Baby Meredith

Meredith Jo Crider
7 pounds 4 ounces
August 16th, 2006

Everybody was pretty wiped out by this point.

My name is Luca....I am an Italian Man (Lemony Snicket's anyone?)

This is me and Luca, the Italian. They've been calling him Pinocchio lately, didn't quite catch the story behind it, but I'm assuming it has to do with....Pinocchio? Anyway, he started a few days before I did so we both kinda bonded, being the rookies and all. Unfortunately this was one of the days that the a/c was out in the kitchen, so we both look a tad on the red side to say the least. The dude with the toke in the second pic is Rodrigo, the head chef. He looks super goofy there, made me laugh. He had a gotee all summer, then went on holiday and shaved it off so I still don't totally recognize him. He's from Argentina, not sure how long he's been here, but he's a really good cook.

El Camino

It is finished. I survived the internship I've always dreamed of? Heaven and hell can be felt within the same walls at any given moment, its quite an accomplishment I think. This is the metro stop close to work, our relationship was very similar to that of me and work as well: love/hate. Its sad to be done in alot of ways. Everyone was so good to me in the kitchen. The fact that we are from two different worlds to say the least sometimes played with everybody's patience and temperments at times. But for the most part I was surprised at how accepting they were of me. I didn't realize until this past week how much they actually did like me I guess. I just need to say one thing at this point : sarcasm does not translate easily, and when your personality semi-revolves around it you are left feeling slightly....dull. So I never knew for sure exactly what my co-workers thought of me for the most part. Especially the more quiet ones, like Bosqo. But then when I had to start saying goodbye to them, they were so warm and giving it blew me away. Bosqo invited us over to his piso after work the other night to meet his fiance and have a farewell drink. It really meant alot to me, and then when we said good bye he told me (in english) how much he enjoyed working with me etc....he had his fiance teach how to say it in english! It was so thoughtful. Then the next night, after cleaning the kitchen, the chef walks in with a bottle of champagne, and about 10 of us sat around on the kitchen counters toasting and wishing me well. I almost wanted to cry. So then on my actual last day, yesterday, they decided that we all needed to go out for a going away party. So it looks like about 15 of us are going out sometime next week. Maybe Spaniards take a long time to say goodbye, or they just want an excuse to hang out after work, I don't know. For whatever reason, it has been a perfect ending to my Spanish adventure.

3 Days Left

Silly Spaniards. Always playing with knives....they were trying to look "spanish" by holding them up like Matadors. The one on the far left of the 2nd pic is Carlos of Columbia, then Alber (aka : Bosqo) of San Sebastian, Alexandre of Galicia (north/west region of Spain close to Portugal) is the sous chef. These are my 3 favorites, they speak the least english out of anyone, but we have fun trying to communicate. Good times.