A day in the life

So, a week now! Wow. Feels as if it has been much longer! Everything is good here, today was a long day in the kitchen, everything is picking up a bit, because of Easter and the weather. I am a bit tired, so lets see how good my writing goes tonight. PS if you didn't know, as I didn't, Spain is crazy religious. Super religious, they are (apparently? I have not seen) having parades/marches? through many of the major cities right now because of Easter. Lets see if I can catch you all up on some of the occurrences from the past few days.

I'll start tonight with a daily "schedule" in the day and life of cooking at Reads Hotel Mallorca, for me.

Wake up at 10:00

Hang around, get awake, take a shower,

Head downstairs to the kitchen around 10:45-11:00

Cook, cook, cook, drink espresso,(oh boy, oh boy, do I truly miss a good cup of coffee. There is none here. Only espresso. So sad.) eat croissants,

12:45ish, eat lunch, prepared by us everyday. It is very good usually, much better than other family meals from other restaurants that I have experienced

1:15ish Come back for lunch service

3:45ish-4:30 Depending on how busy lunch was/how late the last table ordered in, break time from time we get out to 7:15

BREAK...for me, this has been really weird, luxurious. So much free time in between working. Some days its good, I do things during it, other days its bad because I get tired. I am not use to this. It's a hefty amount of free time. I almost wish we worked straight through..

Although,

7:15-10:30-12ish Finish prepping and dinner service. Spaniards eat LATE. Our first order doesn't usually arrive until atleast 8, if not later. And we some dinner get orders in close to 11

So one week ago, I had my first day of work. Was tired, we got out late, and was still settling in. Did nothing over siesta(nap) break.

Here following are activities done on break:

Friday; walked (uncertainly, unaware, and scared about getting lost) to the local town, or the outskirts of, and found a small convenience store. However, the problem is, is when I am free, so is everyone else. And so most stores, restaurants, and cafes are closed. But I found a open convenience store and bought a fanta and that apricot cake. On the way to the store, as I had just entered town and was wondering if there was anything. I saw an old man walking very slowly with a cane, past a school. And so I first asked him "Con permiso, hablar ingles?!"(excuse me, speak english?) He chuckled, and shook his head, saying he was from the island. Next I asked if he spoke any german, again a chuckle and a no. Finally I asked in my very weak spanish, where I could find a cafe or something. And he pointed me in the right direction. This right direction put me walking right down a school with a playground, with kids playing in it. And, I guess due to my clothes, they could tell I wasn't from there. I was in disbelief, they were all pointing, laughing, and looking at me. A group even took a picture of me. However, It is a beautiful walk, it is nice to get out and see things, and later in the week I found more interesting things.

Saturday, with the Germans (Chef Felix and MarKus, fellow cook, who I was misspelling the name of earlier on) went to Felix's house and watched Fuutball matches. As they described to me, Saturday in Germany is the Fuutball holiday, with the German League teams playing. Felix's team is Bremen(who's jersey's I think are cool, they say "So gut. Bank Heute." So good, bank today They are sponsored by some bank.) and Markus's team who is Dortmund. Both of them are from said team's towns. This coming Saturday they play against eachother, and in the standing one or the other is winning by 1 point. Should be funny watching with them.

Sunday during break: Walked to Santa Maria. Overview of walk: past grove, after grove, after grove, of Almond Trees, Olive, Lemon, Orange, and Clementine trees. Past dogs barking (everyone has livestock/dogs here, they are loud in the nights/mornings, and wake me up), past a few houses/ranches here and there, and then finally to the small town of Santa Maria. Through my perspective, Santa Maria is profitable because of the foreign bikers that bike the island and need a place to stop. On Sunday, the 7 or so cafes located on the main street in town had tables and chairs scattered all about, and everyone was sitting outside, enjoying tapas, drinking espresso, beer, or a wine. And so I followed suit, ordering from a non-speaking english/german restaurant crew a potato/olive/chicken salad, local wine, and some croquettes.

Monday I had free! The following is what I did on this day. Palma is accessible via train, which comes every 20 minutes to Santa Maria, where I had been just the day before. And so, although weary and with so very little information, I headed to Palma for the day. I wandered the city, looking in the shops, walking along the Mediterranean, seeing the magnificent and huge cathedral, seeing the old palace, royal gardens, and generally feeling the vibe of Spanish culture. The highlight of the day was lunch, which was truly spectacular. Also, the girls are BEAUTIFUL here. agaaast. I found the city to be very interesting, small and walkable, but very nice. It didn't quite feel like Spain however, with for the most part a majority of German and other people.

For dinner, I ate and relaxed at a place in Santa Maria. It was an Italian place, and because I didn't want to be in or coming home too late, I decided to head back kind of earlier. The restaurant in Santa Maria was enjoyable, I talked a lot to the waiters and bartenders.

Tuesday during break, I decided to relax as I had done something every waking moment since arriving.

Wednesday: Fuutball, although we we're suppose to play against a different hotel, they didn't show. And so we played 3 vs. 3. It was fun running and playing once again, as I haven't done in a while. I believe everyone was making fun of me or something, because I am new? American? or something, I don't know. That got a little annoying, but it's o k. I have blisters now from my shoes/we played on fake turf, with the black pellets, and they got in my shoes and clustered under one area, making my feet blister.

And now we arrive at today. A week, it feels much longer. Some side notes that I have been wanting to mention in previous blog posts but have yet to. Every time I step outside of the hotel I get a big wift of straight olive. It is so refreshing, and walking every few hundred yards I get it again. Its amazing. Also, dotting the island every which way are windmills, as seen here , they make a nice scenery. Driving through the island is nice, the scenery is beautiful, with groves every which way, mountains abounding, and sometimes the sea in sight.

The past few days I have begun to miss my people, it is different being somewhere where most of the time you can't understand anything anyone is saying, and you don't have anyone too close to talk to. I have also been craving a heavy, American meal, as most food here is light with bright bright flavors. Not bad, quite the opposite, but every once in a while you crave that hearty meal.

I hope soon that we will go out and I will get the chance to be around a common place for some Spanish people, talk and meet to some other people.

This wasn't the best post yet, hopefully next time will be better! Soon, a blog with pictures and stories from the kitchen. Also due, a tour of the kitchen and hotel. Hope all is well! Happy Easter, miss and love you all!