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| The best thing I ate |
I know it’s been a while since I’ve made a post. I have
been travelling the land of Spain the past two weeks, and then real life hit me
in the face like a fat sweaty Middle Eastern man catapulted from three meters
in front of me.
I’ve been a bit of a deer in headlights – excited by
being back in Israel but confused about metaphoric trucks careering toward me.
Spain was beautiful. A dazzling European city. Clean with
grand buildings and picturesque landscapes. You can taste where Picasso, Dali, Goudy
and other artists received their inspiration.
While there, my main goal was to try and fit in. Not be
an average tourist, but an Aussie/Israeli expat who had been in Spain for a
while.
The first was the language. Of which I had none to start
with. Well, I knew how to say “I am hungry, I want tacos”, but that’s about it.
I got their late at night with my “I am hungry” phrase
and “where is” which I had learnt on the plane and used to find my way to the
hostel. I wrote the word “right” on my right hand, and “left” on my left hand. My
mastery of the body language got me there in the end; You see a nice old man
shake both hands vigorously straight and say some things in Spanish, you learn
that he is mostly saying “go straight”.
The next day I discovered that because of a King they
once had, the Spanish still today speak with a lisp. I later found out that the
lisp doesn’t appear on each ‘s’ sound. They can say “Espanya”, it’s not “Ethpanya”.
Once I got that down I learn to ask where the toilets
where properly, without being blurred with a mouthful of ‘th’ sounds.
Then to complete my Spanish transformation I had to
master a couple more things:
1. Afternoon naps. Everything closes there for two to four hours in
the afternoon. – Easy
2. I had to start drinking beer or wine at 10am – manageable.
3. And I had to eat a lot of a little.
Tapas and Pinchos are the dishes available in Spain, 98%
of which are something with thin slices of ham they scraped off the legs they
have displayed on their counters.
Tapas are small side dishes costing between EU2 for
something simple like garlic bread, to EU6 for something elaborate. Pinchos are
fancy little finger food, which in the north are customarily washed down with cider,
and in the south, sangria.
Basically mouthfuls of deliciousness.
Being Jewish I found the eating thing to be the easiest
way to fit in – in theory. Being vegetarian complicated things. “What do you
mean no ham?!? What do you eat?”
In short I managed. I didn’t go hungry at all.
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| Segovia, Spain |
I spent my days there soaking in fine art and sun, riding
bikes through parks both Israel and Australia wouldn’t have the water to
upkeep. Drinking enough, dancing a little, climbing mountains (hills), castles
and cathedral walls. We saw everything Goudy and Jewish, and enough cathedrals
to satisfy me for a long time.
It was a great feeling to arrive back in Israel and hear
my fellow citizens saying how they hope Gilad Shalit will be able to return
home soon too and the next day he did. What an experience, not a dry eye in
sight, such a joyous day.
