You know Fran is poor when...

She hasn't stepped foot inside a Zara ever since she got to BCN

No Reservations

…no, not with Anthony Bourdain. With Fran Cabugason. Oh how I badly want to have my own travel show. It’d be amazing if you get paid to travel, wouldn’t it? This has always been one of my dreams but I’m afraid my refusal to eat weird things would make me a bad host. I’m slowly working on this minor handicap though, and I think I’m getting better at it. I moved to Madrid ready to try anything, including weird food, and I’ve definitely done more of that here in BCN.

As I’ve mentioned before, Francisco LOVES fine dining. Eating well has never been my thing. I mean, I enjoy a nice delicious meal but my definition of a nice meal is completely different from Francisco’s. For me, a nice dinner would be at some overpriced fancy restaurant, usually involving chicken or pasta, which we all know you can make at home for very cheap. With Francisco, I’ve eaten things I would never imagine eating back at home: lamb, lots of fresh vegetables, and being near the Mediterranean, various types of fish and lots of seafood like navajas (razor clam), almejas (clams), mejillones (mussels), langostinos (prawns), berberechos (cockles), and ortigas (nettle). Most of the time, I didn’t even know what these things were called in English. I had to look them up in the dictionary because I’ve never seen or eaten them before in my life.

And the best things about this food – and why Spanish cuisine is so good – is that they are made so simply. Cooking them doesn’t usually involve lots of ingredients. If you have olive oil, sea salt, and a pan, you’re good to go. Dishes are also made in reasonable portions that there’s always room for some dessert and coffee, even if you had a couple of appetizers before the main course.

Another reason why it’s difficult to eat well in America is because it means spending a lot of money. Sometimes you spend a lot of money thinking you’re eating some amazing meal, but really you’re not. In the US, people indulge on a $30 steak because it’s supposed to be that expensive, when really it’s not cooked correctly or not even fresh meat. Fortunately in Spain, people can eat well for little or a lot of money. The ortigas, for example, were quite expensive: 16 Euros for a little plate. But they were fresh (and ridiculously delicious) and we had them at a restaurant right on the beach that attracts tourists. On the other hand, we had that paella at Jose’s that cost probably no more than 30 Euros and it could’ve probably fed more than the three of us; Or the roasted lamb we shared at a restaurant with two other people and it cost less than 30 Euros.

My appreciation for food and drink is also starting to grow. Francisco has taught me a lot on what makes something good or bad. For example, I just learned where you taste certain things on your tongue (sweet in the front, salty in the middle, bitter in the back, acidity on the sides). Apparently, he learned this in grade school. I don’t ever remember learning that! Knowing this has definitely made drinking wine more interesting.

Little by little, I’m becoming more open-minded with what I use to consider strange food. Next he wants me to try caracoles, or snails. I’m still thinking about that one. He also wants to take me to eat çalçots during its harvest time in January. They’re these stringy onions that are very popular in Catalunya. I believe Anthony Bourdain ate them in the Spain episode of No Reservations. I can’t wait! The closer I am to being like Anthony, the more likely I’ll fulfill my dream of being a travel host.

Week 4: A Week in the Life of Fran

I’ve survived my first month in BCN. Yay! Now that my new life is somewhat settled, here’s a glimpse of what a week is like for me:

Monday: It’s Francisco’s one day off so we make the most of it by doing as much as we can. Depending on what we need/want to do, we’ll go check out some new place, shop, hang out with people he doesn’t see much, or see a movie. One thing we never miss is eating well, his favorite thing to do on his day off. So we’ll indulge on a nice meal in some fancy restaurant. Obviously, I make him plan our day because I’m broke and I have all the time to do the things I want to do the rest of the week.

Tuesday: I have my morning café con leche at 2 de Vins, Francisco’s bar. His mom then force feeds me with either toast or torrijas or a croissant. I already feel guilty enough getting free coffee everyday that I don’t really like eating at the bar. So usually I’ll pretend I’m not hungry. But his mom is like any other mom that I think she knows that I don’t eat enough or something. The other day, she did something that was very reminiscent of my own mother.

Me: Buenas dias, Aurora.

Aurora: Que? Como estas? You want toast?

Me: No, I’m okay. Gracias.

Aurora: Did you have breakfast?

Me: Ummm well, no but really, I’m okay. I’m not hungry.

Aurora: Okay, I’ll make toast then!

After breakfast, I then stay at the bar and use the internet. I usually leave by noon before the lunch crowd arrives. At about 3:30, I’ll take the bus to BCN. Depending on traffic and whether I catch the express or regular bus, I’ll get to my school within an hour. I prepare for my classes, teach from 5:30 to 6:30, then from 7:30 to 9:30, and get home by 10:30.

Wednesday: I repeat my morning routine of coffee and internet. I take the bus at 3:30 again and teach at 5:45 to 6:45. I get home right before 8.

Thursday to Sunday: Besides my morning routine, I do absolutely nothing, or at least I don’t have anything to do. Most of the time, I’ll blog or write my long emails in my computer so I can just copy and paste them when I go to the bar the next day. I will also do laundry and clean the house, and really, there’s only so much I can do when I do it every freaking week. Aurora thinks our apartment must be super clean…it’s not. Most of the time, I’ll tag along with Francisco when he has to do business outside the bar (i.e. shopping for alcohol/food, paying vendors, going to the bank). If I’m feeling rich, I might spend money on a bus/train ticket so I can go to BCN and/or hang out with Michelle. Or sometimes, I’ll buy little necessary and cheap things for the house. I also frequently go on walks to pass time. On Sundays, I will often have lunch with Francisco’s sister and her son.

So there you have it. Pretty exciting, right? Oh why is life so ironic: when you have time, you have no money to enjoy your free time. I try to fill my spare time with random things I can think of and if I’m really, really bored, I just go across the street to 2 de Vins. If not, I just watch TV and wait for Francisco to get home, my favorite part of the day. It’s all about enjoying the best and cheap – or even better, free – things in life.

More on Spain's censorship

I’ve written about censorship in this country before and how it’s pretty much non-existent. I thought about this again the other day when I was watching the news. There was a report on obesity in Spain – which by the way does not compare to our problem in the US but they’re worried about it anyway – and they were showing images of fat people walking on the streets. To my surprise, they were not only showing the mid-section of these people, but they were showing their entire body including their faces! Ay, que verguenza!

What was even more shocking was when they reported on cancer de Mama (or breast cancer) in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They were showing images of a woman having a mammogram when all of a sudden, appeared a bunch of photos of women with only one boob, or half a boob, or no boobs at all! It totally freaked me out! I was not prepared for that at all. They definitely got the job done of making women more aware.

Oh Spain

I just received this text message from Tess:

“Dude I just saw someone carrying a jamon leg on the metro jajajaja I love Spain”

Oh Spain!

Olive-Picking

Around this time of the year, I would probably be apple-picking with my family. This year, I went olive-picking instead. Last week, one of Francisco’s regular customers, Jose, invited us to his weekend house and then to his piece of land in the mountains.

We left on a Monday night and made our way to L’Ampolla, another coastal town of Catalunya that attracts retired Europeans from the North. It took us about an hour and a half to arrive in this little town. We had a nice fresh seafood dinner, enjoyed a drink or two in a very empty bar, and spent the night in Jose’s house.

The next day, we drove up a mountain and Jose showed us his piece of land full of olive and almond trees. While Francisco and I picked olives, Jose prepared our lunch. He was making us paella. We had bought the ingredients fresh from a market just before we drove up the mountain. We had fresh clams, mussels, prawns, and oysters. The oysters were of course for appetizers, not for the paella. I’m still trying to get over my first oyster experience with Francisco back in May of this year, so I took a pass on those.

The paella process was pretty cool. I’ve seen a friend cook paella before but not like this: outside, with natural fire from wood. This time seemed more authentic. I don’t quite remember exactly how Jose made it – I was too busy picking olives! – but I’ll try and describe it as best as I can. Once the fire was ready, Jose put the chicken and rabbit (Ugh! I had no idea I’ve been eating rabbit in paella this whole time!) with chopped garlic and lots of olive oil. Then he added water and the mussels. After, he added the rice and spices. Once it was boiling, he added the prawns and clams. Then it was ready to be eaten after the rice was done. This is probably the worst description ever. Someday I will learn how to cook paella and share it with everyone.

The paella/olive-picking process was for sure an experience for me. Unfortunately, I was totally PMSing and couldn’t enjoy it the most I can. There were lots of mosquitoes who refuse to leave me alone, I was hot and bothered, and I felt gross and dirty! I was just one big hot mess. I would never survive in nature just for the fact that when I have my period, I want to be indoors – preferably my comfy house with a proper bathroom – and I just want to relax, not picking olives. There were moments where I was completely content and there were moments where I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I’m pretty sure Francisco and Jose thought I was a bit crazy at times. I won’t mind doing it again, though. It’ll just have to be planned on a more appropriate time of the month.

P.S. to my family: I really hope you froze some of those apple donuts or whatever for me. They should still be good over Christmas break.

Sitges

I love Sitges, my new favorite town in Spain. It’s one of the beautiful towns on the coast of Catalunya and it’s only about 20km aways from Barcelona.

I first went to Sitges with Francisco in June to eat at his friend’s restaurant. However, we were at one end of the town and I didn’t really see much besides the sea. This time around, I took the train and met up with Michelle. The train takes you right in the middle of the city. We spent the day walking around, shared delicious paella and then waffles with chocolate for dessert, and relaxed on the beach.

Sitges is very popular among the gay community, and with tourists looking for a day trip outside of Barcelona. Sitges also holds the Horror and Fantasy film festival every year. Apparently, it’s pretty famous and attracts a lot of Hollywood people like Quentin Tarantino. I wouldn’t know this of course since horror films scare the beejesus out of me. That weekend, the film festival was going on and there were even more people than usual, so a coffee on a terrace was the perfect cure for my people-watching obsession.

Sitges is pretty pricey, as expected with all the tourists visiting. Window-shopping is all we could really do, but it was fun anyway. I noticed there were lots of furniture and décor shops. I’m assuming they were there to serve all those people buying a weekend/summer house. Maybe someday, I’ll be one of those buyers…after I buy my house in San Sebastian, of course!

This quaint little town was simply beautiful. I really enjoyed the people, the food, the views and especially the beach. Its beach is way better than the one in Barcelona. Fortunately, Sitges is only 20 minutes away by train from El Prat. I have a feeling I’ll be going there a lot…