Euromaaaniaaa

100 Montaditos Euromania - todo a un euro, everything for one euro!

   

Euromania defines Wednesdays. A montadito (little sandwich) and una jarra (big mug) of beer or tinto de verano, each for a euro. Add french fries for a euro, and keep the rounds comin'. A Wednesday tradition, I face the crowds and the cold with roommates and friends for cheap food and drinks, along with the rest of the Sevillanos!

recreation

At Casa Cuesta on Becca's last night, we tried a fabulous tapa that I haven't been able to stop thinking about...berenjena con miel, or eggplant with honey. We ate the fried eggplant with drizzled honey as our last tapa and it was the perfect, sweet ending to our dinner.

I decided to attempt to recreate eggplant with honey. Felix was curious, especially because I hadn't stopped raving about it. We covered sliced eggplant in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs, and after frying the slices, drizzled hot honey over them.

Casa Cuesta's tapa was better than ours, with softer, more tender eggplant (and I bet they didn't fill their kitchen with smoke when they cooked it)! And of course, they had the element of surprise. Regardless, I  thoroughly enjoyed my version of this Spanish dish, and imagine this won't be my last time recreating it.

NO8DO

 

I've lived in Sevilla for four months now and only recently learned the story behind "NO8DO", the city's emblem and official motto that can be found on street signs, flags, manhole covers, and bus cards, and almost anything you can think of.

The 8 represents a piece of yarn called a "madeja." When read all together, "no-madeja-do" sounds like "no me ha dejado," which in Spanish means, "It (Sevilla) has not abandoned me."

The emblem comes from an old legend about King Alfonso X, whose son tried to take the throne from him. The people of Sevilla remained loyal to their king. The allegiance of the Sevillanos prompted the king to create the city motto, "Sevilla has not abandoned me."

    

I find it quite appropriate, considering the modern Sevillano's very obvious love for the city.

NO ME HA DEJADO!

movie review

Though the following movie is unrelated to the Spanish culture, as many of you know, I am also gaining a deeper understanding of German culture during my time in Spain.
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The Baader-Meinhof Complex (2008) tells the story of the first generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a German terrorist group in the 1960's and '70s. After setting the stage with a vivid account of the events leading up to the formation of the group, the film follows the radical founders through their daily life and the planning and execution of several attacks of escalating violence. A view of the opposing side shows politicians struggling to shut down the group and restore order in a time when young people are protesting the Vietnam War around the world. What starts as an exciting chain of events inspired by idealism and youth activism quickly becomes a misguided, violent and foolish game, as the police force, too, turns more and more towards oppression of the people. Though more sympathetic to the left, the film does not shy away from showing the crazed and twisted minds of the extreme leftists. The viewer is torn from left to right and develops a growing sense of disillusion with the entire ordeal once he witnesses the mental and physical degeneration of the RAF's founders and the birth of the second generation of terrorists. The protagonists begin to lose any redeeming qualities they might have once had, and the final result is a resounding sentiment amongst the viewers that violence is never the answer.

I recommend this movie to all. Find a way to see it.

prohibido fumar

As of January 2, 2011, smoking is no longer legal inside of any restaurant, store, or public building Spain. As thrilled as I am to not have to breathe smoke while trying to enjoy a good meal, the anti-smoking law actually turned out to be an inconvenience the first time I heard of it. A waiter in a hookah bar informed me of the law and regretfully denied me my shisha. Oh, well. I resigned to drink sweet Arabic tea on the floor cushions and enjoy my smoke-free environment.

small town livin

Although Sevilla is the fourth largest city in Spain (following Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia), with 700,000 Sevillanos living within the city limits, I often feel as if I'm in a small town. (Granted, almost anywhere is a small town compared to L.A.'s 17 million, and the city of angel's population has probably grown during the time lapse between the moment that I write this entry and the moment that you read it. Well, unless you're one of my many un dia en sevilla obsessive fans, in which case, maybe only a few minutes have passed, and the population is still probably hovering around 17 million.) Anyway, the point is that I frequently run into people I know despite my only knowing a few people here. And every day I witness others running into their friends on the street; today, my taxi driver yelled out his window at a pedestrian he happened to know.

The pueblo of Bormujos, the town where I work, is a small suburb of Sevilla. Today, while waiting in line at the bank, an old woman walked through the door and loudly said, "Buen día" (good morning),  greeting everyone in the room . Hard to imagine someone walking into a Wells Fargo in L.A. and greeting everyone in a friendly manner; you may even be more likely to fall victim to a bank robbery than be greeted by a friendly stranger.

As I waiting in line with the "buen día" lady and a few others, another elderly woman walked in and barged her way to the counter. She shoved a bag of hard candy (cough drops or vitamin C-type hard candy) in the teller's face, insisting that she take one. Weirder still, the teller paused her transaction and took a hard candy while chatting with the lady, who then proceeded to offer a candy to a second teller while pushing aside a customer. Oh, I forgot to mention that her leash-less dog was running around the bank whilst barking. This type of small town, let your customers wait so you can have a chat with a neighbor, irks me and my American-efficiency-loving, time-is-money ways.

I'm not sure if it's a Spanish thing, a small town thing, or both, but I found these moments worth remembering. If you're still reading this, send me an email to elizabeth.j.thorne@gmail.com with the word "buen día." I want to know who my true fans are.

the holidays

I had a wonderful three weeks back in the states for Christmas and New Year's Eve, spent mostly in L.A. and stole away for brief getaway to Deer Valley, Utah. Here's my weak attempt at a tag cloud of the buzz words of my vacation (I did use a tag cloud generator, only it produced a less than impressive and might I add alphabetical cluster - the bane of my existence) including a few good books, dog names, and of course, food highlights:

• Biggie
• bluffs
• Chili
• christmas ale
• dog park
• driving
• emergency landing
• engagement party
• lobster
• mac 'n' cheese
• mountains
• my bed
• new boots
• No & Me
• ornaments
• rain
• rainbows
• Roxy
• Saki
• spa day
• sunsets
• sushi
• sushi
• sushi
• Thorne family Christmas
• Tinkers
• Tron 3D IMAX
• wine tasting 
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• and some blackberry uploads: