I've been having a rough time lately. I have been missing home this last week, and even though there have been some really fun times, my attitude has been less than acceptable. I think today gave me the attitude change that I desperately needed.
The first thing that is necessary to understand for the coming story to make sense is my Headmaster, Javier. He has the sweetest heart and clearly means well, but he says things sometimes that make everyone feel...awkward. haha He speaks little to no English and he speaks VERY fast; I'm constantly asking him to slow down and repeat, but he gets so excited about whatever he's talking about that slowing down never seems to happen. Quick story about Javier: the day after the terrifying bombings at the Boston Marathon, he came up to me on the playground, asked how I was doing, the usual. But then he said (in Spanish of course), "I'm sorry to hear about the bombs in Boston. How terribly sad, no?" I nodded and he leaned closer and said "Do you know what we call bastards like that here in Spain?" (Of course him using the word "bastards" threw me off a bit but it gets better.) I shook my head and he leaned ever closer, and in the scratchiest, roughest voice he could muster he said, "Hijos de puta." This phrase literally means "sons of a bitch." The other teachers just nodded their heads in agreement and I'm not entirely sure why that conversation made me feel better about everything, but it did. As comical as it was, now that I look back on it, at the time, I felt happy that there were actually people from Europe that were backing the USA. I've had a lot of people here tell me all about their opinions about the American people, and let me tell you, we are not good people according to a lot of Europeans. (And that's being nice.)
So--fast forward to today (Wednesday). We had a staff meeting that lasted until around 2:45, then the teachers said they were going out to lunch and invited me. I was happy to tag along--it beat eating at the Residencia! We drove about 10 minutes out into the countryside--it was absolutely beautiful. The last couple of days here have been perfect--in the 70s (Fahrenheit, of course. That means its been close to 30 Celsius) and clear and sunny. In retrospect, I should have gotten out my camera and taken pictures while we were driving, but I didn't want to be "that girl." haha We arrived at the restaurant and proceeded to begin our million course meal. The whole meal is a traditional Spanish dish called "cocida." It started with a bread soup, which was delicious, followed by another soup. This second soup tasted like it was in a type of chicken broth, and it had super skinny noodles. I really liked this soup! Then, we were brought a mixture of vegetables (mostly cabbage, I believe) and spices and garbanzo beans that were cooked with potatoes and carrots. Madre mia--it was SO GOOD!! I have never in my life liked cabbage or garbanzo beans, but this was so tasty. Then, they brought out a platter of various meats. This is where I got a little...nervous. I could tell what most of it was--chorizo (which I like well enough), blood sausage (yes, that means sausage that has been cooked in blood...I couldn't bring myself to eat it), pig ears (also couldn't bring myself to eat it--all I could think of was the pig ear dog treats we used to get Gracie), almost raw meat (I ate a bit of it before feeling a bit queasy, so I had to stop), and another kind of meat that is still a mystery to me (I swear I heard the word "testiculos" being thrown around, but that could have been my imagination). Along with this assortment of meat was little squares of fat. Yes, plain fat. Most of the teachers cut the fat up and put it on their bread; I tried it, but it did not taste good to me. Also important to note: bottles of wine are continuously being brought to the table and even though I continued to say that I had had enough wine, I was told that I was silly and needed to drink more. I went through almost 4 glasses before I think the teacher next to me (Ines, I love her) saw the "I'm starting to feel a little dizzy" look in my eyes and made the gym teacher (Antonio) stop giving me wine. haha! We were not done after the meat, though, oh no. The waiter came out and gave the list of desserts. I, of course, knew what none of them were, but I heard something with "cream" in it, so I thought that was probably what I wanted. But, alas, before the waiter could get around to me, the Headmaster (oh, Javier) said something to the waiter and pointed to me. He then leaned to the gym teacher (Antonio) and said something very quickly in Spanish. Antonio then looked at me and said "Javier has ordered your dessert for you. He thinks you will like 'leche frite' the best." I was like...alrighty then. Leche frite is fried milk. I was a little nervous for it, a bit jealous at everyone else who ordered the ice cream-sounding dish. ha! Then, Javier said something to everyone extremely quickly in Spanish and the table burst out laughing. They were all looking at me when they were laughing! I didn't know what to do! Javier kept repeating this one word over and over but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Finally, Ines (bless her, again and again haha) leaned over and whispered, "Taylor, do you know what the word aphrodisiac means?" It took me a moment to process what she said, but when it hit me, I could feel my face turn the brightest red. I nodded my head and she continued, "Javier is proud because he has ordered you the best aphrodisiac dessert in Spain." Everyone started laughing again and I just couldn't help but laugh too! I was highly embarrassed, but what else could I do? Javier was trying to be nice, I think. I just rolled my eyes as he cheesed it up and continued to repeat how proud he was of himself. It was a moment I will never forget. Before the dessert was actually brought out, a platter with very large wafers, mini chocolate cookies, and little shot glasses were brought out. Yes, you heard the last part of that correctly. Little shot glasses. There were 3 bottles sitting next to the shot glasses. Javier instantly poured me a glass of whatever the liquid was. (Note: the men were the only ones who filled up the shot glasses; the women insisted on just a tiny bit. But guess who got a whole shot glass with the men? This lucky girl.) Antonio said, "Okay, Taylor, this is good stuff. It is good for your health and digestion. I will show you how to drink it first." He turned towards Javier, they raised their shot glasses, said something in Spanish, and then proceeded to, you guessed it, take the liquid like a shot. I asked what was in the liquid, and Antonio said, "Well, I'm not sure what it is in English, but there is just a little tiny bit of alcohol mixed with the other ingredients. You won't even taste the alcohol." So, being the trusting person I am, I cheered with Javier and Antonio and took my weird-liquid-shot-thing. Antonio lied. I literally thought I was going to DIE. Not being much of a drinker, other than some wine now and then, I suppose that whatever that was could have tasted like it didn't have a lot of alcohol in it to someone who drinks hard liquor reguarly, but my entire body was on fire. I managed to get a smile out and say "Well, it isn't my favorite." I could see some of the teachers that I've become friends with cringe, knowing that I hated it. haha Javier then admitted that it was the worst "spirit juice" he had ever had, and told me to eat a large piece of the wafer. Thankfully, that did the trick; I no longer felt like my body was up in flames! Double thankfully, the desserts were brought out soon after. Leche frite is not my favorite dessert in the world, but it was pretty good. It was a bit rubbery, but it was covered in cinnamon, so that was good. :) After we all had our desserts, the waiter asked for our coffee orders. I was extremely happy to order some cafe con leche after the experience I had! All in all, the lunch was a success, and it took close to 3 hours! I had heard of long, Spanish lunches before, but hadn't ever experienced one. I'm happy to say that now I have :)
It may not seem like that whole experience would have changed my attitude, but it did. All of those teachers were so gracious; I mean, they always are. Just the fact that they would ask me to come out with them, knowing that my Spanish is weak and they would have to talk slowly and explain the food to me, means more than they will probably ever understand. Not only that, but several of the teachers that I have gotten close to are becoming more and more like family to me. Ines and Laura (the first grade teacher), for example, are so sweet and are constantly reminding me that if I ever need anything to just phone them. I am still missing home terribly, but I know that when I get home, I will miss all of the people here too! I wish I could either bring them home with me or have everyone from home move here. I think that sometimes I've taken for granted their kindness towards me, and I'm going to make the best effort I can to be as appreciative and aware as I can be. After all, I'm not just teaching, I'm teaching to learn, right?
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