Cangrejo gigante

At my father's insistence, here is a blog post about the cangrejo gigante that I had for dinner tonight.
To my mother's dismay, I would like to add that I also ate fish.

(**Disclaimer: in actuality, this is not a real photo. It is a google image. Most unfortunately, I did not take a real photo before the crab was eaten. I am terribly sorry for the intentional false impression. But I thoroughly appreciate your confidence and belief that this image is an accurate representation of the crab I ate for dinner tonight. Because it is.)

We sat down for dinner around 9:30 pm. Dinner is served tapas-style on a regular basis, meaning, there are plenty of food options to choose from, and the options that are served are meant for everyone to share. The assigned seats, clockwise around the dinner table are: Javier, Mayte, Gerardo, Abel, Paula, me. We started with Crema de potato, a thick soup, that was kind of salty. (I wonder if the comparable-thickness broccoli-cheddar soup exists in Spain? Maybe I'll suggest that next time ;) I wonder how to make broccoli-cheddar soup...)

Then the main course was fish, fried and breaded. It was actually pretty good! For someone whose never been a fan of seafood, surprisingly, I actually like it's soft texture. (I ate some shrimp last night at the Chinese restaurant, too!) Ironically, what I didn't like was the salad: thin, stringy lettuce with pecans, too much vinegar and salt, and not enough oil and pepper. Bread on the side...

And then the crab, with good ol' MD Old Bay =)
Thankfully, Mayte served me a claw, so I didn't have to rip that part off, myself. Then I used the nut-crab-cracker, and it made a loud CRUNCH sound, as sliver of the shell spewed off and landed on the table. From there, I was able to pick the juicy, white meat from the legs, dousing every bite thoroughly with Old Bay. No more using-the-holes-to-sprinkle-the-spice--I opened it up and poured a healthy portion onto my plate. My family seemed to like it, too! Particularly Gerardo.
We also helped ourselves to bites of chorizo (sausage), and wedges of queso (cheese). Delicious!

For dessert, I dug my fingers into the skin of a ripe clementine, complete with a green leaf to compliment it's orange outer layer. Citrus scent filled the air, as juice unintentionally sprayed to my right and left. I was appreciative of the overpowering newness, to eliminate the nauseating seafood smell that lingered. (Yea, surprising truth: I like the taste, but not the smell.) The thick wedges were delicious; I let each bite overwhelm my taste buds.

Needless to say, I went to bed tonight with an unusually satisfied stomach ;)

(@anybody reading my post who is actually an author: What do you think? Could I be a writer? Lol.)
(@Dad: How's that for a mouth-watering, taste-mimicking, aroma-sensing description, in lieu of additional photos, video clips, or audio tracks?)
(@Mom: Sorry if you thought that was gross when you read it. I knew you would.)

HASTA LUEGO

Host family

I love my host family!
The rhythm of my host family is very similar to my life at home... with people always coming and going, and figuring out where to take which car, and with whom, etc.

Mayte, host mom, is a forestry engineer, as is Gerardo (host dad). Paula, 22, spends her days at the university, studying biology. Javier, 19, goes to institudo each day (like, high school), and Abel, 10, has class in colegio. Abel is just like Zachy; full of energy, excitement for new things, enthusiasm for simple things, and passion for what he enjoys.

Then there's our pets: We have Juma and Iris (cats), Negro (an old black lab, lives outside on the porch), and some fish in a small tank (including a beta who has a little section to himself). Juma likes to curl up on my lap while I'm on the computer, just like Rascal, when someone is typing! Paula also takes care of five newborn chickens, nightly, who live in a small wooden box, which stays on the countertop in her bathroom, and they will transition into the outside cage when they are bigger. The outside cage is home to about four other birds. The pet-next-door-neighbors to the bird cage is another outside cage, home to two rats (whom I haven't seen, yet). Paula also keeps her snakes in the glass cage in her room. Cool =P

If you wanna make God laugh, make plans.

That's right, I made plans, and then God laughed at me. LOL.
The plan WAS to join Rory and Carolina for breakfast at 9:00a, and then walk to UEM for Orientation by 10:00. Instead, I slept until 1:00pm (SO DELIGHTFUL!), and then got up to go to the gym after at 13-hour night's sleep ;)
The gym was good... after that, came home for a shower, and joined Carolina for some errands this afternoon. Specifically, to buy myself an alarm clock, haha.
We have another UEM Orientation on tomorrow, and then a trip to TOLEDO on Friday! WHOOT.
More later--hasta luego!

Llegada en Madrid!

First day in Madrid has been wonderful!  My flight arrived before 7a, customs was not a problem, and my host parents met me at the airport.  Mayte, the mom, had to go to work from the airport, and Gerardo (host dad) drove me home...  about an hour's ride, but I didn't even notice because we just talked the whole way.  I had a few minutes with Abel, the 10 year old brother, before Gerardo took him to school... He is so similar to Zachy ;) Then I had about an hour to kill with Javier, 19 year old brother, who studied for a year as an exchange student in Pennsylvania with Rotary.  He escorted me to the cafe to meet up with Susan, the program director, and the other SA students, and from there we went to la Universidad (about as close to our house as SPHS is to my house at home).  I registered for classes and got a cell phone--will send contact info soon.  Then was lunch with host sister Paula, age 22, and Javi, and was able to get in a nap. Family dinner was delicious (we try to eat together nightly); we went to a Chinese Tapas Restaurant. I'm so glad I had that experience just days ago in DC, lol =P The rhythm of our house here is much like Home, with decisions being made about who takes which vehicle where and how everyone needs to get to wherever they need to be...  Overall it's been a great time, so far!

Tomorrow's plan:
Meet up with Rory and Carolina (SA students) for breakfast, UEM Orientation at 10:00a, and maybe hit the gym after that. Hasta Luego!

Conference

To all who were praying for my conference presentation... Thank you! It was really successful.

I arrived in DC on Thursday, Jan. 26. The American Association of Colleges and Universities Annual meeting was hosted at the Grand Hyatt--gorgeous location! I attended the 1:30 session on Teaching Democratic Thinking, and the 2:45 session called "Student Success for the 21st Century: A System-Wide Perspective." From there, I had some time to kill before supporting my faculty advisor presenting in "The Role of Teaching Centers in Forging Collaborations for Institutional Transformation." After that was over, we were joined for dinner at Ping Pang in Chinatown by our co-presenters. Dinner was served tapas-style--everybody shares the appetizers that are ordered on behalf of the whole table. It was a practice that reminded me of sharing mate in Argentina ;)

Friday, Jan. 27 began with photos of DC traffic at dawn, an omelet and toast from Room Service at the Donovan House, Boy Meets World on ABC Family, and black flats that pinched my pinky toes. The redness on my toes matched the striking red of my skirt suit =P
Our 8:45 session on "Raising Student Voices: Developing Democratic Engagement through Dialogue About Teaching and Learning" was incredibly well-received! Everybody seemed impressed, inspired, and empowered. It was really exciting!
Then was lunch from a corner deli, a stop at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and a blue line metro ride to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian... all of which was absolutely delightful, except for the five hours that my cell phone died :(

Nonetheless, the hostess at Carmein's was kind enough to charge my cell phone there while Cat, my good friend from La Casa, joined me for dinner. Such good food, and such good company!
Walking around DC, after dinner, we "bumped into" Gabby and Rima at Starbucks, and then walked together back to the Donovan.
That when we had all the REAL FUN with the free-not-free toys and drinks in the hotel room ;) hahahahaaaa jk

I felt well rested, after having dozed heavily for several hours in the cocoon of my feather-bed, when I woke up today, Saturday. I attended another student voice session at 8:30, presenting "Assessing Diversity, Empowering Students." I saw Pres. Lambert at Starbucks, and was thrilled to join him for some light morning fare and pleasant conversation.
That was about it for the conference events for me... the drive home was fun though! I kinda got lost but intentionally didn't want to use a map. I've been working lately on overcoming my directional challenges XD

Until now, AAC&U has served as a buffer for thinking about, or not thinking about, going to Spain. But, literally, now Espania is MANIANA, and I can't believe it. SO SURREAL. So unreal and distant from my mind, in fact, that I didn't even pack until like an hour ago (**note the timestamp on the blog post, HA!)

Next post will be from ESPANIA!! <3

Visa

Got my visa today!
Good for six months =)
ttys USA

The Spain To-Do list:
-fix debit card
-buy host family gifts
-pack
-read up on Spain
-update iPod
-verify flight arrangements

...and so the fun begins!