Archives for 2015

If you want to experience a home-cooked meal, anywhere in the world, then you’re in for a treat with eatwith.com.

It all started with Yvonne, my new friend from volunteering at Vaughan Town in Spain. She invited me to join her at Miriam’s apartment in Madrid, so we could learn how to cook an authentic paella.

We shared a taxi to Miriam’s place, and were greeted by a smiling lady who invited us into her comfortable suburban apartment and introduced us to her two small dogs. She made us feel welcome, and offered aprons with “La Cocina de Mirinda,” written on the front.

After a nice cup of coffee, and a detailed description of how to cook paella from scratch, we were asked to participate in the peeling of shrimp. Both the carcasses and the shrimp heads were tossed into a pot to make the most important ingredient of the recipe: the stock. Miriam emphasized that the secret to a fabulous paella, is to make your own stock.

Now that we had finished peeling the shrimp, we were exhausted! So time for a delicious specialty: a smoked cheese, thinly sliced from,I believe, the Basque area. (Sorry but I cannot remember the name, except Miriam said you have to leave it out for an hour or so, before eating it.)

Miriam asked us to chop some red and green peppers and wash some tomatoes for a gazpacho soup, she wanted us to taste.I love that fresh cold soup which is so refreshing on a hot day, (32C) in Madrid on that day.

Time to get serious with the paella, so the toughest part of the paella preparation for me, was sifting the shrimp stock through a coffee sieve, after it had been through the food processor. This was a time-consuming process, but very important in the preparation of a delicious home-made stock as the base for simmering the bomba rice, which is the kind you need for a paella. Risotto rice does not work for paella.

After pre-cooking some chicken pieces, and peppers, it’s time to add the stock to the rice and simmer. You do not add the shrimp until the very end.

Yvonne and I received a copy of the recipe to try at home, and Miriam, has been wonderful, e-mailing us other recipes for gazpacho, and following up with our travels back home. Oh, I forgot to mention, she even took the time to drive Yvonne to the airport to catch her flight after our meal, and then drove me to downtown Madrid.

This was more about sharing a cultural experience with someone from another country, than about learning to make a delicious paella.

Next time you’re in Spain, ask Miriam to share her cooking and hospitality with you. You won’t be disappointed. Here’s how you reach Miriam through Eatwith.com.

Do you like meeting people from other countries? Would you like to volunteer in exchange for free hotel and meals?

If so, Vaughan Town may be the ideal solution for you. There you get to help Spanish people improve their English for one week.

You meet 15 Anglos and 15 Spaniards for one week in a beautiful countryside hotel, all for free, but more importantly, you get to learn about other cultures.

This is my second year of volunteering and I made new friends. (Here was last year’s experience in another location.)

You truly bond, and develop friendships after sharing one week together, and you’ll want to do it again. One American, HJ, from Georgia, has volunteered nineteen times. He’s in his 70s, and has so much energy and enthusiasm to share with everyone. The poor Spaniards had trouble understanding his accent, but he won them over with his personality.

So what do you do during your week?

• First you meet your fellow Anglos, who have signed up as volunteers, for cocktails at the Eurobuilding 2--headquarters to Vaughan Town School–in Madrid, on the Saturday evening before the program starts.
• You leave on Sunday morning by bus to one of the locations you have selected to volunteer at. I chose Pedraza, this year. A 13th Century village in Segovia.

Watch my quick morning walk to the town square.

• You meet the Spaniards on the course at the bus in front of Eurobuilding 2
• Each Anglo has to sit next to a Spaniard, and your one-to-one conversation begins.
• It takes one and a half hours to get to Pedraza from Madrid.
• At the hotel, you settle into your room and have lunch and Marisa (our program organizer) has a schedule set our for your daily meals, (you get to choose each course) and the program of the day.
• During your scheduled one-to-ones, you speak to a Spaniard, (English only) and you can either walk around town, go to the local cafe in the old town square, or stay in the hotel lobby.
• There is of course siesta time after lunch, until 5 p.m.
• After your siesta, you start your English conversation again;, either one-to-ones, conference calls (to help Spaniards practice speaking on the phone) or practice presentations or plays for the evening entertainment.
• Entertainment starts at 8 p.m.

Watch the Vaughan Town entertainers in the video below.

• Dinner at 9 p.m.
• Games, drinks at the bar, dancing, and staying up all night if you’re under 35-year-old.

A wonderful experience, and I got some amazing tips about other places and things to do from fellow Anglos. More on that in other blog posts to follow.

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments section.

It’s been 6 weeks since I left the U.S., and I’ve worked out at a British gym in Greenwich, London, and a French gym, in the suburbs of Paris. I’m going to share my personal observations regarding the differences between a French, a British, and an American gym.

You can tell a lot about cultural habits, from the way people act in a gym. My observations are generalizations, but since I’ve lived in all three countries, I think they are fairly accurate.

French gyms, unlike U.S. gyms are not planned with safety, and ease of use in mind. Since France is not a country where people are likely to sue the gym for accidents, you will find the cleaning crew mopping slippery floors while people are exercising, and electrical cords being pulled while you’re stepping over them. If you fall, “tempis,” (oh, well) that’s your fault, and you’re expected to get up and limp to the next machine.

Don’t be surprised if you hear ‘primal’ screams while working out. This could either be from a man trying to get everyone to stop, stare, and check him out, or from a woman who is being whipped into shape by her personal trainer. Believe me, I heard these screams each time I worked out.

I think men designed the layout of French gyms so they can gawk at women doing pilates, aerobics, or dancing salsa. I’m not kidding! They stand around the edge of the room, like junior high kids at a dance, watching the women.

I don’t think French women lift weights; at least not when I was there. I was the only female in the tiny weight room, and the equipment was so close together that I had to step over weights and trip over men’s feet, to reach the disorganized dumbbell rack. I sensed the chauvinistic attitude of the men, refusing to move, even one inch, to let me squeeze by. Quite unlike the polite British men I encountered at my London gym.

The dumbbells were completely disorganized on the rack, and searching for the matching dumbbell, was akin to a treasure hunt in a tiny closet. Most of the time, someone had walked off with the weight, and kept it under their watchful eye.

I don’t think French men like to share the equipment. I realize this happens in the U.S. from time to time, but in France, it must be a habit carried on from Kindergarten days.

British gyms, once again, I’m generalizing, were more like the U.S. gyms I’m familiar with.

First of all, they have a person at the front desk to check you in. In France, the front desk was often unattended, and I was able to walk in, and not even pay.

The British are so polite, and apologize for not letting you go first, if they happen to walk past you.

I did notice that most British men and women don’t make eye contact in the gym. They simply go about their workout.

The British gyms are clean, and they offer towels, unlike the French gyms, where sweat was dripping onto the equipment.

Once again, just like the French gyms, dumbbells are completely disorganized on the rack. 

When I travel to Europe, I find it so interesting how countries that are so close together, can have such different cultures and different behavior patterns. There is more uniformity in the U.S., which is a vast country, but a 24-hour Fitness in California, has the same standards of safety no matter which State you’re in.

U.S. gyms tend to have the latest trends in fashion and equipment.

In California, men and women are more toned and muscular than in French and British gyms.

U.S. gyms seem to be well-planned with more space to workout and several personal trainers with clients.

You have to fill out detailed waivers if you want to workout as a ‘guest’ at a U.S. gym. There seem to be strict rules regarding your health history, (due to lawsuits in the U.S.)

I was not asked once about my health in the British or French gym. I actually prefer the less stringent rules in European gyms.

Try out my video comment button. I’d love to see if it works well. Thank you.

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