Homeless?

Apartment hunting didn’t go so well this evening and I had to walk all over hell before I decided on a place to have a beer. My legs are killing me from the lame run I had yesterday. I haven’t had a really great work-out since I left Seattle at the end of September. I did 60 push-ups today—I used to do 1,000 in a single day. I couldn’t wait to get the bus back home tonight. It would seem that I have a lot of problems but I tell myself that I’m still living in Spain.

The reason I was in a hurry to get home is that Real Madrid is playing Olympique Lyon tonight in Madrid. The last trip I made to Spain, my brother and I were lucky enough to see Real Madrid play at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium during the heated Copa del Rey play-offs. I am also making another paella tonight. This time with longanizo sausage and fresh habada beans. I shouldn’t, but I’ll probably smoke another Cuban cigar on my balcony at the end of the night, since the weather is so fine.

Earlier this evening I walked over to a great neighborhood near the center of town to look at an apartment. The street it is on is beautiful and historic. I was a bit early so I strolled around the block and was pleased to find several cool cafes and bars as well as a supermarket. I rang the buzzer and walked up the four flights of stairs.

I had traded a few emails with the woman who was renting the apartment. She warned me that she had a little dog. I told her that although a small dog had killed my entire family, I had forgiven the killer and now I love small dogs. I also told her that I wrote comedy and if she didn’t find this funny then she should consider herself in the majority. I decided not to take the apartment and sprinted home to catch the game.

Paella is a lot like the fried rice I learned to make as a kid in Hawaii: whatever leftovers you have in your fridge can be used to make this dish. I may be leaving this apartment in a couple of days so I used the sausage as well as the habadas, an onion, garlic, chicken stock, and some olives. The game got pretty hot and heavy and Nistlerooy blew a penalty kick that could have put Real Madrid ahead with two minutes to go in the match, so I can be excused for ignoring the paella and letting it burn a little. It turned out pretty well for the most part and Real Madrid settled for a draw with Lyon. Europeans seem to be content with not winning all the time, so I decided that I was satisfied with my less-than-perfect paella. I actually like burned rice (Only a little was burned; I was watching a penalty kick with two minutes left in the match—I’m supposed to watch the damn stove?).

Another morning, another cooking show. I’ll wrap this up with a little food vocabulary.

Vegetales

Cohombro, cucumber
Cebolla, onion
Cebolleta, leek
Escarola, endive
Pimiento (rojo), red pepper
Remolacha, beet

And I couldn’t find this spice in my dictionary the other day and I couldn’t think of the name for it in English to save my life:

Cúrcuma, tumeric