So I realized that with all these travels, I haven't gotten to post much about Barcelona lately. Now that midterms week is over, I'll update you on some of the things that have been going on. We went to Tarragona today (a city known for its Roman ruins dating back before Christ) but that's a blog post in itself. Carnaval is going on too. That involves people everywhere putting on costumes for 3 days straight and throwing parades in the streets. I'll also make a post about that once I get pictures up tomorrow. For now, here's an interesting little side story to my trip here.
Barcelona doesn't always give you what you'd expect. For instance, I didn't expect when I got here that the cheap take-out food common around the neighborhood would be Turkish. Doner Kebabs to be exact. They involve a slow roasted chicken being buzz-sawed off and tucked inside Pita bread with spicy sauce, tomato and lettuce. Here, these Turkish bar/restaurants are often run by Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi immigrants.
After I had visited the small restaurant on my block cleverly titled "Falafel Bar Doner Restaurant Kebabs" a couple times, the workers there started to recognize me. Really, they don't have that many customers come through each day. Now, I know 2 of the workers there by name - Abdul and Rasheed, and I know one of their friends that hangs around named Kawal (or something close...) While Abdul takes his sweet time layering my Doner Kebab with spicy sauce, chicken then lettuce (repeat), Abdul teaches me Urdu.
Why? He just does. It's pretty fun. He told me that he's been in Barcelona for 7 years, while the other two have been there fewer. He speaks Spanish well, so it's easiest to talk with him. Barcelona is only made up of 10 percent immigrants, and they're practically all from the last 20 years. That means that immigration is still young here, and Barcelonans aren't the most welcoming to it. For this reason, immigrants are eager to talk to other immigrants, as well as other tourists that come in to their restaurants since everyone belongs in the group of "not being Spanish native." That's my guess at least. Here's how my Urdu (the language spoken in Pakistan and parts of India) is coming:
Meredoh, kyal hal hai? (Friend, how are you?)
(Tee hoon) Very good
Ec kebab...merunguee. maharbanee. (One kebab...chicken...please)
I'll keep you posted on the progress I make with my new, unlikely friends. Stay tuned for more posts this week!
Barcelona doesn't always give you what you'd expect. For instance, I didn't expect when I got here that the cheap take-out food common around the neighborhood would be Turkish. Doner Kebabs to be exact. They involve a slow roasted chicken being buzz-sawed off and tucked inside Pita bread with spicy sauce, tomato and lettuce. Here, these Turkish bar/restaurants are often run by Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi immigrants.
After I had visited the small restaurant on my block cleverly titled "Falafel Bar Doner Restaurant Kebabs" a couple times, the workers there started to recognize me. Really, they don't have that many customers come through each day. Now, I know 2 of the workers there by name - Abdul and Rasheed, and I know one of their friends that hangs around named Kawal (or something close...) While Abdul takes his sweet time layering my Doner Kebab with spicy sauce, chicken then lettuce (repeat), Abdul teaches me Urdu.
Why? He just does. It's pretty fun. He told me that he's been in Barcelona for 7 years, while the other two have been there fewer. He speaks Spanish well, so it's easiest to talk with him. Barcelona is only made up of 10 percent immigrants, and they're practically all from the last 20 years. That means that immigration is still young here, and Barcelonans aren't the most welcoming to it. For this reason, immigrants are eager to talk to other immigrants, as well as other tourists that come in to their restaurants since everyone belongs in the group of "not being Spanish native." That's my guess at least. Here's how my Urdu (the language spoken in Pakistan and parts of India) is coming:
Meredoh, kyal hal hai? (Friend, how are you?)
(Tee hoon) Very good
Ec kebab...merunguee. maharbanee. (One kebab...chicken...please)
I'll keep you posted on the progress I make with my new, unlikely friends. Stay tuned for more posts this week!
Glad to hear that you are eating well and making some new friends!
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