Degustacion

This is my friend Alexandre; he's the sous chef at work. Last night me, Linds, and Caleb went in for dinner and he did a 'Degustacion' for us that was just perfect. He let me pick what I wanted for 6 courses off the menu, but he redesigned the plates for us to make it special. It was amazing, L and C were really impressed. Plus, they got to meet my friends, and rag on me in Spanish with them (not cool). Just kidding, but the biggest surprise was when we asked for the check and they said 'no, you were invited'. It blew me away, it was easily a 150 euro meal, and they gave it to us for free. So....here was our menu:

• Canelon de Ensalada con Contrastes : Salad wrap, with tastings of contrasting flavors. Pineapple, Pinenuts, Yogurt, Limes, Tomatoes, Membrillo (quince paste), Grapefruit, Oranges, Queso de Burgos, Dijon Vinaigrette.
• Ravioli de Calabaza : Ravioli filled with Butternut squash with Sage and Sealed Queso Fresco served with a Sage cream sauce.
• Atun : Tuna steak with a mushroom filled ravioli, pisto filled wonton, and fumet (fish stock)
• Presa : Pork loin served with Eggplant puree, Caramelized Apple and Eggplant Chutney, Soy Reduction, and Flatbread with Cumin and Pistachio.
• Tarte de Queso : combination of American and Spanish cheesecake. American because it has Philadelphia cream cheese in it, and Spanish because they bake it without a crust. So good.
• Fondant : Chocolate cake with a warm Caramel center served with Pistachio Gelado.
• Cafe Cortado all around (except for the pregnant lady who was still licking the chocolate off her plate, jk, love ya linds)

Hmm........

Lately I've been doing alot of 'pondering' I guess you could say: about life here, life at home, just life in general actually. So I thought I'd just write some song lyrics and a few quotes from a book I'm reading right now that can give you an idea of what I'm dealing with. (and don't take this as a negative thing at all, its good....just difficult in alot of ways ;)


I tried to communicate, I tried to relate
Now all I wanna do is escape
And vanish into fantasies
I ventured out of the galaxy
Into the outer regions
Where folks believe in something
Much much bigger than their demons
And aren’t controlled by their circumstances
Sounds romantic, well dance with this slowly
And hear my failures don’t control me
It’s a place of solitude but I’m not lonely
And it’s beautiful but lets be reasonable
It’s just not real
It plays with your imagination
And for a moment or two, can make time stand still
But when it’s over all you have is a memory
I had to leave cuz the real world was calling me
Left my youth in pursuit of the truth
And gained a world of dishonesty
I see your innocence and envy it
I reminisce of mine and remember it
Full of peace, full of hope, full of truth
I remember when I used to be you
Before you became me
It’s sort of overwhelming
It didn’t seem like I was storytelling
But you didn’t believe me when I told you
That I could see my hopes and dreams
Come alive as it seems
But there’s a time and place for everything
Well I left my imagination there
Now it’s only what I can
Touch, see, taste and hear with my natural senses
I wish I could stretch the limits
But my defenses keep me limited
From the boundaries I set, so I won’t get burned again
Sure I’d like to be optimistic
That doesn’t line up well with reality
So I’ll go to sleep now and dream of
A younger, healthier, better me
Don’t mistake innocence for ignorance
Don’t mistake purity for inexperience
Don’t mistake humility for weakness
I sincerely mean this
You understand more than you know
There’s no goal like piece of mind
So what else are you trying to find?
What’s left?
Except regret and heartache
And yes, your heart will break and go numb
Lots of times before this life is done
You’ll look for answers but there’s just one
Patience that one day everything will make sense
But waiting is a pinch waking you up
From the worlds you’ve made up
The one where you dream
And the one where you gave up
Time to create a new atmosphere
Where the boy and the cynic can both play fair

- J. Reuben

• It's interesting how you sometimes have to leave home before you can ask difficult questions, how the questions never come up in the room you grew up in, in the town in which you were born. It's funny how you can't ask difficult questions in a familiar place, how you have to stand back a few feet and see things in a new way before you realize that nothing that is happening to you is normal.
  

• Everyone has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons.
  

• We get one story you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it? It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out. I want to repeat one word for you: leave. Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.
  

- Donald Miller

To Pamplona we go....

It was interesting trying to find the right coach, considering they weren't in numerical order of any kind.

Overnight train ride, good times.

After a rather hellish train ride, we got to Pamplona at 6am and had a much needed cafe con leche. It was rather invigorating however to walk into the station and already hear festive music playing in anticipation of the day's adventures.

Encierro

The cathedral

By lunch we were pretty wiped out, took some effort to not fall asleep in our food. We ate in the plaza and happened to be hanging out when the parade of 'giants' came through. Its just people in with big heads that walk around and play with the kids. Pretty cool.

This was the traditional San Fermin dancing they did in the main plaza that night, seemed oddly complicated and simple at the same time. You can kindof see how some people's whites have a violet hue to them, due to the red wine spray guns naturally.

Thats one thing that Spaniards definitely do better than Americans: Fireworks. It lasted almost 30 minutes, and was amazing.

Homeward Bound

These pictures made me burst out laughing. It was 1am and we were soooo tired and just ready to be home. We didn't even try to look this bad, it just came naturally.
I'm sittin in a railway station got a ticket for my destination.....

Girona

This is a really cool pic that Caleb took of the Cathedral in Girona, this is its reflection in a store window from across the street.

Lots of steps, poor Caleb.

On the way back from France we went to Girona, a city fairly near the coast that is a big University town. They are famous for their Arabic ruins, an old Jewish community, and it has a river running through the middle of it. We had fun just walking around the old town, eating gelato, and chasing Jonas around. He hasn't quite mastered the art of walking together yet, but he's getting better at it. He's just too curious, has to investigate everything. Unfortunately he wouldn't sit still long enough for a good pic, but this one is still pretty cute I think.

Road Trip

For my days off we went on a road trip to France, mainly just to get out of the city, butits kinda ironic it happened to be in July 4th. It was just this little town right across the border, we had crepes for lunch.

July 3rd Celebration

We had Eva and Amanda over for dinner. For dessert we made S'mores, me and Eva decided adding peanut butter is definitely the way to go.

Is this not the cutest little sick boy you've ever seen. He saw everybody else curled up on the couches when we were sick, so he started doing it on his own to mimick us. Even has to have the remote handy.

Dinner at the Beach

At the beach you have your typical variety of restaurants; spanish and....spanish. We chose a happy meal instead.