Tapas, Paella, Sangria, and...Chocolate Pie??

Three of my favorite foods ever came together (kind of) in one weekend. It was wonderful. You might be wondering how and I am about to tell you!

I travelled to Barcelona, Spain this past weekend to meet up with some of the friends from Furman who are studying abroad in Berlin. I got there Friday night, had tapas, and went to bed early (too early for Barcelona), but I was exhausted and used to going to bed by like 10:30. Saturday was a blast! We went on a free walking tour of Barcelona, got lunch in La Boqueria which is a giant fresh market with fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, candy, chocolate, and a lot of little restaurants, and then visited the Sagrada Familia, one of Gaudi's most beautiful structures. I was lucky enough to visit Barcelona in high school so I had already seen Sagrada Familia, but in at the time the inside was unfinished. Luckily they had finished the inside sometime after my high school visit. It was amazing getting to see the inside completely finished because before it was mainly scaffolding with a few stained glass windows peeking through, but now it's a massive Roman Catholic cathedral with plenty of space and light. It was a day full of Spanish culture and food.

La Boqueria

Earlier in the day we signed up for a cooking class where we learned how to make the famous Spanish dish paella. We accompanied the chef to La Boqueria where he bought fresh clams, mussels, calamari, prawns, salmon, vegetables, and saffron for our paella. We then went to the restaurant had amazing tapas that featured iberico ham, two types of chorizo, manchego cheese, tomatos, bread, potatoes braves (fried potatoes with a spicy cream sauce on top), and fire roasted green peppers. It was all so fresh and really delicious! I was in heaven. We also got unlimited sangria so you know we all took advantage of that. While snacking (technically devouring) on the tapas, I made four new friends who are awesome! There was a big group of us so the girls I sat with and I sat with people we didn't know. That was one of the best parts of the night: getting to know really interesting new people. Soon after we finished the tapas the chef started cooking the paella and the room immediately filled with the mouth watering smell of onions, garlic, and peppers. Once the chef finished the paella he had to let it sit for about 30 minutes for the rice to soak up all of the flavor and broth from the seafood and spices. During that time he taught us how to make sangria. I'm most definitely going to be taking that recipe back to Furman with me for next semester! Finally the paella was ready to eat and let me tell you, it was one of the best things I have ever eaten. I had had paella before, but nothing as fresh and flavorful as this. It is definitely going down in the books as my favorite meal ever, which is quite an accomplishment because 1) I am terrible at deciding my favorite color, movie, book, etc. and 2) I love almost all food. Overall, this weekend was an amazing one spent with wonderful friends and amazing food in a beautiful country!

You might be thinking to yourself, "How does chocolate pie have anything to do with this?" Just you wait. This weekend was a long weekend for us because we didn't have class on Monday, so last week my "French sister", Béryl, and I decided we would make my mom's chocolate pie on Monday! It was quite an adventure. I slept in that morning and found out that it was Saint Martin's day and since my "French family" has a son named Martin, we were going to have a big lunch for him. It's like a mini birthday celebration. I didn't have much time to make the pie, but luckily I only had to get a few things at the store and my little "French brother", Stan who is 9, accompanied me. It started off smoothly but then we realized that the dough we had was for flaky dough, not the normal pie crust we have at home. Also, they don't have cream of tartar here, which is kind of essential to have a really pretty, big meringue. But we decided to go ahead and do the best we could. There also wasn't a mixer like I'm used to at home so I tried using a food processor that worked well enough, but I unfortunately mixed the eggs whites too much the first time so they were just soupy. Then when I was putting more egg whites into the food processor, they fell through the little hole in the food processor and then proceeded to quickly slide off the counter and into the dishwasher...just my luck. I quickly grabbed a paper towel and cleaned it up, but I knew the meringue just wouldn't be the same. At the end the pie came out tasting fine even if the chocolate filling was kind of runny, the pie crust not completely cooked, and the meringue almost non-existent. But Béryl and I had a great time! Definitely a bonding moment.

Tomorrow we're heading to Paris to visit the Musée d'Orsay, which is one of my absolute favorite places in Paris. It used to be a train station so the architecture is beautiful. Also, the best collection of impressionist art in the world is at the Musée d"Orsay (impressionism's my fav). I'll be sure to take lots of photos. This weekend we're traveling as a group to Strasbourg and I have my fingers crossed that there will be Christmas markets. Although I do not support celebrating Christmas by listening to Christmas music or decorating before Thanksgiving, I would love to see what little things they have that I can buy because I can't go to a new place without buying something. I can't believe this will be our last weekend traveling together as a group! We have a little less then three weeks until we leave France to travel for 12 days around Europe on our own or with our families. It's unbelievable how quickly time has passed since I arrived at the beginning of September. I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun, because I know that I've had the time of my life.

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." -Ernest Hemingway

(I just finished The Paris Wife by Paula McLain last night. It's a fabulous book about Hemingway's first wife. If you have the chance, you should read it. It's very easy to read and I learned so much about Ernest and Hadley Hemingway.)

Also, I am unable to add anymore pictures to the post! I don't know why, but blogger won't let me right now. Sorry for the lack of pictures! :(

P.S. I have officially succeeded in asking and receiving sushi without seaweed in France. Therefore I know that I could live here forever.

12 students, 1 professor, 23 cities, 2 weeks

What a crazy two weeks it has been! Starting bright and early October 19th, we set off for our two week "Tour de France". During October the french have a two week vacation called "Toussaint." This means that most of the schools are closed and most of the working people don't have to work. It's a time for rest and relaxation, but I can assure that we got very little rest or relaxation. However, we did get to see 23 amazing cities in just 16 short days. It was a little overwhelming at first waking up at or before 7:00 every morning, but after the third or fourth day, I got used to it (kind of). We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity. The cities we visited were:

Orléans
Poitiers
La Rochelle
Bordeaux
Pau
Lourdes
Toulouse
Carcassonne
Durfort
Montpellier
Aigues Mortes
Nimes
Arles
Marseille
Aix en Provence
Pont du Gard
Avignon
Orange
Lyon
Vichy
Beaune
Dijon
Vézelay

         fair in Bordeaux

A few of my absolute favorites were La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, and Vézelay. From wandering around looking at boats in La Rochelle to going on crazy fair rides in Bordeaux to going to the beach in Marseille to going to Catholic mass with a thousand boy scouts from all over Europe in Vézelay, there was never a dull moment on the trip. Even when I wanted nothing more than to sleep all day because I was so tired, I got up and went on the tours and loved most of it! Lyon was probably my favorite city overall. It's a huge town, but it's not all cramped together like Paris is. The Rhône and Saône rivers both run through Lyon and it's just beautiful. There's also a radio tower that looks exactly like the top of the Eiffel Tower. It looks like the top of the Eiffel Tower was blown off by super strong wind and brought to Lyon. We only spent two nights in Lyon, but I definitely could have stayed much longer.

sunset in Lyon

Now onto the food. I'm kind of a food snob, but I love trying new things. The one thing I tried for the first time on the trip that left a not-so-positive impression on me was stingray. I actually ate a piece of stingray. We were in Pau, which is not known for its stingray (I don't know if any area is known for their stingray). We started off the meal with an awesome onion quiche and I was really excited for the next course! Then the stingray came out and at first I just thought it was some kind of fish so I cut into it and realized it was most definitely not "some kind of fish." I finally realized I was eating stingray and had vivid flashbacks to seeing the back of a truck filled with dead stingray in Africa which then led to me not finishing the meal. Other than that, the food was AWESOME. In Bordeaux Chrissy found the best spaghetti ever. I still think about it all the time because it was so good. For some reason we decided it would be a great idea to go ride rides at a fair after eating a ton of pasta and each of us having dessert. That was not the best idea I've ever had. Fair rides in France are nothing like they are at home. The ride lasted no less than five minutes, which doesn't sound like a long time, but when you're being thrown through the air at an incredible speed after eating enough pasta for two or three people, you feel like you're going to die. At one point about 2.5 minutes into the ride it stopped, so I thought it was over. Little did I know it had just gotten started. We then got thrown backwards and it was no longer enjoyable. Somehow I still managed to have a great time even though I thought I was going to get sick.

I had to throw in a picture of Lauren and I in Marseille!

I have just a little bit of time this week to rest and then Friday afternoon I'm off to Barcelona to meet up with some friends who are studying abroad in Berlin and Spain! I got to visit Barcelona for a few days in high school and had a blast. I'm so excited to go back and hopefully get some paella and sangria! When I get back I'll have just three short weeks until it's time to start the travel at the end of the program. I'm lucky enough to get to travel with Chrissy (the spaghetti finder) and her family! Chrissy and I are first going to Munich for four days and then meeting her parents in Rome. We'll then travel around Italy until the 10th of December and then we'll leave for the U.S. the next day! I'm excited to go home but I know I'm going to miss everything about France so much.

sunset in Marseille

Culture Shock

The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. This definition that I quickly found on Google is the perfect description of my feelings when leaving the Maasai boma we visited right outside of Ngorongoro crater. The visit started off with a traditional welcome song that was performed by the men and women of the boma. The performance consisted of the men grunting and jumping while the women sang. I really enjoyed this part of the visit because to me it seemed very genuine and traditional. Once the welcoming part of the visit was finished we were taken into the boma and to the kindergarten school where the boys and girls were separated down the middle. It was hilarious to see how clean the little girls were compared to the little boys. Once we all were in the "school" the children sang songs and counted to 50 in English for us. After that we were taken by pairs into different houses by a Maasai man. He quickly explained to Nick and me how the houses were made and the few functions the houses had. We were then quickly taken outside and strongly encouraged to buy beaded jewelry made by the Maasai women. Upon leaving the Maasai boma I began feeling more and more confused about what I had just experienced. I was very appreciative that the Maasai were willing to open their homes to us and to show us a small part of their lives, but it all seemed like a rehearsed show rather than their actual lives. I felt as if we were invading their privacy. I could only imagine how I would feel if people were paying money to come into my home just to take pictures while I danced and showed them around. After I talked to some of the other students I realized that most of us seemed to be feeling pretty confused. Later that night all of the students, our two professors, and one of the drivers, Julius (who is a Maasai warrior), sat around a fire to talk about what we had taken away from the Maasai boma visit. I came into the talk feeling very shocked with how and where the Maasai live, but Dr. Beymer-Farris made an excellent point that there are most likely many aspects of American culture that would probably be very shocking to the Maasai people. Honestly while I was in the boma I had never stopped to even think about how the Maasai would react if they came to America to see how I live. They probably wouldn't be able to comprehend our large (in comparison to their huts) houses and trivial accessories that we think of necessities. Neither way of living is better than the other; it's simply how we each grew up. Visiting the boma was difficult not only because of how different it initially seemed from the culture I'm used to, but also because the Maasai people seemed more like entertainers putting on a show for tourists so that we would buy their jewelry instead of people who wanted to teach us about their rich culture and history. I went into the visit very curious about their everyday practices and struggles, but I left instead with three bracelets and more confusion. Dr. Suresh pointed out that because the Maasai are no longer allowed to live in the Serengeti and their expenses are increasing dramatically, they must find new ways to survive and tourism is a very big part of the Tanzanian economy. The particular Maasai boma we visited had to pay $400 every two weeks to get the water they needed for the whole community. Although the visit seemed more like a rehearsed show than an educational opportunity, I now have a better understanding of why they must do that. In order to survive the Maasai must adapt to a changing environment. Just like some of us felt like intruders, some of the Maasai might not enjoy having foreigners constantly coming into their homes. This was the first time I have truly understood what culture shock feels like. From it I've learned that when going into any new culture it is imperative to keep an open mind and to also think critically about what is happening. While I learned many things during this May Experience, I know that going to the Maasai boma was the greatest learning experience I had. I know that the visit and what I took away from it will stay with me for a very long time.

A Learning Experience

Prior to coming to Africa for this trip I had no idea what to expect as far as the trips we would take, what we would learn, or the type of people we would have the opportunity to meet. I knew this trip was going to be incredibly educational but I had no idea the amount of information I would be presented with over the span of one week that seemed to fly by. 

We've been on multiple informational and also entertaining trips to a spice farm, Jozani National Park, a mangrove forest, a local village, snorkeling, and a number of other visits. Even during the time we haven't been on trips we have had lectures on the history of Tanzania and Zanzibar and on the coastal ecology of East Africa from Dr. Ian Bryceson and also a guest talk with Dr. Saidi Salhina on what it is like to be a doctor on Zanzibar. 

Dr. Saidi Salhina started off by telling us the three most common diseases within local villages, which are digestion problems (to put it kindly), malaria, and under-nutrition (different from malnutrition) mainly among children. The main reasons for these diseases are a lack of medical doctors on the island, the fact that the medical doctors are primarily concentrated in towns and not villages, and a shortage of medicines that are not the traditional medicines in villages. If someone falls ill in a village they will most likely try traditional medicine before consulting a doctor, which they usually do when the problem becomes worse. It's very unfortunate to think that the three common diseases in villages could be prevented if only there were more doctors closer to villages as well as more access to medicine in villages. It is also a big problem in Tanzania as well as on Zanzibar that many students who go to medical school and become doctors decide to move abroad to find better work and more pay. 

When asked why he decided to become a doctor Dr. Salhina laughed a bit and then paused to think about his response. His primary reason was because his father was a doctor so he grew up surrounded by medicine. He added onto that saying he really enjoyed helping the people in the villages since they are so underprivileged. I found this amazing because he could probably move abroad and find a job that would easily pay more than what he is making now traveling from village to village. 

I believe Dr. Salhina is the perfect example of the majority of people of Zanzibar-they really prize helping others and I have been lucky enough to have experienced that firsthand during the scavenger hunt. We met taxi drivers and vendors who took time out of their day to help us when they could have easily turned the other way or said no to helping us. Since we encountered so many people constantly trying to sell us gifts during the first couple of days, it was hard to see another side of them, but the scavenger hunt was definitely an eye opening experience. It taught me a lot about being more accepting of new experiences. 

Since I am a political science major it is easy for me to relate my time here observing the people of Zanzibar to participant observation. I had never heard a whole lot about Zanzibar before coming so I don't have any prior expectations to relate my observations to. Because of what I have learned through this participant observation I am so excited to have the opportunity to stay for an extra month doing research. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to meet more warm hearted and kind people in the village where I will be staying. What an amazing learning experience this has been thus far.