Life's Circle.

 This past week has been a bit like Rocky Road ice cream, but not as sweet.  There were a couple sweet, creamy and enjoyable events that took place; events that were as miniscule as empanadas and events that were as grand as 300 people.  Intertwined with these sweet and creamy events, however, were a couple events that were not so sweet and not so creamy.  On Saturday our team fell by a hard 28pts to a mighty competitor, UNB Obenasa Navarra from Pamplona.  The next day, Sunday, I was faced with another difficult reality, the death of my grandmother, NanNan, as we liked to call her.  NanNan was one of the most generous people I knew, continuously giving of herself for the benefit of others.  There isn’t anything she wouldn’t have done for a member of her community that she wouldn’t have done for one of her 9 grandchildren or 3 great grandchildren.  She lived a full, admirable and satisfying life, raising 4 children of her own while always finding room for several foreign exchange students, constantly volunteering her time and energy without the slightest hint of remorse or doubt and all the while managing to treat herself as well, by courageously traveling to the corners of the world, all in her later years.  At the fortunate age of 82, NanNan had everything in life that she needed or wanted, which is why she did not have a computer, because she didn’t want one.  So, every week my dad would print out my e-mails, stuff them into an envelope and send them on their merry way, snail mail style to, “The Golden State.”  I am having a difficult time summoning up my usual gusto to write this e-mail, but I know that she enjoyed reading them and would not want me to skip a week, so I would like to dedicate this one to my grandma, Martha Knight.

NanNan, a fine, fine lady.

I’ll start off by describing the first of 2 sweet and creamy events.  Raise your hand if you’ve seen the movie, “Julie and Julia.”  Ok, you can put your hands down.  I laughed and cried over this movie about 2 weeks ago and then sent the link along to Sarah so that she could enjoy it as well.  Amused by the story line of this movie, Sarah and I have decided to follow in Julie and Julia’s floury handprints, dedicating one day each week to cooking something new.  This past weekend was our first in many new dishes to come.  We decided to start with a typical spanish dish, the empanada.  Wikipedia lists a slew of South American countries and the ingredients that are most commonly used in their specific empanadas.  The Spanish empanada is typically filled with peppers, onions, tomatoes and tuna.  Sarah and I used these ingredients and added a few of our own, zucchini, raisins and Sarah’s must have, walnuts.  We also decided to zest it up a bit with several different spices that sit on our countertop.  The dough was plain, simple to make and fit rather nicely into our lone oven trey.  

After approximately 20 minutes in the oven at somewhere around 190 degrees celsius, we crouched down and opened the oven door.  After the blast of hot air had dissipated and my glasses had defogged, my eyes were drawn to a golden brown pillow that sat in the middle of the oven, warm and inviting.  Sarah gently slid the trey out of the oven and placed it on the stove top.  Hands on our hips we stood in giddy silence as we admired our work, praying with all our might that it would taste as good as it looked.  Without another thought we placed 3 healthy slices onto plates and brought them into the salon.  I think Sarah and I were both holding our breaths as we watched one of our spanish roommates, Sara Castrillo, take her fist bite.  The seconds seemed to drag on and on as she chewed, swallowed, stared at the remaining empanada on her plate and then finally shifted her gaze toward her guiris (foreigners).  In her wonderfully cute spanish accent, Sara drawled out “It’s gooooood!”  Right then and there the heavens opened up, the trumpets started playing and the room was bathed in light.  She liked it, she really liked it!  Sarah and I quickly bit into our own pieces and realized that Sara was right, but it wasn’t just good, it was really good.  Our Spanish/North American empanada was the perfect combination of sugar, spice and everything nice.  Week one’s recipe was a definite success.  

The proud chefs!

Our brave taste tester, Sara Castrillo!  ATTENTION!

Our game on the other hand was not such a success, but our coach said that he actually felt better about this loss than he did about our win the week before.  Even though they thumped us by 28, my flame of faith has not been extinguished and I am looking forward with anticipation to our next encounter.  If it weren’t for our terrible first quarter, we would have been right there in the thick of it, but with myself and another one of our starters on the bench with 2 fouls a piece and 7 minutes remaining, Pamplona did what any great team should do, take advantage.  Down by 20pts we fought back and only lost the 2nd quarter by 5pts, the 3rd quarter by 3 and the 4th and final quarter by 2.  Next time we’ll be on our home court and out of foul trouble.  

Quick geography lesson, Pamplona is located in the north of Spain in the Navarre community and has an oceanic climate.  The city is famous for its San Fermin Festival that takes place from July 7th through the 14th.  A well known, world wide event that takes place during this festival is the running of the bulls.  

A couple facts about the event:

Running of the Bulls, Pamplona

The length of the run is about 840 meters

It’s over in less than 5 minutes

200-300 people are injured each year

15 people have died in Pamplona since the tradition began in 1910

You have to be over 18 years of age to participate

Traditional dress=white shirt and trousers, red waist band and neckerchief 

The herd consists of 6 bulls and 6 steers

Average speed of the herd is 15 mph

With the economic slide, this tradition has experienced some adversity.  The bulls that are used are not as impressive as they once were, some weighing as much as 200 pounds less than previous years.  Culture and the power of tradition still stand, however, and the run must go on.

Moving on to the last topic of today’s e-mail is the 2nd sweet and creamy event.  This past Friday a large presentation was held in our gym.  Every basketball team in Club Alcobendas showed up at 6:30pm to be introduced and gather on the gym floor for a group photo.  Between the male and female teams, I was told that about 300 athletes were present.  Ages ranged from little tykes of 6 years old all the way up to the oldest male player, around 40.  

Before the event commenced I sat in the locker-room listening to the friendly banter of my teammates when all of a sudden the door opened and a male voice sliced through the mezzo-soprano sound waves.  “Leslieeeeeee, venga porfavor (Leslieeeeee, come here please)”  I exited the locker-room, feeling all 20 sets of eyes watching me as I went.  Upon closing the door I was introduced to an excited young man who was holding a video camera.  I was then asked if I wouldn’t mind filming the event.  The film would then by cut and edited for the use of an english television channel.  I was given free reign to film what I wanted, who I wanted, for however long I wanted AND I could say anything I wanted as well.  I embraced the camera, turned on my heels and strode confidently back into the locker-room where I immediately started filming my teammates.  Ha, their faces were that of surprise and confusion as I recorded their every move.  As we lined up outside the gym and waited to be introduced, my camera and I took a sneak peak into the venue.  Within seconds, the eyes of everyone sitting in the stands quickly turned to the tall, light haired Americana with the cam-er-a.  I scanned over the crowd slowly and found myself looking back at a number of happy faces.  People started waving, smiling, cheering and laughing.  I can’t help but imagine that many of them thought that the American was just filming for her own personal pleasure and not for an actual t.v show. 

I proceeded to film each team as they proudly walked and rolled, out onto the court.  I say rolled because Alcobendas also has a wheel chair basketball team, which was news to my ears.  My team and the men’s team were the two last teams to be introduced.  I happily gave the camera over to Pablo, our team doctor, and lined up with my teammates.  Each one of us walked out onto the court holding the hands of two young ballers;)  The presentation was lively and exciting.  I feel very fortunate to be a part of such a well supported organization.  

Leslie’s Loose Ends:

What do you call a Canadian winter hat? Answer: a Toque

I had english class yesterday and my student taught me more than I taught him! Drawing a map of spain on the white board and telling me of all the places I need to visit.

Played that fun kids game, “Guess Who” on Wednesday with Alvaro and Mario.  “Does he have glasses?!” “Is he Roberto?!”

 I ate Cuajada for the first time this weekend.  I got home and looked it up online and discovered that Cuajada means curdled milk.  I don’t think I would ever knowingly offer to eat curdled milk, but it was quite tasty especially when mixed with the honey that came along with it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhada 

Cuajada with honey.

Alright, we made it through the e-mail.  Thanks for coming with me.  I’ll leave you with this quote,

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.  ~George Eliot

Love always,

Leslie