"El que madruga, dios le ayuda."
The English equivalent is somewhere between "God helps those who help themselves," and "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Literally, the saying means: God helps he who rises early.
11 o'clock a.m. rolls around and just as consciousness pokes its nose into my Spanish dreams we're in a hurry. I throw on the nicest clothes I packed, hoping they match and that the Spanish don't mind a few wrinkles here and there. We all scurry by one another in the narrow apartment hallway searching for a missing sock or a deodorant stick. I pass by the kitchen and see Manuel's mother putting together the dish for the Christmas dinner. This sight was all too similar to my American mother experience as mom would normally rise at ungodly hours to put together all the dishes for our holiday gatherings. The difference however, as I later learned, was that because the Spanish eat with such fresh ingredients, the dishes have to be put together right before being served so the ingredients don't spoil together. It also makes the assembly process easier as the ingredients require less preparation.
Anyway, we all tumbled into the van waiting below on the street and thankfully I had remembered to grab my camera. Without it I would not be able to offer the following pictures of such exquisite cuisine and generous Spaniards who shared their Christmas experience with me. After all seven of us piled into the van, we purposely cruised across town to Grandma's place where a sizable table was waiting with constant stream of tasty dishes. Below is about half the table assembled bisecting two rooms of the spacious Madrid apartment.
Embracing family members and a kiss on both cheeks was followed by wine and casual conversation. Additionally, we pushed back the nagging hunger with finger food including potato chips and muscles with lemon juice squeezed over them. One incredibly simple and truly addictive starter that I managed to snap on my Nikon is pictured below. Who knew that sliced cherry tomatoes with a little bit of seasoning on top could be so tempting. Try them yourselves, they're incredibly easy to make.
Here is a wonderfully artistic bunny rabbit design of the potato purée offered up for display by one of Manuel's uncles.
This is what the dish looked like when the coinciding sauce was appropriately added. Delicious!
Finally, for desert we tried to make room for an apple cake, very different to the American concept of an apple pie, along with a berry jam covered cheese cake.
This was my first Christmas Day experience outside of my house. I chose to spend it some thousand miles away in Spain with my good friends, the Frailes, and I learned much in the process. The more I travel and live away from home, the more I see the necessity for cross-cultural exchange experiences. Manuel came to live with me for a year because he needed to learn English well. English speakers, on the other hand, seem to have a carte blanche because it's their native language. In my opinion, English speakers, especially Americans, need to step up their act on the international level. Americans need to make sacrifices such as Manuel's year-long study away from home. Americans need to encourage, rather than impede, their kids' contact with different cultures, especially those who many deem 'unfriendly' or 'in opposition to' American values - for example Muslim cultures of the Middle East. If Americans have confidence in their way of life and truly believe in their values and their strength, they should not only allow their children more contact with foreigners but actively seek it.
To go out with a bang here's an old song for all my Spanish speakers - not to put the damper on the Christmas spirit but I think its clever and relevant. Below is a link to a song from Ska-P. If you can't catch the Spanish, the artist is basically arguing that we have lost appreciation for, or altogether forgotten, the significance of Christmas and instead placing priority on consuming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H52nspHWUQ
My favorite line is
"Jesús era un tío normal, pacifista, intelectual, siempre al lado de los pobres defendiendo sus valores, siempre en contra del capital."
I like it because it essentially says Jesus was a normal dude, an intellectual pacifist always defending the poor and in opposition of capital. An image, I believe, completely contradicted in every gold plated church and cathedral in Spain and Bulgaria (I'm in Bulgaria now and a week or two behind on posts by the way). Anyway, that's my beef with the church for now. If there's one thing I learned about Christmas is that it should be spent with people you care about, preferably your family, but seeing it done from another perspective is good too.
Happy Holidays everyone. Enjoy the pictures!
