COMIDA!!!!!!!

Even though it is Wednesday, my memories from this past weekend still are very strong! But what made this weekend so memorable was the AMAZING gastronomy of Spain!
Let's cut to the chase (not trying to make a music pun, there!) I didn't have any specific plans this weekend, except to meet my friend Gabriella on Sunday. When I woke up Saturday, I had an apple and milk (not a great mix!) for breakfast and went on a run. At around 12:30, Margarita, my host mother, and I went to Las Setas. Las Setas are these huge, white, modern, and slightly unattractive plastic mushrooms (setas.) When I went by it on the bus, the week before, I was unimpressed, and thought they were lame, but once we got closer I gained a new appreciation for the 'Star Wars' edifices.
We got off the #28 bus, and entered the ground floor, which ended up being a flavorful market! Now, I've told myself many, many times not to compare Spain to America, because that is like comparing oranges and artichokes, but in the market at Las Setas, there were things that would never be found in the States: lamb heads (with the eyeballs still intact), organs, lamb hooves, whole pidgeon and rabbit corpses, etc. But, my favorite part was getting chicharones. Chicharones are deliciously fried pieces of meat, but not your typical Kansas State Fair attire. Instead of being a golden brown, with mystery meat in the middle, chicharones have a more wholesome look- a dark amber brown, bay leaves mixed in, and the meat is easily identifiable (beef!) There are two types of chicarrones, rojo and blanco. Rojo is fried meat, while blanco is the fat (it reminded me of eating breaded bacon grease.)
After our visit to the market, we went a level below to look at the Roman ruins, and then bought tickets to go on top of Las Setas, to have a view of the whole city. It was beautiful!

After our outing, we went to the same cerveceria, around the corner from the apartment, to meet Manuel, Margarita's father, Javi, Margarita's brother, and Marmen, Javi's wife. There we feasted on chicharones, small shrimp (maybe krill?), and endame like legumes (I need to get updated with the names of things!) Later, Manuel, Margarita, and I had lunch in Margarita's apartment. Lunch was a delicious mushroom stew (it was Saturday, so specifics are a little blurred) accompanied by bread, salad, and picas (teardrop-shaped, pale, unsalted-like pretzels.) Now that I mentioned picas, I might as well discuss table manners here. No one puts their napkins in their laps! Instead, while eating, they keep their non-dominant hand over the napkin, and eat with their right. As a knife alternative, people use picas to scoop up their food. At times I feel like I have bad table manners, because I have know idea what I am supposed to do! Also, eating times! As everyone probably knows, Spaniards eat late. Breaks fast is VERY light. I usually have bread, fruit, and a glass of milk. I have lunch when I get back from school, which is 3, and then we have dinner at around 9:30.
Anyway, once we had reached our eating capacity, we watched Canal del Sur, which is the public television station for the province of Andalucia (VPT is a little better, but like I said before, comparing Spain to the US is like comparing artichokes to oranges.) I took a little nap during the show Mio Pueblo, but it was desperately needed!
Later that evening, Margarita, her friend Conchi, and I went to La Bascilica del Gran Poder, for Saturday evening mass. It was very interesting, but I think, in the future, I will make a post about all of the churches that I have visited here in Sevilla.

After the service at Gran Poder, everyone went behind the altar to kiss the feet of this statue of Jesus, and then rub their hand against the cross.

Following the service, we went to another cerveceria. I had a Coke, but, then we went to another one, but this cerveceria  specialized in tapas (yeah!) Being it a Saturday night, the place was PACKED but some how we managed to find a some space in a corner. There we ordered bacalao, which is fried fish, covered in batter. It was marvelous! Although it was only one piece, it was satisfying! Oh, an interesting thing about tapaerias, is that they write your tab on the counter with chalk! How cool is that?
Sunday we met Gabriella (which was a little chaotic, but whatever!) We walked through El Barrio de Santa Cruz, which was originally (in the Middle Ages) the neighborhood where all Jewish people lived. Because of the strong prejudices against the Jewish community, people wanted to contain them int the smallest area possible, causing the alley ways are incredibly narrow. So narrow at times, that you need to step sideways to pass through.
After touring through the center, we met Conchi at another tapaeria (both cervecerias and tapaerias serve tapas and beer.) I had a pringa, which is essentially the Spanish version of a sloppy-joe. We went to another places for tapas, but it was not quite as memorable.
We went to Las Setas again, because Gabriella hadn't seen it, and then went back to the apartment for postre.
Two days can not even come close to explaining all of the food and gastronomic mannerisms here in Spain, but I'm sure, that over the course of the next few months that I will come up with many more food related topics to write about!