or vegetable stand.

7. “Service with a smile” is a distant dream, and waiters, public employees and everyone else in the service industry also knows it. So you just don’t bother tipping anymore, because it doesn’t matter. And in the absence of wonderful customer service, you’ve learned to appreciate simple “Service without a scowl”.

8. You will not go the bank on the weekend. You will not go to the bank after 2 PM. You will not call the bank for free. You will also not ever see more than one teller at the bank at any given time, regardless of how many people are standing in line. If you’re lucky enough to see more than one teller, don’t get excited – he’s about to get up and walk away to go drink a coffee. And if there are four people in line, there are actually eight – as soon as it’s your turn, there will be four little old ladies emerging from the darkness and insisting that they were there first, but couldnt be bothered to stand in line like the rest of the people.

9. You have given up on trying to pass anyone on the street and accepted that everyone walks the same pace: sloooOOWWW!!

10. You can’t help but smile in the wine aisle at Carrefour when you realize that you can recognize the places you’ve travelled by the wines and liquors typical of the region: Tempranillos from La Rioja, Oloroso and Brandy from Jeréz, Albariño from Galicia, and even Port wine from Porto (oh wait, maybe I’m just an alcoholic… and that last one is in Portugal. Anyway.)

10. Every eight days or so, or more frequently depending on where you live, you will see someone peeing in the street in broad daylight…. And you’re no longer shocked by it.

11. You know that there really is more than one way to make a Tortilla.

12. You know the difference between a caña, clara, tubo, jarra and tercio. And also, between a pintxo, tapa, ración and media.

13. Though you don’t actually take a siesta, you know exactly what is considered “siesta time” and plan your life accordingly so that the shops will be open.

14. You are aware that being called tia and tio doesn’t actually invoke any family ties or a need to buy birthday gifts, and that tronca and tronco don’t mean that you look like a tree.

Feel free to continue this list…. I know I will

So.

Welcome to the New Year. I don´t feel any different. A few interesting things have happened….

LONDON with Rolando was incredible!!!! Ate tons of delicious fish and chips, saw the beautiful city and its landmarks, saw Avenue Q, went to Midnight Mass in St. Paul’s Cathedral, saw a show at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, heard Big Ben go BONG BONG BONG, minded the gap, visited the Tower of London, Tate Modern and National Gallery museums, saw HARRODS and all of its incredibly department store on crack magic, and enjoyed basking in the glory that is being able to speak my native language for 7 days straight. We really had an amazing time and I cannot wait to go back there one day soon. Sigh. It was always my dream to make it there, and I can’t believe we actually made it. I still have a 10 pound note in my wallet, just in case I head back soon…

SALAMANCA: FINALLY fulfilled one of my goals from when I studied abroad here and spent the weekend in Salamanca, a city about two hours outside of Madrid, famous for its University and fabulously beautiful plaza in the city center. Also, it’s a crazy good place for tapas, and has some great sights to see. We saw an old Roman bridge, the totally “plateresco” cathedral, the famous facade of the university (in the architecture, a little sculpted frog is hidden – legend has it that if you find it, you will pass your exams, I think. I didn’t find it because it was freezing and windy. Guess I’ll be a failure.) Rolo and I spent the weekend there, and though the hotel severely lacked HEAT, we had a great time.

JEREZ/CÁDIZ: For the celebration of Carnaval, I headed down south to Andalucia with Perla and Jocey the weekend of February 12. Perla and I took a 7 hour overnight bus ride to get there, and Jocey slept overnight at the airport, so by the time we all arrived we were pretty much beat. We stayed in a hotel in Jerez, though it was only booked for two, so Perla had to keep sneaking in and out. In reality, they never noticed and probably wouldn’t have cared!! Jerez is famous for its Sherry wine, so we got to visit the bodega (vineyard) of Gonzalez Byass, also known as the manufacturer of the famous TIO PEPE wine. We got a tour and some free samples of dry sherry. Jerez is a very small city, but incredibly charming and beautiful, and famous for strange things such as their Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, where they teach horses how to dance. WTF??? Either way, we found an adorable bar that used to be the typical flamenco bars (“tabancos”) where there would be impromptu performances and whatnot. It was great. They gave little glasses of dry sherry (manzanilla) or pedro ximenez (sweet delicious sherry that tastes like raisins) or their own mixture they made in the bar, as well as fantastic tapas. We also saw a crazy rastro-style market on Sunday, and toured the Alcazar (very old castle). We didn’t go into the Cathedral in Jeréz, but I thought it was stunning – I had never seen a cathedral with grass growing up on top, around the gargoyles and around the sculptures in the entrances and on the roof. That is perhaps just a sign of poor upkeep, but it certainly was impressive and beautiful in my opinion. We went to Cádiz for just one day, a 45 minute train ride away, to see everyone all dressed up and see what this Carnaval was about. We dressed up as babies and got inappropriate comments made about our pacifiers. We stopped at a restaurant and the owner prepared us a giant plate of fried seafood, the freshest I’ve had in a LOOONG time. DELICIOUS! I saw the ocean on a beautiful walk out to the Castillo de San Sebastian, and wished so bad it wasn’t so freezing. I wanted to jump in, or maybe have Perla push me, but we walked away from the ocean safe and dry. In the end, I probably would have been more impressed with Carnaval if I understood the traditions in Andalucia behind it – but it was definitely a fun and amusing way to pass the day.
SO now what?!

CUENCA next Saturday (March 6) for the day with friends. Day trip from Madrid. Houses hanging off of cliffs. Can’t wait.

ITALY & CZECH REPUBLIC with Rolando for SPRING BREAK! We’ll fly to Milan, hopefully stay in Duino or Trieste, then fly to Prague for five days, therefore officially fulfilling my previously stated desire to see Eastern Europe. Today Rolo and I bought a guidebook of Prague. IT’S ON!

MÁLAGA (Torremolinos) in JUNE for a lovely girl’s weekend at the beach. After some bang up planning by my lovely friend Lori, seven of us will be renting a house so that I can refresh my tan and finally roll around on the beach after this evil winter.

Other hopeful destinations: Chinchon (day trip), Granada/Córdoba, NORTH SPAINNN, Amsterdam w/Holly as long as we can find the right time, and maybe a trip involving Greece, Turkey and a number of other fun places over the summer….. Any suggestions?!