My First Thanksgiving in Barcelona - Celebrating It With Chris!

I am still blown away by Chris' visit here to spend just 8 short days, using most of the time working together to celebrate our first Thanksgiving here with some of our Barcelona friends.  And yet it couldn't have been a more perfect way for us to get to know each other better by working side by side in the planning, preparation, cooking and hosting of our Thanksgiving dinner.  We work very well together I am very happy to say!!!

In this post, I'd like to highlight some of the cultural differences that were revealed while putting on this event.  As you know, Thanksgiving is an American and Canadian tradition.  Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October and the U.S. has it at the end of November.  The rest of the world may have some sort of understanding of it only through American movies that depict a typical Thanksgiving gathering.  However, my friends here had no idea of the abundance of dishes that are offered in a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

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LASAGNA - a pasta dish was typically served as a first course (or second, after the antipasta) in our Italian-American household.  Although restaurants serve lasagna here, it does not usually have a tomato sauce base (ragu) and it usually does not have ricotta and mozzarella cheese in it.  They use a bechamel sauce and the filling is meat-based.

TURKEY - turkey may be served in some homes in Spain for Christmas, but it is not typical meat that is served as it is in the U.S.  When I brought out the 11 lb turkey to the table, I thought the Paparazzi had arrived by the number of cell phones that were pulled out to take pictures of it.  We were very happy with the way the bird turned out.  We think it's because the turkey was very fresh (not frozen) and we brined it.  We also had to remove a few feather ends that were not entirely plucked out, which was a new experience for us!

TRIMMINGS - a typical American plate has three types of food on it (I am generalizing here): a meat, a starch (i.e. - potatoes or rice) and a vegetable (preferably green).  For Thanksgiving that same plate carries 2 to 4 times as many sides on it (i.e. - 4-8 sides).  In Spain they only have one side on the second plate (usually potato or very small salad).  That is because there is a first plate that is offered for lunch and dinner. So our friends were overwhelmed with the number of side dishes we offered them.

• Bread Stuffing - I want to say that they may have something similar here
• Sweet Yams - they have sweet potatoes, but the ingredients in this was new for them
• Cranberry Relish - completely new for them
• Mashed Potatoes - they do serve this in Spain, although less frequently
• Corn Pudding - completely new for them
• Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions on top - green beans are common but the preparation was different for them
• Broccoli Casserole - broccoli is common here but the preparation was very different
• Turkey Gravy - this thick type of gravy is very different for them

DESSERTS - we served three pies: pumpkin, pecan and coconut custard.  In general, pies with a pastry bottom and sides is not served much here.  The pecan pie was the most unusual for them because pecans are not a common product in supermarkets here.  Pumpkin pie was also an unusual dessert for them.  The coconut custard pie was probably the most familiar dessert for them in that they serve something similar here at some restaurants.

I need to mention here that Chris did the yeoman's work for this meal.  I made the lasagna, making the pasta from scratch.  Chris did the rest (I did help with getting the turkey prepared for cooking).

 Our friends thoroughly enjoyed the meal.  Some of them had indigestion afterwards.  That also is an American Thanksgiving tradition!!

Two Other Cultural Differences That We Observed

While making the cheese mixture for the lasagna (ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella) I realized that the recipe called for parsley, which I didn't purchase.  I quickly ran downstairs to the local corner vegetable and fruit store.  The parsley is usually kept in front with the cashier, so I waited in line until the prior customers had checked out.  I asked only for some parsley.  The cashier pulled out a large bunch and asked me for how much.  I told her that I needed a little less than half of the bunch.  She pulled out about half, put it in a bag and handed it to me and said that there was no charge.  I thanked her for her generosity.  I have never had that happened to me in a city supermarket in the U.S.!!

My friend Jordi insisted that we keep track of our expenses for the Thanksgiving meal and that we divide it by the 13 people that participated in the dinner.  Having gone to a few gatherings in people's homes, I was accustomed to this way of sharing the cost of the meal.  But at first I thought I would just charge 10 euros each and we would cover the rest.  But Jordi would have none of it.  He felt that we are spending all this time preparing for it and hosting it.  It is completely understood here that the cost of the food for gatherings like this should be shared among all.  Chris had the hardest time accepting this type of arrangement, since this is not how we would do it in the U.S. But here it is completely acceptable and expected. He eventually made peace with it.

Below are few more pictures of our Thanksgiving feast.

The Beginning of Chris' Visit and Getting a Spanish Driver's License

Chris arrived yesterday (Saturday) from Washington DC and will be here until next Sunday. But in the hours I waited at the airport for him, I was beginning to wonder whether something terrible had happened.

You see, Chris had sent me his itinerary which showed him arriving to Barcelona from Frankfurt (where he had his connecting flight) at 12:15 pm.  I got to the airport at 12:15 pm exactly and waited, and waited, and waited.  I knew that Chris did not have a phone that worked in Europe so I didn't want to leave the area where passengers exit the security area.  So, I first talked to the woman who was guarding the exit area.  She said that it is unusual that Chris had not yet exited and perhaps his bag was missing and went to make a claim on it.  I then found and called the number (the airline that was to fly him to Barcelona from Frankfurt).  They did not have him on the roster for the 12:15 arrival flight.  But when I told them that he originated his flight from DC with United airlines, they said that United would have them on their roster.  I then contacted United.  They asked me for Chris' flight confirmation number or ticket number.  I had neither.  They said that they could give me no information about this passenger without one of these numbers.

It was now 1:45 pm and I was growing panicky.  I knew he reached Frankfurt because I got a text message from him there.  I knew that he was carrying a lot of ingredients for Thanksgiving day and I thought that maybe that he was stopped by Customs in Barcelona and was being detained there.  I thought that maybe traveling to Spain two times within a six month period may not be allowed.  It's amazing how many absurd thoughts one has when you are in a state of bewilderment and panic.

I also left a message for my friend Gerardo, who works at the airport at Hertz in Barcelona.  He called me back but really had nothing else he could advise me after hearing that I had gone through all my prior steps.  As I was talking to him I turned around and who was standing 3 feet from me was Chris with his bags checking his phone.  I quickly told Gerardo that I found him, hung up the phone and was both happy and relieved to see him and huged him and at the same time calming myself down from the worry I was feeling over the last hour and a half.

It turns out that Chris had a flight change but he did not realize that the hour had changed for his

arrival time from 12:15 pm to 2 pm.  He was apologetic and I was just relieved that he was here with no flight issues and that he was with me.  We spent the afternoon getting "reacquainted" and also getting him a cheap phone that he can use whenever he comes to Europe in the future.  That evening we went out with my Saturday night dinner gang.  On Sunday we spent the day having a home cooked meal for lunch and meeting our friend Cesar for drinks in the evening.  It is so good to have Chris here with me and my only wish is that he could find a job quickly so he could be here for good.

Getting My Spanish Driver's License

In order to resolve my state tax issues, I was advised to surrender my state driver's license.  I did that simply by calling the Department of Motor Vehicles.  They were able to process it over the phone.  I didn't need to mail them my license.  It's a weird feeling not having a driver's license.  I had one since I was 16 years old.  Chris and I will need to figure out how I'll get around since I won't be able to drive there when I am there over the Christmas Holidays.

Even if I had not surrendered my licence, I would not be able to use my US issued license in Spain.  The regulation is that after 6 months of living here, my US license is invalid.  So, when I return I plan to get my Spanish driver's license.  There is no reciprocal relationship between Spain and the U.S., like there is in other countries for driver's licenses.  So I will need to go to driver's school, take a written test and a practice test.  The good news is that the test can be in English.  But the test is tough and any infraction could cause you to fail.  But once I get it, I can also use it when I visit the U.S. for short visits.

Visit with US Friends and an Autumn Hike

I'm finding that in these last few weeks I haven't had a whole lot to blog about.  So this will also be another short post as was last week's post.  There are a number of things that I am anticipating over the next few weeks and months:

• Chris' visit and our Thanksgiving dinner here in Barcelona.  There will be 13 of us celebrating the holiday, which will be a new experience for the large majority of them.
• Starting the process of renewing my residency visa. My visa expires in March.  In December I need to translate my documents (pension, house, savings, health insurance) so that I am ready to submit them in early January,
• My trip back to the States in mid-December.  I will be back in the US on Dec 19 for 3 weeks.  I'm looking forward to that and to meeting Chris' family.
• Uncovering the mystery of paying taxes.  Although I believe I know what the steps will be, this will be the first year to file taxes in two countries.  I'll  learn a lot about my future tax obligations after going through it next year.

Meeting Up with Friends from the US

Last Friday I had the pleasure of visiting with Mike and Dave, friends who lived in the DC area and were involved with the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington and who are now retired, living in Fort Lauderdale and who spend a good bit of time traveling throughout the world.  They came to Barcelona and stayed one night to take a trans-Atlantic cruise back to Florida.  They had been to Barcelona a few times before and have done the major tourist spots.  So in the short time that we had together, we did a lot of walking (it's a good thing they are in good shape) in the center of the city, visiting places that are not well known, such as the Roman Columns of Augustus when Barcelona was known as the ancient city of Barcino, After visiting some buildings with interesting porticoes, we went to a pastry store called Caelum.  Many of the delicious pastries there are made in nuns' convents.  We had typical panallets with tea.  Delicious!

We then walked into the ethnic section of the city called Raval and ended up at the Sant Antoni Market, checking on the progress of the renovation work there and then going through the temporary building next to it to take a peak at the freshness of the various kinds of foods at this market.  

We finally stopped at Mistral, another pastry shop, to have a taste of the best ensaimada in Barcelona, in my humble opinion.  I then accompanied Mike and Dave back to their hotel.

Hiking trip to Fegeda and Extinct Volcanoes

On Sunday a group of about 17 of us traveled to the north part of Catalunya to enjoy the Autumn weather and hike the trails at Fegeda d'en Jordà, a large natural reserve with extinct volcanoes.  It was a gorgeous day and I could finally see the full effect of the changing of the color of the leaves here in Catalunya.  The trail was not too difficult.  We climbed up to a small castle on one mountain peak.  We then hiked over to one of the volcanoes and hiked into the middle of the crater, which was filled with trees and very green but in which parts of the trail were made of crumbled lava rocks.  At the center of the volcano was a small stone hermitage.  The vistas were breathtaking!

Lady Gaga Concert and Miscellaneous Happenings

This week was pretty quiet except for the Lady Gaga concert, which I'll talk about in a minute.  

Chris and I are continuing to plan and prepare for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  I found an American store here called Taste of America.  It has mostly canned or boxed American food products.  I found Libby's canned pumpkin filling and canned candy yams.  And one of the best finds was a recommendation by the manager there about a store that sells turkeys for half the price that I was quoted by another store (about $2.50 a pound instead of $5).  

On the language school front we are now starting to talk about our final exam in January.  This week I'll be giving an oral presentation to the class and will be used to evaluate my usage and control of the Spanish language while speaking and responding to questions.

After a huge lull in renovation work on the Sant Antoni Market this summer, things have gotten very busy this Fall.  They may actually make their July 2015 target date for opening the market.  When it does open, it will be the largest market in the city.  I anticipate it to be a beautiful structure and will become a magnet for people to come throughout the city.  And it's only two blocks from my flat.

Finally, I purchased a roundtrip ticket to London in January for around $70.  I'll be meeting Chris there for a teacher's job fair that he was invited to attend.  Hopefully he will have some good interviews that will lead to a job, ideally in Barcelona or elsewhere Spain or in a European country close to Spain.

Lady Gaga

In a prior blog post I talked about my lack of experience in going to rock or pop music concerts.  But I had the opportunity to purchase tickets for Lady Gaga.  I enjoy some of her songs and I heard that her concerts are quite a spectacle.  I was not disappointed.  She put on a great performance.  My friend Gerardo went with me to the concert.  I very much appreciated her solid and vocal support for the gay community, which she spoke about at the concert.  The part that literally shocked me was when in the middle of a song she threw herself into the crowd and they carried her for a bit before they passed her to the security guard who carried her out for her next costume change.  I believe it's called crowd surfing.  That took guts (or she's just crazy)!  She doesn't speak a lick of Spanish but the crowd didn't mind that at all.  They loved her. Below are some of the many photos I took at the concert.

Party Week & Many Small Differences Between Barcelona & D.C.

This week I participated in two parties, one at my language school, where students across 60 different countries got together and had a wonderful meal.  The second was a party that I hosted at my home for my Shambhala friends here in Barcelona.

International Food Day at EOI

EOI, or the Official School of Languages in Barcelona, hosts an event one day each Fall for the students who are learning Spanish to prepare a dish from their own country and bring it to share with others.  I decided to make Country Corn Pudding.  For the last two weeks in my Level 4 class we spent a lot of time on the topic of food in Spanish, reviewing different Spanish recipes and learning how they are constructed grammatically.  We also learned a lot of vocabulary about kitchen and food items, which has already come in handy in my day-to-day routine in Barcelona.

On Thursday we did not have class, but rather met around 10 am with our dishes in the large hall at the school and were grouped together according to native languages (the Americans were with the Australians and the English).  At 11 am the eating

began (which is much earlier than when people have lunch, which is around 2-3 pm).  Each dish was accompanied with the recipe, translated into Spanish, which was also a good exercise to do.  Toward the end of this food extravaganza some of the students shared their talents on stage, including a Hawaiian-American who danced native Hawaiian dancing.

Another House Warming Party

Originally, I wanted to have one house warming party and to invite all my local friends to it.  But that turned out impossible to do because my place is too small (it would have been over 40 people).  So, following the sound suggestion from my friend Jordi and divided my House Warming Party into 3 parties.  One for some of the friends I have met on my hiking trips, plus others that didn't fit into the other two groups, one for the group I meet with on Tuesday nights for dinner, and the third for my friends from the Shambhala group in Barcelona.  As most of you know Shambhala is a group that is dedicated to the practice of meditation and through that practice encourages the awareness of one's own basic goodness and the goodness of others.


 So this Saturday night my friends from Shambhala came to my house.  It's with this group that I get to have some feminine friendships in my life here.  The network of friends that I started with were all gay men.  And what I soon discovered is that between gay men and lesbians or straight women, there is not much social mixing (at least with the men that I know here).  And so Shambhala fills that gap for me with the women in that group.

The group here in Barcelona has more women than men in it and at my party, it just so happened that there were only 3 of us. The other 11 were filled with feminine energy that had a definite and intense party fever.  After we all ate and had dessert, we moved the coffee table aside and picked music that would definitely get the body to respond.  The dancing didn't stop until 3:30 am!  I tried to keep the music down for the sake of my neighbors.  But at times I thought for sure that a neighbor would bang on the door or the police would show up.  None of that happened and a good time was had by all.  The Shambhala folks here certainly know how to party!

Small Cultural Differences

I thought I would point out some of the small differences that I find between my experience here in Barcelona and what I experienced living in the D.C. area.  I don't want to generalize these differences between the two countries, Spain and the U.S., since my experience, especially here, is limited.  But I thought you would find it interesting to know that:

• The use of plastic sleeves to organize one's papers and documents is much more prevalent than file folders.  I actually find that plastic sleeves are much more handy and less likely for documents to fall out of them by accident.
• The paper in notebooks for adults always have a grid pattern, such as paper that we would use for graphs or geometry.  Lined paper is primarily used for children to help them with their orthography.
• Meals here, especially when not at work, are longer.  The Tuesday night group meal is always about 2 hours long and is only cut short because the metro stops running at 12 midnight.  Part of the length of the meal is due to the conversations that happen, many of them very intense and passionate, whether it is about politics or a movie.  And it generally happens that 2 to 3 conversations can happen all at once and much of the time those simultaneous conversations can cross each other, which naturally causes the volume to rise in order to be heard.  For a language learner, like me, at times my head spins trying to keep up with all of these discussions.
• In the U.S. baking soda is a typical item found in supermarkets.  Not so here.  You can only find it at pharmacies and is usually 4 times more expensive.
• Except for yogurt ice cream, yogurt is usually a food that is eaten at breakfast.  Here, it is more of a dessert.  So in supermarkets you will see variations of yogurt, including combinations of yogurt and chocolate.
• Most microwaves here do not have a digital display.  I believe the reason for that is to cut down on electricity costs.  People therefore prefer to purchase non-digital microwaves.
• Homes here are much more open to the immediate environment than in D.C.  The windows are open without screens.  Compared to the D.C. area, there are very few flying bugs, so screens are not as necessary.  Also, the weather is generally more pleasant.  Right now, at 10 pm, the temperature is a balmy 68 degrees.  It will get colder over the next few weeks, but nothing like D.C.  But in general, homes in D.C. and other U.S. areas are generally more sealed off from their environment and we like our homes to be individually climatized to suit our comfort.  Partly because of utility costs, Barcelona homes are much more open, which allows both the weather and the city noise to enter the home.

I'll continue to keep track of differences that I see and will occasionally write about them.

Planning for Thanksgiving in Spain and a Hike in the Pyrenees

Thanksgiving Preparation

As you may already know, Chris is coming back to Barcelona during the week of Thanksgiving.  He thought it would be great to do Thanksgiving here and to invite some of our friends to experience Thanksgiving.  And for this Thanksgiving, we wanted it to be very traditional, especially for our friends.  So I began to look for specific ingredients in Spain that we would typically use for Thanksgiving.

First there's the turkey.  In the U.S., you would find turkeys, especially around Thanksgiving, for around $0.69 a pound.  Turkey is not a common meat in Spain.  But the meat market does have turkey.  However, it will cost 8.95 euros a kilo.  So that's over $5 a pound (which includes the carcass, not just the meat).  But it will be worth it (at least this once).

Then of course there is pumpkin and pumpkin filling.  Although around this time of year, you do see small pumpkins in some stores, they do not have the typical American-shaped pumpkins here, especially in larger sizes.  A friend of mine said that pumpkin here is shaped differently.  To me the shape is like a butternut squash.  The only way to find out for sure is to taste it, which I hope to do soon.

So, fresh pumpkin is out and I went to a number of stores to find pumpkin filling to make pumpkin pie, to no avail.  So Chris will be bringing some cans of pumpkin filling.

There is no corn syrup here so Chris will also be bringing that.  They do have a form of sweet potato here, which I hope we can use to make yams.  And although I could not find corn meal, they do have canned corn here, which Chris will use to make corn pudding.  We'll also have stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the trimmings!

My form of a traditional Thanksgiving is to serve a pasta dish before the turkey and the trimmings.  Being brought up in an Italian-American home, this was the standard fare.  So for this Thanksgiving, I'll be making homemade lasagna with home-made noodles.  The challenge was finding a good tomato sauce base.  My grandparents were from Naples, so lasagna was always made with tomato sauce.  Not so in other parts of Italy, I learned recently from my Italian friend here.  In Bologna, they do not use a red sauce but rather cook it with bechamel sauce.  But my lasagna will have tomato sauce.  I found a place that sells imported Italian tomato puree, which I have always used as a base to make the sauce.  One of my Italian friends in my Spanish class works at an Italian store, where I'll be buying Mozarella, Provolone and Ricotta cheese at cost.

Eye Check-Up

It's been over a year since my last eye appointment, so I scheduled for one here.  I have my government eye insurance coverage, but this will be a test on how smoothly this all goes with an overseas claim.  I met with the ophthalmologist. She checked my eyes and discussed about continuing to use of contact lenses.  Up until now, I have been using monovision lenses, in which a lens is prescribed for one eye for reading and a different lens for the other eye for long distance.  However, multifocal lenses allow you to see simultaneously out of both eyes for both reading and distance vision.

There is a significant difference in cost, at least here in Spain.  However, I found that I could order these lenses online, have them shipped to Chris before he comes here, and my insurance company will cover most of the cost, with me spending only about $50 out-of-pocket.  That's quite a good deal!

Hike in the Pyrenees - Porté-Puymorens in France

If you are familiar with European geography, you know that the Pyrenees is the mountain range that separates Spain from France.  Also, in the Pyrenees is a very small country (technically a principality) called Andorra.  Right near Andorra, on the French side, is a hiking trail called Porté-Puymorens, which we hiked this Sunday (today).  It was a beautiful hike, but it took about 3 hours to get there and 3 hours to return.  So the actual time hiking was shortened due to the shorter amount of daylight hours during this time of the year.  But it was still worth it and got to meet some new friends on this trip!

Kyle Concert & City Bike Ride

The Music Culture Train That I Missed

I was the lead singer in The
Lost & Found Christian rock
band in H.S.

Ok, I admit it.  I am pretty ignorant about pop music culture.  When people talk about different music groups in the 70s, 80s and 90s, I stay rather quiet.  It's kind of funny that a person who grew up singing and playing the guitar would be so out of tune with the music scene.  I think I missed out when I was in high school and got involved with Young Life, an evangelical high school group.  All my attention from that point on was on Christian pop and rock songs.  I was even in a Christian rock band called "The Lost and Found".  That cultural music vacuum continued in college when I got involved with The Navigators through my late 20s.  I was 28 when I came out and got into a relationship.  At that point my music consisted of theatrical musicals (which I love) and country western music, which was popular among gays in the 80s in the U.S.

During my country
western days in the 1980s

Playing the guitar was a big part of my
life in H.S., college and through my 20s

Kylie Minogue Concert

So last Tuesday I went to see Kylie Minogue here in Barcelona with my friend Frederic who invited me.  She has a huge gay following, especially in Europe.  But when Frederic told me about her, I had no idea who she was.  I had to look her up in wikopedia.  And it took awhile to learn how to pronounce her last name.  When we were at the concert Frederic started asking me about other music bands. Each one he mentioned I had to say "I don't know their music".  He was shocked.  I was a little embarrassed.  He finally mentioned Queen, which of course I knew some of their music.

Suffice it to say, I also missed out on going to rock concerts.  I think the closest thing to that was a James Blunt concert that I went to about 8 years ago.  So, being at Kylie's concert was very different for me and was a real treat.  I only recognized a couple of her songs but I enjoyed the concert.  After hearing her for two hours (and she put on quite a show with lots of costume changes!), I am not a big fan of her voice.  But I feel that I have filled a little of the wide gap that I have in the pop music world.

Frederic is moving to Malaga at the end of the month and had two tickets to see Lady Gaga in early November.  I bought the tickets from him. :-)

Barcelona Bike Ride and Securing One's Bike

When I was in Sitges in September for the Bear Gathering, I brought my bike with me to get back and forth from the center of town to our apartment that we were renting.  I had one strong lock and purchased another to reduce the risk of being stolen during my time there.  I was fortunate that no one made off with it - my other friend who had his bike with him did have it stolen, even though he locked it up with a chain.

I shipped my bike from the U.S.  It was not built to withstand city thieves.  The wheels and the seat could be easily removed.  I've heard countless stories from friends who had their bikes stolen.  So, after I got back from Sitges, I bought anti-theft locks for the wheels and the seat and had the bike store below my flat install them.  With that, I felt more at ease with locking my bike on the streets in the city.

So, last Thursday, after my last class for the week, I took my bike out for a spin.  On the internet I found a bike route on the edge of the city that follows the River Besós up to the western edge of Barcelona.  It was a 32 kilometer ride back and forth from my home.  It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  The trail beside the river was

ideal for bike riding and the terrain was pretty flat with a slight upward incline.  I took some pics, as you can see, on the trail.  I got reprimanded about that when I passed by a park worker (she was actually rather nice about it) because I rode my bike on the grass to get closer to the river and take the pictures.  From my house, I had to go pass by the center of the city, so on my way back I stopped and walked around the Ramblas by the port, discovered some new streets, and took some more pictures.  And yes, I did run into a herd of goats on my bike ride.