¡Ay, por Dios! What a weekend!

Last weekend I headed north with three other Fulbright friends to Basque Country for a six day long-weekend.


País Vasco, as it's called in Spanish, is a small region in the middle of north Spain that overlaps just slightly with the southwest of France. The region has a long, rich, and tormented history. The Basque people were around before the Romans got their act together, and the euskera (or Basque language) claims to be one of the oldest languages in Western Europe. While the Basque culture may be well established, outside governments have been trying for centuries to squash it. During the Spanish Civil War, Franco's regime it was made punishable by death to speak in euskera. Even today there is tension between the Spanish and the Basque. They are wary of each other, and the stereotypes about each abound. At first I was timid to use my Spanish for fear of insulting a Basque. Luckily the Basque appreciate outsiders who speak Spanish, so I was OK. Conversely, they do seem to hold grudges against Spaniards who haven't learned euskera.

The landscape is completely different from the rest of Spain. To start, there is more green, it's much more lush, and it's very wet. It was such a relief to escape from the monotonous scenery of central Spain. There was grass, a constant backdrop of mountains capped with the first snow of the season, and the smell of green earth. It looks how I would expect the Irish countryside to be.

Our plan was to fly out of Madrid into Bilbao. From Bilbao we would bus to San Sebastian, then head to Logroño (or wine country) before going back to Bilbao to fly back into Madrid. Through our travels we managed to see also Hondarribia, St. Jean de la Luz, and Vitoria (capital of the region). We got very lucky and flew out Thursday night. As we were walking around Bilbao the next day, blissfully unaware, the air controllers at the Madrid airport went on strike with out notice. Hundreds of thousands of people (including my roommates!!) were unable to fly out or in and were unable to enjoy their long weekend plans. The military even got involved and forced the controllers back to work so that by the evening flights were relatively back on track.

So much happened and so many wonderful events occurred that for the sake of not boring you (or overwhelming you), I will try to hit the highlights of our trip.

The People

• Couchsurfing: This was my first time actually couchsurfing--and it was great! If you don't know what Couchsurfing is click here, or for the short & sweet version: it's an online community that connects travelers who offer each other free places to stay and provides a unique way to getting to know a city. Since we were four, we split up. Leah and I stayed with a Himalayan mountain climber in Bilbao, and students in the other places. All the Couchsurfers we met were very nice, open, and provided new insights into culture and perspectives on life. 
• Traveling Company: I really enjoyed getting to know more about my fellow Fulbrighters. We may be completely different in a lot of ways, but we're all Fulbrighters (which says something about our work ethic, how we view education, and our ability to achieve our personal goals). Each person brought their own unique charm and talents to the trip, which helped pass the time and make the trip that much better.

The Food

• Basque Country is known for having great food. I can't argue with that. Since we were located right by the sea, there were tons of delicious seafoods to choose from. In Basque Country they have pintxos (or pinchos  in Spanish), which, simply put, are the Basque version of tapas. Only they are about a billion times better than a tapa. When you walk into a pintxo bar, you see the bar lined, topped, loaded and dripping with plates carrying little morsels of food. They have little sandwiches, fried food, grilled food, gourmet, traditional, pieces of fish or meat on toasted bread--everything imaginable! Traditionally you would walk into a bar, ask for a drink, and then choose a pintxo of your liking. Later, as you were paying, you would tell the bartender how many you ate and you would be charged accordingly. Going for pintxos can be expensive (each pintxo (2-3 bites) costs anywhere from €1.50-3.50, plus whatever you order for drinks). Even locals don't go out for pintxos all the time. 
• While in San Sebastian we met a Peruvian Coucher who took us around the Bay of Biscay and into France for part of the day. He took us to his brother-in-law's restaurant where we enjoyed foie with honey and butter, sliced, cured ham, a HUGE steak, crab-filled red peppers, and other treats. It was very good. 
• We also enjoyed good wine. To start with, even cheap wine in Spain isn't that bad (boxed wine is bad no matter what, across all cultures though ;) ), so if you're willing to pay a couple extra euro each, you can get a decent bottle for pretty dang cheap! One particular afternoon, to avoid the icy monsoon and hail that was falling from the sky in Bilbao, we enjoyed a very fine bottle of wine, then relocated and shared a plate of succulent, grilled meat and a couple bottles more. We had a blast sitting and talking, taking in the people around us, and attempting to huddle under the heater to stay warm.

The Weather

• When I told my Spanish people that I was going to Basque Country for the long-weekend, right after mentioning how well I would be eating, they mentioned that I should bring rain boots--because it rains, and it rains a whole bunch up there. I can attest to that and say, for once, the Spanish were not over exaggerating. It rains so much that Basque's nickname is País Chubasco--Downpour Country! Luckily the ladies I were traveling with had a really good attitude about it: we laughed ourselves silly over it and didn't let it put a damper (tehee) on our trip. Towards the end of our trip, the sun came out more and we enjoyed some very nice days strolling the streets and taking in the vibes and energies around us. 
• I don't know if it's Spanish air travel, or perhaps the cool weather, but both of my flights were delayed by two hours! I had a separate flight from the ladies, so I got in much later than 1) I had planned to and 2) way after they did. Believe it or not: I didn't let it stress me out. I knew there wasn't anything that I could do to change the situation; it was the way it was. So I bought myself a book and got comfortable. Take-off was bananas, though. As we were charging down the tarmac, the plane kept wavering from side to side. When we finally took off, the wings kept tipping one way and then the other. It was pretty shaky there for a minute. Obviously, though, everything worked out and here I am: safe and sound!

The Sights

• Architecture: Well, we saw a lot of it :) No, what I want to say is that the Basque Country has its own personal style of architecture. The buildings aren't as tall as some other places I've seen in Spain, and they use a lot of wood and stone in the facades. In Bilbao, we saw the Guggenheim Museum. This museum is Bilbao's claim to fame. I really liked the actual building of the Guggenheim more than the art inside. I've never seen (or paid attention) a building that mirrored its outsides so well. The outside is all curvy, and the inside is the same way. The inside isn't made up of traditional square rooms--they curve and are caddiwampus. In essence, they perfectly match and complement the art it holds. 
• River Fair: There is a river in Bilbao that essentially separates the city and helps form the different districts. Along the river walk this past weekend, there was a artisan fair. They had oodles and oodles of dairy products, meat products, pastries, snacks, jewelry, woodwork--you know the drill. I enjoyed walking up and down, trying bits of cheese (I have official decided Basque cheese is the best cheese--(almost) ever) and sausages. They even had people dressed up as trolls and giants (I don't know.... they just were), walking up and down the stretch of vendors. 
• Island Gardens and Astounding Views: Sunday we took a little trip all up and down the coast around San Sebastian. Our Peruvian buddy showed us some absolutely astounding and breathtaking views. We saw wild ponies, shaggy and meandering among the slopes of the surrounding hills. We even went all the way to France! (I don't think I'll ever get over how easy it is to go from one country to another here in Europe) We saw St. Jean de la Luz. There they have these little islands connected to the shore by bridges. Each of these little islands is like a garden, and you can stroll along exploring each one. It was beautiful, especially since we were there at dusk and they lit them up at night. I enjoyed watching the lights come on along the coast as it got darker and darker. It was also very romantic and intimate. Definitely a good place for a date. 

• Winery: On Tuesday, since we were in Rioja (a Spanish wine region) the girls, my Couch, and I went to a bodega. It was a big fancy one that was pretty corporate. Someone had recommended it to our Couch because the place had a big museum about the culture and history of wine. I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of information and some of the more technical language was lost to me (seeing as it was written in Spanish). I also discovered that, hey, you know? I like wine--why not do some more reading on it and see what I can learn? The nice part is that I can drink red wine again. I normally have too many stomach issues in the States to be able to enjoy it. However, the second I leave the country I don't have as many problems so red wine is once again an option! 

So there you have it: I went on a trip and here I am sharing with you! Make sure to check out the rest of the pictures on my Picasa site. 

Coming up soon: Reflections on my first three months here in and Spain--and Christmas with my family!

My First Thanksgiving as Hostess

 I can't remember exactly when I decided that I wanted to do Thanksgiving, but it was pretty early on. I'm not even that big of a fan of Thanksgiving--I just knew I wanted to do it. I'm pretty sure that before Halloween was over, I'd already messaged my Fulbright folk to see if they were interested. And, boy, were they! For once, everyone got as excited as I normally do.


The menu was traditional with a twist. We had turkey, gravy, cranberry and apple sauce, mashed potatoes, etc. but each American brought one dish and some even went gourmet (try curried sweet potatoes!!). As for Natalie and I's contribution, let me put it this way:  If it hadn't been for misreading emails and not being clear enough from the start, we wouldn't have had such a fantastic Thanksgiving feast.


Because I (and most of the other invited Fulbrighters) have to work on Thursdays, we pushed Thanksgiving back to the day after, Friday. There was still plenty to do on the actual Thanksgiving, though. That night Natalie and I baked the pies we'd eat for dessert the following evening. Three in all (apple, pecan, and pumpkin). I don't even like pie--but you know me, it's all or nothing!


Thursday night also proved to be a night of experimentation. As I mentioned earlier, Natalie and I had some miscommunication which left us lacking in the cranberry sauce and fried onion topping department. "But have no fear!" we said, "The Internet is freaking AWESOME!" With a little bit of searching, I found a great recipe for making cranberry sauce out of dried cranberries. It was easy enough to do. You just have to rehydrate the cranberries before adding sugar and spice. It might take a little longer than with regular cranberries, but it was very good. Janel (who was over to help brine the chicken) convinced us into adding more orange zest, making the sauce tangier. 


Natalie and I also poured out hearts into making rolls by hand. We choose two recipes that yielded over 56 rolls! Natalie being the traditionalist insisted that one of the recipes be croissant-like, and I wanted to try cloverleaf ones. The naturally compromise was to make both! The pumpkin cloverleaf rolls were easy. We were a little worried about the croissant ones--the dough was super soupy. Everything turned out just fine, however! We made the cloverleaf ones the night before and the croissant ones earlier Friday. 

I also made applesauce. Accordingly to Natalie, there were a lot of people commenting on how delicious the applesauce was! I think I've finally figured out the best combination of apples to use. I also used 2 different types of apples in my apple pie. It made a world of difference in taste. That apple pie was probably the prettiest and tastiest apple pie I've ever made in my life!


Now, let's talk about brining. Brining was an exciting adventure. Brining is a way of marinating that involves soaking the meat in extremely salty water with other spices and veggies. By process of osmosis (or something like that), the meat becomes infused with the solution and flavors. The end result is a much juicer meat with fuller flavor that doesn't dry out so easily while cooking.


Janel really wanted to brine our Thanksgiving fowl. At first it was going to be just two chickens because we didn't know where we could find a turkey in Spain. Much to our extreme excitement, Natalie and I found a small (abt. 6lbs for € 15 !) turkey in my supermarket. I was ecstatic despite the price. So when Janel arrived to brine on Thursday night, she was confronted with a chicken and a gen-u-wine turkey! I'm pretty sure she did a happy dance and clapped her hands in positive emotion when she saw it. 


The entire week I had been searching out a container large enough to submerge two chicken-sized objects that wouldn't cost me € 40 each. I was beginning to despair when I noticed that my freezer has drawers, not shelves. Even better, one of these drawers was the perfect size for submerging two naked birdies. (When I told the other Fulbrighters how we were brining, I was told it was a very "Fulbright" solution.) We filled said drawer with the brine mixture--and it immediately began to leak! Amateur's mistake. But no fear, there were Fulbrighters and other smart people around! No problem! we said, We'll just bag the birds. We double-bagged the suckers, and refilled the water level. After a slight struggle, the birds sat soaking in the fridge, and we sat around laughing and enjoying a glass of wine. Twenty minutes later, I open the fridge--only to realize that the bottom is swimming in raw bird brine juice. 


Well, shit.


We bagged them in another 5 bags, and even went so far as to duct tape the holes in the bags. We thought we had it down. Oh, poor, little naive us. After Natalie and I went out for tapas (see last post), we came back to find the kitchen floor nice and slick. We were forced to put the birds in individual pots were they were not entirely submerged. We then managed to make two more pies and essentially Clorox the kitchen--finally resting our heads around 2 a.m..


Lesson learned: Sometimes the simplest answer is the best, but when you learn the hard way it's always more fun. Makes a good story, right? Luckily, we laughed through most of it, and even the most germ-aphobic of us could appreciate the humor in the situation. 


The next morning, of course, I got up all excited and ready to go. We had pumpkin pancakes, eggs, and cava--or Spanish champagne-- for breakfast. Can I just say that starting the morning with cava makes the rest of the day much less stressful? I have just made a new tradition: I will always drink sparkling wine with breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. I'm sure it also helped that I had 3 people cooking in the kitchen, and that people were bringing other dishes, that we'd make half the food the night before, etc.--but I think it was the cava.




During breakfast, I presented Natalie with an early birthday gift. It was probably the most selfish, most practical, and least thoughtful gift I've ever given. I bought her a cheesy, touristy "flamenco-dress" aprons. I mean, hey I wasn't going to be the only lame-o (or should I say lame-a) wearing one around the kitchen, and we'd be cooking all day, right? She loved it. 

Frying up some dang good onions

The rest of the day was spent preparing the turkey and chicken, cooking green beans, and frying our own onions. That worked out so well. I really don't like onion rings, but these thin, slightly spiced onions might be my new addiction. Leah (who's here in Madrid researching Mediterranean food) was a huge help. She showed me how to dress, stuff, and truss the birds, she helped Natalie fry the onions, and she kept us on schedule. I really don't think Thanksgiving would have happened without her. So MUCHAS GRACIAS Leah!


We were so on top of our schedule, we had time to do decorations. While I did flower centerpieces, Natalie, Leah, and my roomie Laura made a "Happy Thanksgiving" banner with turkey hands. We laid out fall-colored napkins, put out candles, and wrapped gold and brown vines around wine glasses. It was a good break before everyone arrived for dinner.

Dinner was set for 7pm because my roomies had to work. We were only an hour late! It was excellent. I think I might never get a big turkey, and instead just get two small ones. Much better. The other guests arrived, bringing with them their own versions of Thanksgiving. We had cheese and fruit to start, followed by an extremely tasty meal, and then dessert. Raquel expressed her enthusiasm, saying she'd seen Thanksgiving done on Friends and had always wanted to try it herself.


As it was Thanksgiving, I wanted to do a blessing over the meal. As hostess, I felt that it was my duty. However, as I took a deep breath to start, I started to tear. I excused myself, and went to the bathroom. The hardest part for me was knowing that everyone out there was wondering what was going on, but that I couldn't pull myself together. I'm not sure what made me cry--maybe a combination of not eating much throughout the day and wine. Or maybe it was missing people. I can't explain it. I was pretty embarrassed, but my friends were pretty good about it. Two came to check on me, and in the end it was all good. No one mentioned it (though Raquel did turn to me when I got back and laughingly said "So what are you thankful for?" I was like "....not now please"), and overall it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had.


The next morning, I woke up and found my hands itching to get started creating food. I had spent the last 72 hours or so making something, and to suddenly not have anything to make was disconcerting.


I recognize that Thanksgiving in Spain would not have happened without the help of my American friends (who brought food, cooking knowledge, and decorations). I can also say without shame that I am immensely proud of myself. I know I'm good at throwing parties, but that was absolutely amazing! There was such a sense of accomplishment. The coordination (which I really feel like was my part in this whole thing) went off seamlessly. There was plenty of food, wine, conversation, and the stress wasn't awful. It was such a positive experience that I want to repeat it. 


Now, if I could only work this gift into a career....

Happy (although belated) Thanksgving to everyone! I hope yours was as wonderful as mine!