Saturday, July 7, 2012

Celebrando el 4 de julio (Spanish-style)

On the 4th of July, we had a special surprise in store for our students - unbeknownst to them, a bit of America was coming their way!


Each day, as part of our normal routine, we give them their choices for the menu and take their order during the descanso, or break, between classes so that the food will be ready for them upon arrival at Casablanca. Not wanting to let on to our special plan, we decided to keep things as "normal" as possible. For Wednesday´s menu, we carefully chose the WORST of the WORST, with delictable first-course offerings such as: ensalada de gulas (hake eel salad), revuelto de morcilla (scrambled eggs with blood sausage), pastel de surimi con salsa Roquefort (krab cake with Roquefort cheese sauce) and  sesos y setas a la plancha (grilled brains and mushrooms). For the second course, we listed: manitas de cerdo (pigs´ trotters),  callos al arriero (intestines with a spicy garlic sauce), trucha con verduritas (trout - in its entirety - with vegetables) and bacalao frito (fried cod). While all of these foods do in fact exist on many Spanish menús, the students hadn´t yet experienced them all. As dictionaries were pulled out, many questions were asked and eyes widened with fear. Needless to say, the students all looked to us for direction as to which option would be the safest for their consumption before raising their hands for the final count. While a few students put on a brave face and were willing to venture into the gastronomic unknown, others wanted to play it safe and ordered the salad (hoping the gulas would be minimal) and cod. No one was as anxious to get to lunch that day, but we just played it off. 


What the students found upon entering Casablanca brought on many smiles and countless sighs of relief - as not only was their Coca Cola on the table, but also plates (which never happens and it alluded to the surprise). As the first pizzas started to appear, I think I even heard a small round of applause. The toppings on the pizzas may not have been what they had expected or perhaps would order from themselves, but we had 32 very happy (and full) students.









And to top it off? A special dessert: natillas de chocolate. As you would expect, no one complained about not getting their usual yogurt. :)

As a special treat to the profesores, after lunch we had one student approach us who said that while she was immensely happy about the Coca Cola and pizza, she was a little upset about not being able to try the aforementioned "delicacies." Being a tried and true member of our Adventurous Eaters´ Club, we couldn´t have been more proud of her!

Check back soon for pictures of more 4th of July festivities...

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