When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Eat Sushi

My time, and everyone in the group’s time here in Spain is winding up. I have long since been counting the days, as I enjoy keeping track of things, but now a mere 3 days away from our arrival on US soil, the feeling is really beginning to sink in.

Lucky for us (and this is the only time I will ever say this) we have our even sooner approaching final exam to keep us busy! For me, this exam is a nice test to see what knowledge I have accumulated over my time here in Cadiz. Needless to say studying and a final review is oh so necessary, but I am IMAG1239eager and slightly nervous to take and get back the results. Heres a riddle for you, “Whats unexpected, calms the nerves and feeds the soul of a college student?” Sushi from the Mercado de Cadiz.

Yes. I know, “Sushi in Spain? Isn’t that more of a Japanese thing?”, you say. Why yes, yes it is, but in reality 80% of Spain’s red tuna export goes to Japan. Now knowing this I urge you to think about how much tuna sushi there is and the fact that Cadiz is known for its wide variety of  extremely fresh fish(sold openly at the Mercado each day save for Monday). “Hm, maybe Cadiz isn’t such a bizarre place to find amazing sushi after all”, and let me tell you it IS amazing. Would you just take a moment to appreciate the picture. The best California rolls and red tuna nigiri I have ever tasted have been in Cadiz. I liked the Cali rolls so much that I ordered some more rolls to take home for dinner(developing a minor sushi addiction).

In addition to my savory sushi, I had my long awaited canela y azucar( cinnamon and sugar) crepe. It might not look like much, but inside this thing is filled with flavor and the perfect crepe consistency. From week one I have IMAG1234been craving a crepe and I’m proud to say that I finally got one. Before today, just 3 days before I leave, I had just never been in the right place at the right time with the right about of money, but oh was today different. I also acquired this morsel in the eating area of the Cadiz Mercado. Seriously, no regrets.

Morals for today: Study hard, but make time to enjoy life, especially in the last few days. Just because you haven’t tried something up until this point, doesn’t mean that that its too late. And lastly, for the sake of everything good in the world, please keep calm and try the sushi.

Conversation with a side of La Cena

Vamos a ver, where to start…oh I know! The best place to always start and finish is the food. From my 4 weeks here in Cadíz I have come to realize the importance of meals within Andalusian culture. Wether it be sitting down for a 11751773_10206251328775899_8073518702978289032_ndelicious home cooked lunch (because yes, they do that here) or going out for dinner (all hail the mighty tapas menu), there is always some aspect of each meal of the day, and even snacks, that holds some cultural significance and an even smaller personal significance that I have come to enjoy. It truly is an emotion that you must experience for yourself.

This year has been the hottest in quite some time in Cadíz. It seems that the wind has stopped blowing and the sun is taking its revenge on humanity. Needless to say, we are the tourists walking around during siesta time (the hottest part of the day), or even after ( its still hot), sweating like mad and forever a little dehydrated, but hey, our calves look great!

After such a day like today for example, when the sun had gone down, me and another chica in the group went out to eat. Now we did not have the typical Spanish tapas, actually was had Mexican and Italian food, but the type of food is beside the point. It is great to experience the Spanish cuisine, but more importantly is to immerse yourself in the culture and to learn by doing. As I mentioned earlier meals play a very important role. People here go out for ice cream during the day. There is never a time where I have seen an empty heladería (ice cream store). And likewise people go out for dinner. Though dinner here is not as large as the dinner in the USA it is muy importante for the people of Andaluz. Dinner here is more about the conversation than the actual food. That is not to say that dinner isn’t always excellent because I’ve not had a bad dinner yet, but more than the great food Helado de palmerais the great person you are sharing the experience with. Really, the food goes with your conversation, the conversation doesn’t go with your meal.

So with that bit of knowledge I urge you to try new foods, stay hydrated, find every excuse to talk to everyone(en Español, por supuesto), have that post dinner ice cream because why not, and take some time at the beginning, middle, and/or end of your day to sit down and have a conversation with someone about Mexican food in Spain.