The Vortex...

So about a month ago the CRAZIEST thing happened! I got SUCKED into a WHIRLWIND.  The Saturday before my birthday I went out to celebrate, (see The Waiting Game, May 8^th)  and I got sucked into a very powerful and tricky vortex known as the Celebratory Vortex.  The Celebratory Vortex is crafty.  It lures you with the promise of never-ending fun, family time, excitement and adventure.  Everything is fantastic!!  Until, of course, the vortex decides to spit you out like old gum and coldheartedly discard you on the side of the road, leaving you to eat its dust. 

Truth: Ok, maybe I wasn’t actually sucked into a Celebratory Vortex…but it sure felt like it.  First and foremost I want to apologize for being M.I.A.  It touches my heart that people have been checking on me and I am sad to have let anyone down.

This past month has been incredibly amazing.  There were wonderful weddings, trips to Europe, and special visits from family and friends that I don’t often get to see.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the Sunday time typically dedicated to my readers had to be dedicated to my guests.  To be perfectly honest, my weekdays were so action packed that sometimes I could barely think of my name let alone an idea for my weekly topic.

What I learned was that as fun and exciting as it all was, I needed to make time for myself and I didn’t.  My ‘down’ time was spent planning my next move and preparing for it.  Without realizing, you begin running on adrenaline and although a lot gets accomplished, a lot gets lost.  Me Time, for some reason, didn’t seem as necessary.     

Have you ever heard of celebrities going into the hospital for exhaustion?  A friend pointed that out to me this week and I think there is a lesson to be learned.  Celebrities have their own vortex and it is filled with excitement, adoring fans, success, paparazzi, untrustworthy people, excessive pressure, and if you are famous for a reason (not like Paris Hilton) you might also have to sing, dance, act etc.  When life gets that crazy, it is so easy to lose yourself.  Sooner or later your body gives up even if your mind keeps going.

On Wednesday morning my body gave up on me.  My last guests left the previous Sunday and due to some poor planning and an extremely overtired brain, Tuesday became a whirlwind in itself.  When my boss walked into work on Wednesday morning the first thing out of her mouth was, “You look horrible.  Do you need to go home?”  I did.  I was Done.  Done with excitement and fun and Done with thinking in general.  I went home and crashed.  Although I am still not completely recovered and the sniffles remain, I now realize the importance taking some time out to just BE.  

Slowing down is not always easy but it is always necessary.  Whether you just sit by yourself for five whole minutes, watch some trashy/mindless television, or float in a pool all weekend with some Miller Light and SPF 30, you must do whatever is necessary to slow your roll.  Trust me.  That vortex is a rough landing.  Seriously, I think I have a bruise…

Have a fun/calm week.  I will see you all next Sunday!  I promiseJ
~E

Bad Reputation...

We’ve all hear about it.  Some of us have even witnessed it.  Worst of all, some of us have been guilty of it.  What is it?  It is that loud obnoxious American tourist.  In my opinion, it is a bad reputation.  If you have travelled outside the US have surly noticed them.  They are clearly out of their element and stick out like a sore thumb.  You’re first instinct is to deny these excessively loud/uncouth people and attempt to disassociate yourself from the embarrassing display of arrogance.

On this trip I was determined to battle the American reputation and immerse myself into a different culture.   My most useful tool in completing this mission was my friend Whitney who, for the past year, had been conducting extremely useful reconnaissance.  She had not only adapted to the culture, habits and pastimes, she had also improved her language fluency and accent.  This would prove most useful considering my very limited Spanish speaking abilities.

My first cultural lesson was on time tables and communication.   Timetables seemed to be negotiable.  As Whitney explained “Open at 9” was more of a suggestion than a definite time.  As I sat in the Madrid airport prior to the last leg of the trip, I watched my departure time go from 20:15 to 21:25 to 21:30 to 21:40 to 21:45.  There was no announcement or change on the main board.  The gate time just kept ticking away.  Having an obsessive need to be on time, I figured my battle was an uphill one.  I decided I better just relax and not stress.  (This proved to be a useful mantra for future endeavors).

As dinner is usually very late and much lighter, compared to US standards, my 10:30pm dinner was not unusual.  The next morning we woke up to my first Spanish breakfast.  Obviously not all Spaniards eat the same breakfast, but this was a fairly common breakfast consumed by Whitney’s roommate and new Spanish boyfriend.  So as a cultural connoisseur I was ready to dive in.  Here's the breakdown.  First you have a mug of heated or cold milk.  Then you select the number of muffins you want.  The muffins of choice were very small and simply called ‘Round Muffins.’  They came in a huge bag and out of curiosity I grabbed it to check the ingredients.  After remembering that I didn't speak Spanish, I handed the bag to Whitney.  To my elation and shock the first ingredient was flour.  In another surprising twist the remaining ingredients were things I understood like water, eggs, salt, and sugar.  The fact that the ingredients in pre-packaged, grocery store food was real food and not processed was amazing to me. 

You take the round muffins; break them up and place the pieces in the milk.  Many of you, like myself, made an “ew soggy muffins?” face.  However it ended up being quite tasty and much better in milk than on their own.  After the muffins, you choose your favorite cookie and dunk it in the milk.  Being that I love chocolate, I chose a cookie with chocolate in the middle and ate up.  When you have sufficiently had your cookies, you put a small spoonful of local honey in your milk and drink the rest.  Are you full yet?

An alternative to this Spanish breakfast is some delicious Café con Leche with your favorite pastry with chocolate inside.  They also have cups of chocolate available...yes you read correctly!  I have tried and loved them all.

After breakfast, people go off to work or in our case go shopping/ to the beach (what a hard life!).  Where we were in Spain almost every place closed from 2-5:30pm.  The very first day, my response to stores closing was, “Are you serious?  Why would places close in the middle of the afternoon?  This is prime shopping time! Hello!?!"  But then it hit me…I was thinking like the obnoxious American traveller.  Americans are used to everything being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  When you become accustomed to that type of convenience it is quite a shock to go somewhere else where things are closed during seemingly ‘peak’ hours.  I immediately took a step back.

For many Spaniards the time between 2 and 5:30, is a time to slow down and eat with their family.  Lunch is the biggest meal of the day.  Many people go home for lunch.  Almost all of the restaurants displayed their large lunch menus.  One day we had the traditional Spanish dish Paella, which is rice dish with meat, seafood or both in that particular region.  After lunch, you rested.  I certainly had no objections to that.

At around 5:30 the city came alive again.  Children and family filled the parks and streets.  People were shopping and protesters were shouting. 

You walk everywhere!  I don’t think I have ever walked that much in my life and I have done quite a bit of travelling.  America is not a nation of walkers.  In my opinion it is partly because we were never programmed to walk, we were programmed to drive.  Most of the country developed after the automobile was invented, whereas European was developed many centuries ago.  Distance wise, I could walk to Olde Town where I live.  It is only about 3 miles away.  However, I would only do that if I had a death wish, being required to traverse 2 major highways and a freeway interchange. 

After our day of walking and shopping it was time for dinner.  Dinner was between 9 and 11pm.  Spanish dinner was very light and extremely tasty.  In the southern region I was in, when you ordered a drink you got free Tapas.  Tapas is a very small dish of seafood, meat, rice, vegetable etc.  It is not uncommon to bounce between several different establishments for dinner.  Whitney ate two Tapas and was satisfied for dinner.  The first night, at least, I remember saying, “Umm…yeah…I’m gonna need more food!”

As you can see, food dominated my cultural experience but food is a major part of Spanish culture.  My experience in Spain was not full of historical sites or tourist traps; it was a glimpse into the day to day lives of people halfway around the world.  I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation (minus a few travel mishaps and air traffic control strikes).  It was unique and special and I am incredibly thankful I was able to go.

Whether or not you are a seasoned traveller, or a rookie one, my advice would be to take some time out to experience new culture and food.  Fight that American stereotype and adapt to another place.  As my High School French teacher always said, “Remember it’s not weird, it’s different.”