PB&J and Pig Legs

HOLA!!

My 2.5 week holiday vacation from school began yesterday afternoon, after a fantastic food exchange/Christmas party. Everyone in my class was asked to bring a food dish native to their country or just a tasty dish for the rest of us to enjoy. I was jokingly asked to bring PB&J sandwiches, which I decided was a splendid idea. Many times in class whenever we have talked about food, somehow the topic of peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches comes up... which leads everyone to wrinkle their noses in disgust, especially when I mention that it is normal to accompany this delicious sandwich with a glass of ice cold milk. Hence, I felt it appropriate to give everyone a taste of the amazing American sandwich with a small glass of milk. I got mixed responses from my classmates. The two main reactions I heard were A) Mmmm... tasty! and, B) "Es muy raro"... basically a uniqe and odd taste, but not necessarily bad. All of the Spaniards and most of the Europeans downright refused to drink milk by itself (not in coffee or with chocolate) because apparently, it is not normal and quite disgusting to even think about consuming milk by itself. Haha. Anyways, that was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the other foods that were brought to class: Japanese tortillas (basically, scrambled eggs rolled into a tortilla shape), some yummy Japanese dishes, chocolate, bread with cheese and ham (very Spanish), and some fantastic crepes with chocolate and apple slices.

I've been here for nearly two months now and I still haven't really gotten used to the way ham is sold here. Check these pictures out. These are cured pigs legs... so they don't need to be refrigerated. The meat is very tasty and actually, the best of these can be incredibly expensive (€600), though you can find some for as cheap as €45. This ham is very expensive in the US since only one European company has the license to ship these overseas. It's such an interesting way to eat meat since you basically shave off the skin and then the meat into thin strips. I just still can't get over the fact that it is a whole pig leg, hoof and all. Maybe it is sort of like us eating a turkey on Thanksgiving? I don't know. Tastes great though!




Anyways, I'm on break now with an extra 5 hours/day to myself without school and the commute. I've just been lazing around today, but I'll figure out some fun touristy things to occupy my time during these next two weeks. However, I do still need to take the kids to school and pick them up, so I can't make any big plans. I don't mind too much though.

I'm planning on visiting Madrid with a few classmates in January and then I'm going to a friend's wedding in Switzerland in May. Other than that, I want to make plans to visit southern Spain, Paris, and Rome. Other than that, we'll see. Traveling is very cheap here. There are some airplane tickets to places for around €10 to €20 (after taxes) round trip. Maybe I'll take a weekend trip to London. One of my au pair friends really wants to visit Greece, and if that turns out to be cheap and easy, I might consider going since that's one of the places I definitely have on my list to visit sometime in my life.

In other news, I discovered a Frank Sinatra/Bing Cosby Christmas CD in my host parent's house. I've been listening to it nearly nonstop since then. :) I'm excited to spend Christmas here, though I am beginning to wish my family and friends could be here as well. Oh, and as nice as the weather is here compared to rainy Seattle, I am a tad bit jealous of the many inches of snow in Seattle. Haha, I always complain that Seattle never gets enough snow and the one winter I'm not there, a dumpload lands on my house. Go figure. ;) Os echo de menos, mis amigos y familia.

Cuidate,
Linnell

Picturas mios:












PB&J tasting! Niki was scared to try it. :) And a better picture of the churros con chocolate. mmmm...