I hate football

I don’t know a lot about football or soccer, how we call it where I come from. There are four things I remember about soccer before I moved to Spain. First, I remember playing soccer in elementary school and the game consisted of kicking boys in the shins so the girls could get the ball and score. Second, I don’t remember going to a soccer game until I was in college. My roommate’s boyfriend played and we went to watch him or actually watch cute guys in shorts. Third, I remember soccer was a girl’s sport at the high school I taught. There were no boy teams. And fourth, I remember one of my students telling me I was moving to the country that had the best soccer player in the world. I asked who that was and he said, Zidine Zidane. Huh? Who? I had no idea who he was, the team he played for or anything related to the subject. Big mistake!

If you don’t know, Spanish people LOVE soccer. They live, eat, and breathe it. Every school year my Spanish students ask me: "Which is your favorite soccer team?" My answer is: "None, I hate football." Their faces look in shock. Of course most of them do not believe me. They think I am just being politically correct to not subscribe to one team. In Spain, you have to belong to a team or people look at you weird. So a sport I initially didn't care for, started becoming a hated subject.

It’s now been two days since the aftermath of "el clasico" (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid) and everywhere you look, people, TV, press are talking about it. I can’t for the life of me understand why this is an important issue when the whole country is going to the gutter due to the crisis. (El Pais newspaper published today that there are 5.3 million people unemployed.) And I’m not even going to acknowledge the fact that these "clasicos" bring out the worst in team members and set bad examples for kids.

Did I mention I hate football?


Unemployment hits record high of over 5 million at end of 2011

Pan Tumaca, a meal to die for

I remember my first trip to Spain. My boyfriend, now hubby, took me on a romantic trip to the south, which I’ll never forget. I remember wandering through the streets of Sevilla at nine o’ clock in the morning starving! No restaurants or cafeterias or bars were open. Question: Why o why is nothing open if breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Answer: The Spanish are not the earliest risers in the world. They like to eat late and they like to keep their first meal small since pre-lunch tapas are around the corner and pretty soon two o’ clock will creep up on you, time for lunch.

We finally discovered a small bar on a narrow street going up to the Cathedral that was open for breakfast and their menu was orange juice or coffee with pan tumaca. Huh? Come again…

Well it turns out that pan tumaca or "tostada con tomate" is an all natural and classic Spanish breakfast. It consists of ripe, red tomatoes picked fresh. They are blended with olive oil, fresh garlic, a touch of salt, and nothing else. You spread this mixture on a toast or toasted baguette and that’s it. Fresh, zesty and healthy!

Now, don’t get me wrong. This dish is not found throughout Spain. As a matter of fact, I went to Burgos this summer and when I asked for pan tumaca, they frowned and said all they had was a "tostada con aceite", a toast with olive oil, not the same. It was blah, no taste whatsoever.

I remember reading a news article about a year ago of a top Spanish chef dying while showing his new restaurant to food critics. He had shared with them a dish of pan tumaca as an appetizer. Wouldn’t mind having this as my last supper.

Santi Santamaria's last supper: pan tumaca

Enchufados, the saga begins…

A Spanish concept that really boggles my mind is the "enchufe". You see, "enchufe" literally refers to an electrical plug or socket. However, in Spain it is also used to refer to someone "on the inside" who pulls a few strings for you to get whatever you want: a job, a bank loan, a deal on a car, you name it. This concept of having friends in the right places seems to be the norm here and I truly believe this country is a mess because of "enchufes" among other things which I will leave for another post.

I haven't looked for a job in twenty years. My only job in this country seemed to creep up on me before I even started looking for one. Looking for a job in Spain with no "enchufe" is trying to plug in a lamp directly into the wall with no outlet, and we all know the results of that. No outlet, no light. No "enchufe", no job. And although I disagree with it on every ethical level, I can’t help but wonder if I will become like the locals and end up being an "enchufado". Only time will tell…