Paellas and Laughter
Hi there!
Welcome back. Today, I want to tell you all about our meals. One of my favorite things about this dialogue is the food. I had no prior knowledge of what type of food Spaniards ate so I had no preconceived notions/biases in that regard. My one and only concern was that I may not be able to find something “halal” to eat, because of my muslim faith. Also, a few of my mates are vegans/vegetarians so they too had some concerns regarding what they will be able to eat. On our very first evening here, after we settled into our rooms, we went to a group dinner in a shopping plaza called El Corte Ingles and to our reliefs, there was something for everybody. The process of ordering the food was not very different from the US. The portions, however, were a bit smaller compared to what a normal portion size is in the US. The meal times too are slightly different. Lunch time in Tarragona is around 1:30PM-4PM and dinner is around 9PM till Midnight. Both meals tend to be treated more as social exercises than just satiating hunger. People normally come to dinner as a family and take their time to chat through the meal. Sometime last week, I was in a rush to get a quick meal and go back to the hostel to study because I had a test the next morning. What I anticipated would take an hour took almost 3 hours. By the time I was served my main meal, 2 hours had passed.
The variety of meal here is also noteworthy. Aside from the smaller portions and odd times, the meals are entirely different. One of the most popular dishes around us is Paellas(http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Paella/). It is a rice dish cooked with seafood(prawns, oysters, squids, lobsters etc) in a pan. Another staple here is Tapas. There are so many other varieties that at times, I have found it difficult to decide what I want. I once asked my waiter to surprise me, with a few caveats. I told him anything but pork, seafood & fries. He brought me fries and steamed squid :). And olives and/or olive oil is served with pretty much everything.
As a group, we usually go to the old town square for dinner and that’s usually where most of the town goes to eat. We usually go to different restaurants each time for variety. One of my favorite meals here so far was a veal cutlet I had at Pulvinar. It was cooked and seasoned to perfection. It helps to understand a little bit of Castellano even though on average, there are waiters who understand English and there are menus in English as well so it is not as hectic an ordeal to order food but the process becomes much easier and you would not be surprised with the exact exclusions by your waiter.
To top off the evening, on our way back from dinner, it was past midnight and the streets were beginning to quiet down. My mates and I were walking briskly behind two older ladies who were walking casually. Earlier in the day, I learned that the word “¡Corre!” meant to run. So I was telling my mates our walking pace is nearing running pace when I decided to use my new word. Unfortunately, we were at the heals of the older ladies when I said ¡Corre! with my course African accent. To my dismay, the older ladies we startled and jumped out of the way, running off. I was mortified and had no way of apologizing to them as they were running already and running after them will startle them more. Ever since that incident, I try to keep a safe distance between myself and others ahead of me and I also try to not be as loud and never to say ¡Corre! again when someone is in front of me.
