Today was by far the hungriest I have ever been in Spain. I thought I was adjusted to the Spanish eating schedule, but apparently my tummy is still more American than I realized. As I referenced in my previous post about milk and cookies, the culture around meals is very different here. Here is what a typical day of eating is like for me:
El desayuno (breakfast): A small meal when I wake up around 8 a.m. Usually a little bowl of cereal (corn flakes mixed with coco pebbles, a Mercedes special) with room temperature milk and fruit. (She normally gives me an apple and a banana; I save the apple for a snack.) Sometimes we eat magdalenas, which are little muffins, or cookies. It seems like they eat sweet things in the morning here; I've heard of lots of chocolate being served in the AM. This has probably been the biggest adjustment for me because I usually eat really big breakfasts at home.
La comida (technically lunch, but more like our dinner): The main meal of the day is eaten midday here, usually around 2 or 3 p.m. This is when we eat the most -- usually a main dish like paella or pasta with salad and bread. The salad has meat on it too, though! Sometimes I have un postre afterwards - either a pear or yogurt. If we're really lucky we get cookies or ice cream. La comida is a big deal here. It's an important time to sit around and talk with family. All the stores close down midday for lunch and stay closed for siestas (naps) afterwards.
La cena (dinner): Dinner is served in mi casa around 9 p.m. during the week and 10 p.m. on weekends. This is also a lighter meal, usually consisting of meat or eggs and a vegetable, and of course a side of bread. Mercedes gives us bread with every comida y cena because on the first day we told her we like bread. Sometimes I have un postre after this meal, too.
Adjusting to the time of meal differences has been causing some serious stomach growls, but the food so far has been delicoso. I'm sure I'll be talking about food specifically much more as the blog continues. In the mean time, I need to take my siesta!
Just reading that made my stomach growl. Have you found any Clif Bars over there?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately no. I've been looking! Apparently my friend found a place that has Special K bars, which is the closest of anything I've heard. You should bring some when you come :)
ReplyDeletethis is the reason you're my best friend-because you would have an entire blog post all about food! although i would be dyinggg by the time dinner rolled around at 9 or 10, this all sounds so scrumptious!
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