First off, Google Chrome is obnoxiously smart. It keeps changing my language to Spanish. If I'm logged into my e-mail account, it stays in English, but if I'm not, it switches to Spanish. I'll be okay with this later, but right now all my Google Scholar searches prioritize Mediterranean articles, and that's not what I want.
On to the story... Yesterday, Trevor (the other American teacher from UW at my school, who teaches Social Studies and also has an ELL endorsement) and I went to one of the science teacher's houses for lunch. He is learning English so he can take the test to be qualified to teach the English sections of chemistry and physics. His wife also speaks English because she is a chemistry professor at the Complutense University in Madrid. She said, "Always we have to write the articles in English and it's very difficult because you have to switch your mind." That's why I'm so excited for my section students who get to learn science in English. It's so helpful in this world we've got.
We had paella and tortilla with a delicious rioja (especially for being only a 2008). For those who don't know (I didn't before), paella is a very traditional Spanish dish, and it is also very delicious. The pan it is made in is called a paella, and that's why it's the name of the dish. You start by frying up some vegetables, kalamari rings, and chicken - the recipe varies by family. Apparently, it's mandatory to have bones in the chicken. Later, you add some rice and lightly fry it before adding water. Toward the end, you fold in some freshly mortar-and-pestled saffron, which is pretty inexpensive here. Luis said many people don't use it, they just add coloring, but that is the wrong way. Once it's ready, you turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 more minutes, then you surprise your guest, who may or may not have asthmatic reactions to shellfish, by putting a few prawns on the top. She then sneaks off to her bag, takes a few puffs from an inhaler, and rejoins the group.
Tortilla is probably my favorite dish here, since I'm a big fan of potatoes and beaten eggs, and this combines both! To make tortilla, you fry thinly sliced potatoes in oil over a low heat, then when soft, chop them up with a spatula. Once they're completely cooked, smush out all the oil and combine the potatoes with some (probably massive) amount of beaten eggs. This is where it gets tricky. We make omelettes here, where you simply fold over a thin layer of eggs when they're cooked. Maybe some people flip their omelettes, but I haven't ever seen it in person. With the potatoes and the umpteen eggs in this thing, you have to flip it halfway through. This involves flipping the tortilla over onto a plate, then sliding it back into the pan. Mind you, this is half-cooked eggs we're talking about, so you're flipping over a runny, eggy mess with a cap of cooked, fluffy eggs. After getting egg all over your kitchen, if you're unpracticed as I am, you have to then try and get the runny bits of egg on the bottom of the pan so they cook, and get the fluffy bit centered in the pan and not folded over awkwardly. Fortunately, Luis is an expert, so there was no egg to clean up.
Rioja means "red table wine" regardless of the grapes or region. This particular rioja included some grapes I'm not familiar with and therefore don't remember the names of, as well as cab, sauvingon, merlot, etc... It was good. Our hostess gave us a lot of it.
After lunch, it is traditional to have a café. I love the way they take their coffee, and it makes sense that it follows meals. After having a rich meal accompanied by a sizable amount of wine, a little coffee helps you get back to whatever you were doing. My order is cafe con leche caliente, even when it's 90 degrees outside. It's so wonderful. It's a shot (or two?) of espresso with steamed milk, but no foam. They are 4oz maximum, so just enough to top off the tank after a complete meal. Sometimes I go wild and get a macchiatto, which is espresso with a light topping of milk froth. Yum. I think the different names for the coffee drinks are very interesting. Here, a cappuccino is espresso with milk froth and cocoa powder, like a mini-mocha. This drink is also delicious.
But I digress, as I tend to do. After dinner, Emilia (I think that's how they would spell it) asked, "Would you like coffee? Or tea? Or would you like to take your coffee in the mountains?" I responded with an adamant "YES". Trevor agreed, so we headed north past Soto del Real, past the penitentiary, and skirted around the town of Manzanares el Real. We drove past my first ever castle, with the exception of Disneyland. It made me think of Eddie Izzard, "I'm from Europe, where the history comes from... When they built EuroDisney, they said, 'Make it bigger lads, they've got castles here. They know what they look like.'" It looked really cool from the outside, and I can't wait to return and see the inside. Evidently, a troupe of actors puts on plays in full medieval costumes. We drove into the protected area and the scenery immediately transformed from sage brush to pine forest. The pines are mostly from Arizona and other places that are not Spain, but we'll ignore that for the moment. There are two restaurants by the main parking lot, and we had our coffee there.
After coffee, Luis and Emilia led us on a walk on some of the trails. They have lived in Colmenar Viejo for 25 years, and when they were younger, they came out to the mountains to hike all the time. Luis also did some rock climbing. He is incredibly knowledgeable about all of the plants in the area. He showed us jara, which is a bush with very sticky, fragrant leaves that smell something like lavender and sandalwood. He also showed us wild rosemary, and a small shrub whose name escapes me that smelled like rosemary, sage, and thyme all at once. We feasted on wild blackberries (not Himalayan blackberries, yay!). The bushes grow tall, the leaves look like the ones on the Washington native creeping blackberries, and the berries are only as big as blueberries. Most of them were almost ripe at this point, which meant they were tart and refreshing. We also learned about the aces (ath-eys), or maple trees, which came from France. The plants are beautiful, green, fragrant, and often prickly. I was so happy to be out in the fresh air and open spaces that Emilia said, "It is like your face has been changed. I see a different person now."
They also told us about the local names for the geological formations around us. The highest peak was called the towers; there were vertical columns of rock rising up from the horizon. There was another lower peak with, if I remember the Spanish correctly, Los Cuardos de los Muertos, or the Cliffs of Death. Luis said he was climbing these once, and as he was rappelling down, his friend asked, "You know why they call these the Cliffs of Death?" At one point, we came to a clearing with a rock in the middle of it. As we approached, Emilia asked, "Do you see the little pich?" (pronounced like the German 'ich') Trevor and I were very confused. "Otra vez?" "Do you see the little pich? The pich! Como se dice...*mumbling in Spanish*" Luis rescued with, "The little piggie!" We searched the upper parts of the rocks, then finally dropped our gaze to the meadow and realized there was a rock shaped exactly like the head of a pig right in front of us. They also showed us the bird (didn't see that one) and the sphinx (totally saw that one, but Emilia said she's never seen it).
It was a very fantastic afternoon, and when I got home, I went straight to bed and dreamt of the mountains.
This is Rachel, one of my roommates.
And that's Jen, another one of my roommates.
And it was pretty.
