Eating America

August 9, 2011 by · 10 Comments

This being at home stuff is stressful. So many people to see, so many “American” things to do.

I’ve resorted to my bad high school habits: crappy TV and a lot of junk food. Teen Mom is on? Cracking open a can of chunky soup now. Real Housewives? I think I’ll eat a pizza in honor of all those guidettes in Jersey.

So, I’ve decided to just indulge. After all, in just two short weeks I’ll be on a plane back to the land of olive oil and pork. No Chicago style all-beef franks or margaritas in Spain!

What’s your comfort food, the one you request first thing when you get back home? Mine’s easy: an all-beef hotdog from Portillo’s (hold the mustard) with crinkle cut fries and a milkshake. Even the novio likes them!

Filed Under: America, coming home, food, gastronomy ·

But There’s a Light on in Chicago

June 13, 2011 by · 3 Comments

And I know I should be home.

I discovered Fall Out Boy my freshman year of college when meeting another band put them on while cruising around the Chicago suburbs one night. I was drinking and loved the punk feel that night. Their song, Chicago is So Two Years Ago, was played on repeat the last week of my freshman year. I was burnt out from school and partying, ready for a little break and to once again become Nancy’s slave.

I mean, I worked two jobs and for my mother, but I was at home. I find this song creeping back into my consciousness as I countdown the days until preschool ends, camp begins, and I fly from Dublin to Chicago on August 1st.

It’s been officially 18 months and nine days since I was last on the North American continent. In that time I’ve gotten work papers, traveled to two more countries, directed a summer camp, technically became a blissful bride, met 154 small humans who have become my babies, seen friends off as they move back home. I’ve done a lot, and I’ve had fun. But I need America.

Jackie’s visit a few weeks ago brought things into perspective. Being first-generation American, she gets to hold on to her Mexicanness even in Chicago. Her complaints about the lack of spiciness in Spanish food proved that fact really quickly, and she pointed out a lot of oddities and annoyances about Spain and Spanish life that, well, I had kind of just gotten used to. I started thinking, maybe I’m over it, or maybe I just need a big dollop of America.

I am not-so-secretly making a bucketlist of things I need to do once back in America. These things include:

Drink a lot of margaritas. I miss them.

Wrigley Field.

Eat as many Chicago-style hot dogs as my stomach can hold. And sweet corn. Gah, Iowa.

Say goodbye to my dear doggy, Morgan, who at 16.5 years is still as stubborn as she was as a puppy.

Travel to Louisville to see my sister (and hopefully wear my ascot at Churchill Downs!).

Lots of dates with mom, lots of beers with dad.

Sit outside and not worry about the heat.

Watermelon.

Driving a car, even if it is Nancy’s van.

Ethnic food.

I don’t think home is calling me too strongly yet, but I need some air. I need a big hug from my mom, too. Mostly, I need to reassure myself that all of this is a good idea, that Spain is where I need to be, and that I want to be there, too. August 1st can’t come fast enough, that’s for sure, but I know the short amount of time back home will be all too fast.

One thing I will miss about Europe? They don’t tip.

Filed Under: America, culture shock, Spain · Tagged: , ,

Reflecting on the elections

November 9, 2008 by · Leave a Comment

This week has been emotional and historical, to say the least. As I previously mentioned, I’m really not into politics. The democratic process and how our history has shaped our identity as a nation, yes. And it’s apparent that things have changed. Hell, I’m OUT of the country and I see the differences in attitudes now – both at home and here in my home in Spain. People are both reinvigorated and disheartened, ready to move to Canada or excited for a new era to begin.

When Kike visited this summer, we stopped into a Starbucks on Michigan Ave. for coffee (Hello, he’s Spanish. Couldn’t be too American in America!). The woman standing in line behind us was Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Trib. I recognized her by her hair but also by the badge she was wearing, and I told Kike so. He tried to talk to her and tell her I studied journalism, which made me half a second away from slugging him. But since then, I’ve been following her columns, as I had before. She can take ordinary events and find some kind of meaning or bigger picture in them. And she’s done it again in an article published in the Trib this morning, reflecting on the last week as well as the campaign:

Read it here.

Filed Under: 2008 Election, America ·

2008 Elections

November 7, 2008 by · 2 Comments
My friend Cat and I at the Democrats Abroad Election Viewing Party
Before my first trip to Spain as a study abroad student in 2005, I was warned that the question “Kerry or Bush?” would only be preceded by “What’s your name?”This year, my coworkers and students have all entered election week with a similar question: “Obama or McCain?”And that wasn’t the end of it. I also had to answer “Who is Joe el fontanero?” and why the symbol of the Democratic party is a donkey, since calling someone an ass in Spanish means you’re calling them stupid. Take that as you will.
Their interest reflects on the rest of their country’s attitude towards America and the elections. The anti-Bush, and therefore anti-Republican, sentiment here in Spain is heard as often as shouts of “Olé!” I picked up an issue of Spain’s political satire mag, El Jueves, last month because it was curiously accompanied by a roll of toilet paper emblazoned with President Bush’s face. Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero famously sat while an American flag was being hoisted at the Olympics Games this summer. And in my mock elections, Instituto Heliche unanimously voted for Obama, with only three or four saying they didn’t care.

I wouldn’t call myself a political junkie – not by a long shot – but this year’s elections have excited me more than I expected, especially being in a country that has a stake in what the next four years could bring. As John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge wrote in 2004’s “The Right Nation,” “American power is so overwhelming that people everywhere watch America’s politicians just as closely as they watch their own…People around the world feel that they are citizens of the United States in the sense that they are participants in its culture and politics.”
Take, for instance, my boyfriend. He’s a fighter pilot in the Spanish armed forces and has been serving in Somalia for nearly two months. If my country were to send troops, he could come back to Seville. He follows election coverage more closely than I do, which is why he saw my interview on Televisión Espanol and I didn’t.
And what about the Spanish public? They’re in the midst of a financial crisis, too, which has forced many of my friends here to scramble for cash. When my country, they say, with one of the biggest economies, gets back on track, they can get on to enjoying themselves more.
The Democratic win was a partial victory for them, too. Zapatero praised Obama and looked ahead to better relations with theUS. I was congratulated by plenty of the school staff and my students on Wednesday morning as if I had just won the position.
My students and the other English teachers were especially engaged this year. We spent the week looking at pictures of the White House, learning the words to “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and why the flag has 13 stripes, and talking about the concept of democracy. I’m not overly patriotic and am glad to be living abroad. But I kind of got chills thinking about the democratic process and how the US had overcome several setbacks before becoming a great and powerful nation. That’s not to say we haven’t had huge screw-ups and upset people in the process. I am an American and my passport says so. I have to endure everything that comes along with that.
Democrats Abroad held an election viewing party Tuesday night at an Irish Pub. I arrived early, at 11pm (5pm EST) so that I could get a seat and have a hot dog before they ran out or the kitchen closed. The top floor of the bar was packed and covered in American memorabilia – flags, red and blue balloons and empty Budweiser bottles. Photogs and journalists were interviewing until the first polls were called around 1:30 a.m. Being the great teacher I am, I brought red and blue markers and a huge map of America, to which I had written all the electoral votes at stake in each state. I colored in New Hampshire while Lindsay colored in red with dismay but without losing any ounce of hope.

Kelly and I are from a blue state!

As the night wore on, people from all over the place and from all ages were gathering to support Obama. There were so many people upstairs that the stairway was blocked off! The whole place was full of cheers and chants whenever a state turned blue, and the nail biter states being won by Obama were celebrated with near tears. It was simple – we were enjoying the democratic process and the chance to exercise their freedoms, a concepts even my 12 year olds could understand.

As Spanish as I sometimes feel, I’m still American and very much so.

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Filed Under: 2008 Election, America, democracy ·
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