I'm at an Internet cafe

Not having easy internet access is really throwing off my habits. I get the urge to write, but I have no where to put my words but on a word document. Oh wifi, how do I find you?

My señora continually amazes me. When I first arrived on miercoles, I was dismayed to find that the kitchen was not in working order. There’s no sink, a small counter space, a small refrigerator/freezer, and the stove is hidden in a back room off the kitchen. When she stood there the first day with coat on, purse in hand, telling me to go arreglar mi cuarto and we’d eat at two, I thought she meant we’d go out. But there it was at 1:30, a sizzling and popping sound and a smell that can only mean frying. And at two there was a glass of water, a roll, some fruit, and a steaming plate of pasta with some kind of red sauce and sausage waiting on the table. My attempts to find out what kind of meat was in the sausage were unsuccessful… the ten-year-old grandchild was keen on showing off her knowledge of English, telling me that it was “sausage,” as if that’s a kind of meat. Oh well. It tasted good, and I lived to tell the tale.

So I return to the table each morning, afternoon, and night, expecting nothing, but getting these amazing plates of food that seem to appear out of nowhere. When I cook, I spend hours in the kitchen chopping, making a mess, washing, and cleaning. She spends very little time in the kitchen, does very little preparation, doesn’t even have a sink, but every meal comes out hot and delicious. The wonder of the Spanish housewife.

There’s a lot of onion and a lot of starch. And some oil. I get a sizeable roll of white bread with each meal, to accompany my sizeable portion of white rice or pasta. It’s not low carb, but it’s well-balanced. The protein consists of sausage, chicken, or fish. Last night she whipped up a plate of paella, and I went through each vegetable and piece of fish asking her what they were called.

Lunch, of course, at two, is the biggest meal of the day. Afterward, I take a siesta. Dinner is eaten somewhere between 8 and 10 and it’s slightly smaller and lighter than lunch. For breakfast I eat more starch – a muffin with chocolate inside, a roll of sweet white bread, sometimes a piece of fruit. Today I got cola cao (hot chocolate, apparently) made from whole milk with some hard cracker/cookies.
I’m going to be spoiled when I come home. There will be no one to make my meals for me, and no one to insist on picking up and cleaning my dishes. Hopefully I won’t be fat. Hopefully my 30-40 minute walk to school each day will take care of that.