(4) A few more of my favorite things...

Live free or die- the motto I have lived by since I was born a lengthy quarter of a mile from my home in Derry, NH (you would think I would end up NOT living in Spain for year with this type of beginning).

While I don't think Madrid has a motto quite like this, it does seem to have a simple set of directions: eat, sleep, drink, party, repeat (Yes, I will study and read, but it's no fun to include that). As you can see, all of these, ahem, tasks, have been analyzed in my previous posts except for 'eat'. Well, then- it's time to talk about eating! Wait. No. Not eating... dining.

Favorite thing #4: La comida (la comb-ee-da)

Even Newsweek recognizes how great Spanish food is:

See the other countries they chose too!

While I am excited for patatas bravas (fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce), churros con chocolate (real churros, people) and jamón (Spanish ham- no explanation possible, think bliss plus salt. SORRY FELLOW JEWS!), I am more excited for the way I will eat. No, no, no. I will dine- dining has that romantic, European, slowwww sound to it. I am the first to admit I eat to live, not the other way around. I rush in and out of restaurants and eat like it's a race. Seriously. I think my subconscious tells me there are prizes for whoever finishes first. Eating is always last on my to-do list.

This is where the 'No Spain, No gain' part comes in. I will HAVE TO learn to slow down- to take more than ten minutes to eat lunch, to savor, to realize that slowing down can be a good thing. 

Oh, mierda. This is going to be difficult. There's no turning back no, though. T-minus 26 hours and I will be airborne over the Atlantic.