SPAINGLORIOUS BLOG# 6 Homestay vs. staying in a home
I’ve been avoiding writing this post for a long time because I didn’t know how to write it without sounding like some sort of self entitled Princess. This is supposed to simply be an observation rather than a whiney tantrum in writing but you can give me feedback at the end of this if you would like.
When I was little I used to get upset when my mother left me to stay overnight with my grandparents while she went out or on holiday. When she asked me why I didn’t like it, I would say “because they treat me like family”. They tell us that our Senora is like our Spanish mom. I disagree; she is the lady who opened her home to me for a fee through my program and for that reason, she does not treat me like family, which I love.
The homestay is a different but not altogether disagreeable arangement for me. It wasn’t what I signed up for, I wanted to live in a “residencia” which is basically a privately owned dorm so that I could get to know other Spanish students. My living situation (and the time of year) means that I have only met one Spanish student.
So about my homestay. I live with a 63 year old woman in her appartment. She is really nice and interesting. I suppose she is also sort of a TCK. She was born in the Sahara and lived a Spanish city in Morroco before her father died when she was 8. Then she moved to Galicia and then to Granada where she has remained for over 40 years. She basically does everything for me, which I appreciate but I like being able to do things for myself.
There only a few things that I miss (clearly, I’m a TCK). I miss doing my own laundry, I miss Spanish food (If you are puzzling over this one, you’ll have your answer soon) and I miss internet. That’s it. I think that means that I miss the independence.
So the food. Spanish food is delicious but that’s not what I’m getting. What I get is the equivalent of “chicken and stars” at least once a day (caned diced spaghetti in a salty chicken broth), cream cheese on bread, frozen pizza, frozen french fries/chips and canned tuna. I thinks the extend of the variety, in short, food universally accepted as the reason for childhood obesity in the USA. All the food at my homestay is so unbelieveably salty. My Senora has a box full of salt next to the stove which she uses to season everything. Not a pinch here and a pinch there, half a handful on everything. The amount of salt she uses for one meal, I would have at home in a week. To the point that by the time I leave here I will probably have a heart condition. So maybe I’m complaining about the food but everyone else in my group is baffled by the “food” I’m getting. My Sra. said that since she separated from her husband, that’s how she eats… You might be thinking to yourself “how sad, what can you possibly say to that?” I still haven’t found the words.
She talks a lot which is good for developing my Spanish conversation skills and my vocab. Usually we talk over Spanish dubbed Lifetime movies. Something about them being Spanish instead of English makes me forget how awful they are. I’m having a good time in general. It’s just a much different time than I would have expected. Anyway. I have to go to lunch….here’s to hoping its not chicken and stars.
I as born in London, England to children of Jamaican immigrants. I have lived in England, Venezuela, USA, and China. I am currently a university student stateside.
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8 Comments to “SPAINGLORIOUS BLOG# 6 Homestay vs. staying in a home”
September 16th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Haha we miss you Elizabeth.
Is this what you’re eating there?
Maybe you can compensate by eating real Spanish food when you’re back home.
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September 16th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
btw, remember this? hehe
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2001/05/09/34tck.h20.html
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September 17th, 2008 at 6:30 am
HAHA God Brice how embarrassing. Well thankfully another lady is cooking for us now and she doesn’t cook with a lot of salt and she has refamiliarized me with my beloved vegetables and home made delights.
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September 17th, 2008 at 6:37 am
P.S. That picture you sent me looks like it came from “You are what you eat” with Gillian McKeith
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September 17th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
@Brice, hey cool website! glad to see TCKs are getting some attention from the media
@Elizabeth
you know, I had a similar experience when I went to a French immersion course in Montreal.
I had always heard about how people in North America were nice to foreign students, and my friends who had gone in exchange years had become very close to their host families and etc.
But my course in Montreal was only for 1 month, and the family was (like you said) doing it mostly for the money than for anything else.
And they ate the same kind of food you described!!!
Anyway, just wanted to say that I know how you feel!
Some suggestions: Try to eat healthy things when you have meals outside your home. And try to find ways to meet students (maybe participating in some extra-class activities), if you have time.
And remember, you won’t be there forever, so you will survive!
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September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I forgot my username and password, so that’s why I’m using this… but Oh My GOSH! I know exactly what you’re talking about! I studied in Spain for 5 months, a year and a half ago, and it was AMAZING. And I lived with a host family and ate ‘caldera’
(chicken and noodle soup…. from a box) almost every night. I had salad 3 times I think, in 5 months. We walked a lot, but I still gained about 20 lbs. Where I was, there were about 120 students from Oregon, and a bunch from New Mexico, 12 from VA (my group)… plus all the Erasmus students. The only Spanish people I actually met and got to know were my host family. Otherwise, i met French, Italians, English, Dutch…. and I still learned Spanish fairly well. So, i’m jealous, have a great time, make lots of friends from everywhere (it’ll give you places to stay when you travel
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September 20th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
anonymoustck: Please send me an email (ayako@tckid.com) and I’ll retrieve your username and issue a new password for you.
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September 20th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
ElizabethD: Like in many countries all over the world, the women have lost the plot with cooking in Spain but it should come back in another generation or two. Right now I have also noticed that they use too many frozen foods despite the array of fresh produce available.
When I queue up at the cash register at Carrefour, I see what Spanish housewives are buying and I see a lot of frozen pizzas, prepackaged desserts, ready made this and that, etc.
There are lots of good ingredients for cooking here. I have no clue why anyone in their right mind would eat that junk all the time.
How difficult is it to cut a tomato in half and stick spears of garlic and rosemary in them, sprinkle them with salt, drizzle olive oil on them and roast them? Throw in a few of those Italian peppers and new potatoes and in about an hour at 250C and you’ll have a nice tray of roast vegetables. This can either be eaten with meat or made into a soup with beef broth & white wine or even eaten just as it is if you’re vegetarian.
Anyway I’m happy for you that you have someone who knows how to cook now. I am convinced the previous Senora never really did learn to cook because no cook in their right mind would sit there seasoning ready made foods with salt? Salt is probably the last thing those things need. Putting herbs or spices or even wine/sherry make more sense. This Senora clearly also doesn’t have any taste buds because nobody with taste buds could stand eating that stuff exclusively for years.
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