I was a little worried before this program because I was not sure if I would enjoy Spanish food, but so far I have loved every meal my host-mom, Carmen, has made for me. The food here in Spain is not very spicy, and is very "starchy" with lots of breads, potatoes, and cheeses. For meals, they are very scheduled in my house. Every morning before I go to school I eat breakfast at 830. Then Lunch is at 2 after classes, and dinner is at 915 pm. Lunch is the big meal of the day, and then dinner and breakfast are smaller. When I eat breakfast, I eat alone, but I always eat lunch and dinner with Carmen. However, she eats a lot less than I do, so when she is done she goes and takes her siesta.
My breakfast every morning consists of a doughnut or a croissant, toast, coffee and orange juice.
This is a picture of my lunch from today, consisting of bread and butter, a pasta with ham, carrots, peas and creme sauce, and then a plate of cherries and watermelon for dessert. It was very delicious!
For dinner, Carmen usually cooks a pretty American meal, and almost always there is french fries or other fried vegetables. Tonight, we had Perros Caliente, or hot dogs. I really like the hot dogs here because they taste a lot better than American hot dogs. Also, Carmen makes pizza, hamburgers, chicken, or steaks for dinner also.
Last night, a few of us went out for tappas/ the bars, and when I returned Carmen had left a few pieces of pizza for me. It was very surprising and I was very excited!
Carmen making magic in the kitchen!
This is a picture of the refrigerator in the kitchen. On my first day here, Carmen pointed to it and said, " when you are hungry, please eat and feel at home". This really did make me feel at home, and from Day 1 Carmen has made sure I am never hungry.
After interviewing Carmen, I learned that she buys food twice a week at two different supermercados, Dia and a the supermercado, where she buys the majority of her food. She says that recently food prices have gone up because of the "crisis", and that in general every single item costs more than it use to. She lives in a summer house during the summer, and she said that there the prices are the same as they are in the city.
When I asked her if she planned out what she was going to buy before she went to the supermercado, she looked at me a little funny and said "Claro!" I think she was a little taken aback by the thought of just going to the store and looking at things to buy, which is generally what my family does in the states. We will make a list when we go to the grocery store, but if we see other things we will buy them. Carmen strictly buys the things on her list and goes.
For preparing the food, Carmen spends about one hour total in the day, which is less than other people's senoras because I am the only other person in the house besides Carmen. Breakfast takes only a couple minutes, lunch takes about 45 and dinner 15, depending on the dishes she is cooking. Her favorite foods to cook are "comidas calientes" because she likes to use the fryer and stovetop. Her favorite food is pescado, especially "atun". She learned to cook from her mother, and she loves to watch cooking shows, especially Master Chef.
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