Walking down the streets in Rome can be quite confusing. Streets are packed with buses and cars. Then these streets intercross with more narrow roads. There are mopeds beeping behind you trying to get through. A man offers for you to buy scarves on your right. The smell of scrumptious pizza tickles your nose from the left. Rome can be quite crazy sometimes, but in the craziness you can discover little gems in between. And to me, these little gems are the beautiful churches.

The churches in Italy are certainly something you don’t see in the States. They’re older. They’re full of art and history. And there’s so many of these wonderful churches! Every Tuesday at the JFRC campus, students had the opportunity to take a walk with Father Bosco. These walking tours have given me the chance to learn more about Catholicism and its history. All these churches were beautiful and I never knew I would spend so much time enjoying these tours. Not to mention, Father Bosco has particular knowledge of the most delicious gelaterias.

The Assisi Day Trip was another opportunity for JFRC students to see some churches outside of Italy. We visited the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, which included three churches. In addition, we visited Santa Maria degli Angeli. Why are all these churches so gorgeous? I honestly can sit inside for hours to look at every detail. The architecture of these churches is unbelievable sometimes.

Since we’re in the topic of religion, I have to mention my day at the Papal Audience last Wednesday. JFRC usually tries to arrange Papal Audience tickets for students. A group and I walked to the Vatican early in the morning and ended up being second in line. But, lines don’t necessarily mean order in Italy. As soon as the gates opened, the elderly women behind me began to push with much strength as I wiggled my way in through the running crowd. Despite the chaos, we managed to find seats in the first five rows.

The Papal Audience was certainly a unique experience as there were people from all over the world. Even during the blessings, it was translated in English, Italian, German, Spanish, and many more languages. The beauty of the ceremony made me realize how universal religion really is. Many people traveled around the world to see Pope Francis and to see people moved by the Pope made the experience even more extraordinary.

Next week will be my last days in Italy. I’m leaving on Friday morning and it’s weird to think how much I adjusted to the Italian life. There’s so much more I want to do even if I have done a lot in five weeks. I’m now off to Venice to celebrate the last weekend in Italy! Ciao!

(Disclaimer: This post was written Friday, Jun 7th. Finding internet has been part of the journey.)

“Tapas on Tapas on Tapas.” That would be my answer for anyone asking what food I have been eating during my time here in Córdoba, Spain. Well that and “potatoes,” which have accompanied every lunch and dinner thus far. In the past six days, us students have tested out (and misinterpreted) many of the tapas dishes on menus at Loyola Andalucia and at the restaurants in the beautiful city around us. As I continuously order what I think is one plate and receive what turns out to be another, I slowly start to understand that, in España, Flamenquin is unrelated to Flamenco dancing and Tortillas are not used to create quesadillas.  So far my list of favorites include a good Salmorejo (a tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic, bread, ham and egg), tortillas de camarones (a baby shrimp omelet), and Secreto Iberico (pork).

Dishes like these have provided half of the joy I’ve experience so far, but one meal that recently moved to the top of my favorites list is Paella. Paella is simply rice and seafood but its unique seasoning provides a rich flavor that lasts until the pot is empty. The dish takes hours to prepare, but when each flavor begins to mix and set in with another, it is impossible to pass up. I personally thought that I wouldn’t go near such a recipe with my dislike for onions and peppers, but it was definitely worth it. Just last night, the Loyola Chicago students studying abroad in Córdoba, local students helping with our assimilation, and other local friends we’ve made in the past few days gathered for a fiesta on the rooftop of the student apartments. On that night, we brought out the cerveza, opened the vino, and I made home made slushies with piña colada juice! We shared laughs, we shared at least a basic understanding of two languages, and we shared Paella. The picture above shows (from left to right) Antonio Torres, Rafa Cuesta, Jose Maria Martinez, and Carlos Fuentes-Guerra, who worked on this dish almost all night. When is was done, we grabbed forks and ate strait out of the pot until there were just bits of rice left. Talk about community bonding.

Since my last post, Carlos has sent me his recipe for Paella along with a picture of the dish he made once in the US. It has been decided that we will have to bring him back with us; now we just have to tell him!

Ingredientes para 4 personas (variables):

1 pimiento verde, 1 pimiento rojo, 1 cebolla no muy grande, 2 dientes de ajo, una lata de tomate triturado, arroz tipo bomba (tiene el grano más circular), unos hilos de azafrán, aceite de oliva, un poco de vino blanco, caldo de pescado, selección de marisco (200 gr. de anillos de calamar, 8-10 mejillones, 250gr. almejas, 250 gr. de gambas arroceras, 150 gr. langostinos).

Calentar el aceite en la paellera, cuando este caliente introducir el marisco y calentarlo ligeramente (no mucho, si no cuando lo volvamos a introducir con el arroz puede que se nos quede seco o sin sabor). Esto lo hacemos para que el aceite coja el sabor del marisco.

Sofrito: Con el mismo aceite del marisco, cocinaremos los pimientos, la cebolla, el ajo y el tomate que deben de estar previamente cortados (en el caso del tomate, podemos usar tomate triturado). La clave del sofrito es hacerlo con tiempo y sin frisas dándole a cada ingrediente el tiempo necesario para que alcance el punto de cocción adecuado y se reduzca creando una combinación en la que cada ingrediente aporte una nota clave.

Una vez el sofrito este listo, debemos añadir la suficiente agua como para que el arroz consiga estar en su punto. Añadimos el caldo de pescado, una copita de vino, unos hilitos de azafrán y el marisco de nuevo. Finalmente echamos el arroz (400gr) y ya solo nos queda esperar y disfrutar.

Se pueden cortar unos limones que funcionan de manera decorativa o también para añadir al gusto.

When in Spain, you dance like the Spanish do! Or in our case, you attempt to dance.

Loyola Andalucia arranged a private flamenco show for us at a beautiful outdoor patio in Cordoba. Before the show started, we received a little gift- red and black dancing hats! Needless to say, we were able to channel our inner Spanish dance moves rather quickly!

There was a woman who would sing while a couple danced and let me tell you, she had quite the impressive voice!

They also had a group of young girls perform which we were told were in a class learning to dance flamenco. I think everyone was in awe with how darn cute they were dancing in their full skirts and costumes. Next we saw a few performances by an older group made up of college students who looked to be professionals in dance. One of the things I loved the most was the coordination that goes into flamenco. There are hand, hips and foot movements that are all occurring simultaneously. Also the women have to take into account their skirts which had a long train that they would just kick up or swing it back as they were spinning.

To our surprise, the musicians and dancers invited some of us to come up to the patio stage and learn to dance La Sevillana. It is a traditional dance that people from this region of Spain all know- similar to how many people know the electric slide in the States. The 10 of us, who I’m sure were nervous, were each paired with a knowledgeable Spaniard who was able to guide us through the dance. This 3 minute dance didn’t make us experts but we’ve all come to the conclusion that if was an experience we will never forget.

For a glimpse into our night- check out this video that Loyola student Jake filmed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpH0HGepqCg

At least once a week, our group has gone on excursions throughout Córdoba and its surrounding areas. In the past two weeks I’ve seen so much more that I expected to, but last Friday, June 14^th, the group headed to the place where Nuñez de Prado olive products are created.

It’s difficult to fully grasp how many olives there are in this world until you visit an olive oil factory. The trip to this factory was a sight to see itself, with open lands and neighborhoods on hills, but once we reached a stretch of land with thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of olive trees, we were all in a bit of shock. For miles, we saw space solely dedicated to a food I once viewed as pizza toppings, dip for my bread, and a martini accessory. There were olive trees everywhere!

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly my the owner of this company and given a tour of the facilities. We started in the fermentation room and made our way to an “olive oil cave”. In this space, the huge silver “vueldes” – which have been around since the 1860s – begin to refine the olive product (which is completely organic as the farm has not used preservatives since 1960). At this point, one can begin to make the olive oil or refine the fermented product into cosmetics and other non-edible products.

Finally, we arrived to the packaging room (left) where five men were working to hand-seal each bottle of olive oil. The owner explained that everything is done manually here. With no computers to keep count of how much product is made or where it exports to, there is no chance of system breakdowns or information loss. This system has works since 1944.

At this point, we were all amazed bythe work ethic and detailed productivity of the Nuñez de Prado system. There was even a 500-year-old olive tree on their land (right)!

However, we were even more surprised by the fabulous meal that they served us. Our three-course breakfast included: a bread entre that could be topped with olive oil, tomatoes ham, cod, and/or Manchego cheese, fried eggs with potatoes in the style of the chef on sight, and finally an orange with olive oil, honey, and a type of sweet biscuit to satisfy those with a sweet tooth. This only further proved to me how universal this product was. You can mix it with fruit and honey and have no complaints from me.

Here are some pictures from that visit:

In Spain, they take their olive oil seriously. This trip gave us a point of view of how important their production is here and throughout the rest of the world. To pick up some Nuñez de Prado products, join me in Spain! – or you could find some in a local Whole Foods!

Enjoy,

Lidia