Spanish Food

So, instead of just choosing three spanish meals I decided to take many spanish foods that I think are typical to Spain and are things that I have never seen or eaten before. 

Here I have pictures of churros and chocolate, strawberry pastry, jamón chips, pig legs, calamari sandwiches, paella, bocadillos, and one full meal including lamb, tomatoes, artichokes, beans, potatoes, and sausages.

I think that these pictures are great representations/delicious representations of spanish cuisine and the recipes are quite obvious.  I know after I return to the United States, I will probably never see these foods, so I plan on consuming as much as possible while I am here.

Almost every country has "typical food," and since I have been in Spain for only three months, I am quite sure I have not experienced all the food it has to offer, however, I think these pictures give a great example of what it means to eat in Spain.

Sitges

When Carnival rolled around in March, I was told that Sitges was the best place to go in Catalonia.  I decided to make the 30 minute train ride and I was not disappointed.

The train ride down the coast was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Catalonia and because it was such a beautiful day, it was even better.  I was presently surprised by the town itself as it was actually what I had imagined Spain to be before I came over here.  White houses and buildings on mountains overlooking the beautiful coast were a beautiful sight to see and walking along the beach, I really felt like I was in paradise.

By the time we arrived in Sitges, there was already a parade going on directed towards the kids and the streets were already packed.  Individuals and families were in matching costumes and confetti was everywhere, which made it an even more festive atmosphere.  As the sun went down, the coast reminded me of a tropical island in the Caribbean, which I didn't think was even possible.

When the night came around and the real parade started I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Some of the costumes I saw would have been highly inappropriate in the United States, but no one blinked an eye.  The amount of people in the streets was unbelievable and it was hard to move even five feet, which was fun, but after a while it got very annoying.  We couldn't even make it into the deep center of town, which was a bit disappointing, but the experience was more than enough.


I had never experienced any type of Carnival before anywhere in the world before Sitges and I think in retrospect that it was a great place to start.  The wildness of the night was all I had heard it would be and the costumes lived up to the hype as well.  I saw Santa's, black faces, all sorts of animals, and a random assortment of genitalia, which were hysterical, and the amount of drunkenness was unrivaled by anything I have seen before.  It was like an oversized college costume party taken to the next level and for me it was an experience that will be hard to top.

Rua Parade and Carnival

The Rua Parade was my first Carnival experience on any level and in any country.  It was a cultural parade celebrating the different barrios of Barcelona, as well as the varying hispanic ethnic groups that live in Barcelona.

Involved were: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, and Ecuador, and each had there own float, dance, song, and cultural aspect to represent their country in the parade.  It was awesome to be a part of and it was interesting to see how many spanish speaking cultures inhabit Barcelona, and I am sure there are some from even more of the spanish speaking countries around the world.

The most well put together and festive section for me was the Colombians.  They wore extravagant costumes and had clearly rehearsed their routines and dances to perfection.  Each country clearly had pride in their nation, however, some seemed to take it more seriously than others.  This may have been because of the sheer numbers that each country had, but it seemed as though the Colombians were far and away the most prepared.

Thousands of people lined the streets and I was surprised at how festive the mood was.  Parades where I am from are usually calm and people wave and cheer, and often times there isn't even music, but this was not the case for Rua.  The majority of people wore costumes and danced and yelled at the floats, and people from the crowd were even joining into the parade.

I have never seen such a multi-dimensional celebration where so many nations are represented, which was cool to see.  One other thing that I found interesting was that I did not once see a Spanish flag.  Whether I missed it, could be, but if I am right, that says a lot about the attitudes of Catalonians.  Especially because they were so embrace to the other spanish speaking countries, yet they refused to acknowledge Spain.  A very interesting concept, and one that I do not think can be equated to something similar elsewhere in the world; it is truly a unique situation due to history and politics.

Overall, the Rua parade was a fantastic celebration of culture and diversity and was what I had pictured Spain to be like before I came.