NOS VAMOS

So "nos vamos" means "let's go" and is something I'm told almost everyday. Usually in an urgent manner, like this morning because I was running late before school. Most of the time though when my host mother says it I have no clue where I'm supposed to be going and I always feel bad because it seems like we're in a hurry and I still need time to run upstair to put shoes on and grab my bag containing hopefully everything that I will need for that certain excursion. So far I've found myself a companying Sandra to the supermarket and mall to run errands, to friends houses (she plans things for me... sometimes I feel like I'm loosing my independence), or family outings like a walk in the park with my cousin and aunt here, or to the Titanic exhibition going on with Camino and Paloma + families.

Yesterday I vaguely knew the days plan but wasn't prepared when I was told "nos vamos" for Lucas' soccer game (they won 15-0 and he got two of the goals! I'm so proud of my brother and can't wait till his next game - fútbol is amazing here). Then again that afternoon I knew I'd be eating paella with a big group of people...

This group of people included Camino and her mother, and three other families with a total of seven kids (not including Cami and me). I was told we were going somewhere to Mary-Beth's (one of Sandra's chicas and I don't know how to spell her name but it sounds like the english name; I'll correct it another time), my assumption of her house was the furthest thing from accurate.

We drove 30 km out of Pamplona before turning onto a dirt road. I could see a castle in the distance and lots of rolling hills, very beautiful, then we stopped at what I guess is land owned by Mary-Beth. There was an orchard of some kind and a building that looked like a ruin with some sort of trailer buried into it as shelter. Somehow there was electricity there and the paella was being cooked over those long lightbulbs. We all sat around two picnic tables under some fort of tarp roof and ate. I love the food here. Paella is really good but this one contained pulpo (octopus) so I had to eat around that. Also I'm not the hugest fan of shellfish so I passed up a few of the clams as well (paella usually is made with seafood). The rice however tastes very good and I learned how to strip a shrimp. Shrimp are cooked whole here so on your plate you have a pinky-orange version of what you find in the ocean. First you have to take it's head off, and be careful not to squeeze to close to its eyes other wise it's brains shoot out (guess how I figured this one out...) then it's tail (the only thing I was used to taking of). The feet are a little tricky because you have to do them one pair at a time and at a certain angle as to rip part of the shell of making it easier for the last step which is it's back shell. As an appetizer one of the things we had were eggs. but they were mini. and brown and blue speckled. I unfortunately didn't get a photo of these (photos soon to come to facebook) but they were really pretty. Basically just a hardboiled egg but I don't know from what type of bird...

For desert we had this lemon cake and some type of cookie thing, not at all as sweet as the cookies I'm used to but still very good. And then fruit. OH my good ness the fruit. SO GOOD! first I tried this little fruit, I forget what they're called, that you open and split in two and then have to suck each half of this gorgeous juiciness from the peel. Then I had "paraguayos" which are similar to a peach but are green and deformed compared to a peach, are absolutely delicious and come from Paraguay :) After a few hours here we left and I was looking forward to getting home in time for a little siesta.

Oh but no, this was a full day excursion. When I realized where we were going I had zero complaints. A family friend we call Zaba, who's Belen's (another of Sandra's chicas) husband, is from this small town and the whole crew of us met up at this church/castle-grounds thing overlooking his town. This is one of my favourite thins in Spain is the historical little towns with super narrow cobblestone streets and all the buildings so close together with their orange tiled roofs that surround some big religious monument that usually has something to do with the name of the town. So we got a tour of this huge church that I think was built in the 16th century - I wasn't paying full attention because I don't understand all that much when I'm tired and I was too busy taking photos of it's beauty to pay attention to its history. I loved it. We all climbed through this small door from inside the church and climbed probably five stories of this tiny stone spiraling staircase to the top where we were right next to the bells and had a view of the whole town and surrounding land. GORGEOUS! After quite a lengthy photo shoot taken by Zaba Camino and I, we descended and returned to the cars. Camino is currently learning how to drive so my adventure included a bit of her learning experience.

Then we went to Zaba's parents house. It felt so european. We all gathered around a big wooden table in the kitchen by the fireplace where there were many platters of food laid out on the table. I had the biggest piece of cake I've ever eaten by myself - it was this light white cake layered with chocolate mousse and a hard dark chocolate frosting decorated my little chocolate flakes and more mousse.... one of the best tasting cakes I've ever eaten too. I also snacked on some baguette dipped in the oil/sauce from this pimento dish - pimentos are God-sent; I'm going to grow them when I return to Canada - and some cheese, I am in europe after all. After savoring every bite in my EatPrayLove lifestyle Zaba's mother gave me a tour of her house.

Have I mentioned that I love Spain?