¿Tienes Hambre?

I find it hard to think of things to write about now! Even though there are new things that happen every day! But since right now food is on my mind, I will let you know what I’ve been eating! Everyone loves food.

Breakfast: 9 AM, right after I wake up and before I leave for school (except Tuesdays, when I go to tutoring and need to be at school by 9, and Wednesdays when I get up at 6:45 for Gota de Leche). Literally every day I’ve eaten Special K Red Berries – but I swear it’s soooooo much better here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m starting to think that it’s not just dried strawberries but rather a mixture of dried strawberries and raspberries. And I put the tiniest bit of milk on it (I don’t like when my cereal is swimming haha). Many of my friends’ home stay’s don’t refrigerate their milk. It’s popular here to sell it in those cartons that you usually find broth in back at home, so it does not need to be refrigerated. But for some reason my señora refrigerates it, which is great because I like my milk cold….I also make coffee on her Italian coffee pot thing. I drink way less coffee here, only a tiny teacup, but it’s much better in quality.

Mid-day: around 11:30, I get a break in my class. I either go get a coffee and/or eat an apple I have packed. Yes, I still eat at least one apple a day. I can’t kick the habit, they’re just sooo good.

Lunch: “La Comida” around 2-2:30PM. I come home and my senora makes lunch. This is the biggest meal of the day in Spain. In fact, many stores are closed from around 2-6 because Spaniards go home to eat with their families and relax. I usually have gazpacho, some sort of meat or main course, bread and fruit.

The gazpacho that my señora makes is my new favorite food. I don’t know where it’s been all my life, but she’s giving me the recipe before I leave. Gazpacho is like a cold soup – which is a winner with me because I prefer when foods are cold, and I love soup. Double whammy. This one, salmorejo, is just tomatoes, olive oil, and some other spice pureed together. She gives me a little practically every day at lunch and dinner, because she claims the tomatoes will keep me from getting sick.

The meats that she makes are either what she calls a “hamburger” – which is kind of like a meat patty? I don’t really know how meat works haha, it’s not my favorite but whatever I eat it! Another option is meatballs, which are pretty good. Chicken has been made, which was pretty normal. Eggplant with cheese, tortilla de patatas (aka tortilla de españa, which is eggs and potatoes and so ridiculously delicious), and some type of minestrone soup have been my favorite “main courses” so far. I also discovered I still hate sausage…she’ll put it in some dishes and I just eat around it.

The “dessert” or fruit has been either watermelon or cherries lately. Mmm. And finally, the bread. I think I’ve eaten more bread here in the past 3 weeks than I have eaten in my entire life. I’m not a huge bread person, I think it’s pretty unsatisfying and a waste of carbs. But the bread here is actually the best. It’s because they have real-life bakeries everywhere! Could you believe it - bread that’s not processed at a manufacturing plant. Weird, right? So therefore, it is delicious and I eat it. I usually don’t finish the obnoxiously large chunk that my señora gives me at every meal, but it goes well with my salmorejo ;)

Dinner: Between 9 and 10 PM. Dinner is a light meal, beginning with salmorejo and something else. That something else varies: sometimes it’s leftovers from a different day’s lunch, sometimes it’s salad and a sandwich, and sometimes it’s this delicious concoction of eggs and vegetables (kind of like an omelet). That one is obviously my favorite. But actually tonight (Wednesday) she made me vegetable pasta with shrimp, which was pretty delicious and reminded me of something I’d eat back at home! Then she’ll offer me dessert but I politely decline because she gives me large portions of everything…Oh did I mention bread is served at this meal too? It is!

Well, are you hungry now?! I am, even though I just ate that delicious dinner I was talking about. Haha. I’m hoping to learn how to cook some of this stuff, but we’ll see how that goes…Also might I mention the gelato and ice cream here is fantastic. Obviously I had to try this…

Anyway, I figured I’d update with food. It’s a crowd pleaser.

Hasta luego!