Fish what?

This morning when I woke up I was not excited to go out for lunch with my host family and their friends in a nearby town called Pego. They all speak in Valenciano, a language that mixes french and spanish, and I can barely follow the conversations let alone enjoy myself for the 5-7 hours that we usually spend with them.

Just after 1o'clock we went to Pego and I immediately plopped myself down on the couch to relax as the three kids ran into another room to play and the parents sat in the kitchen to have a beer. On these days I often wish that there was someone my age or at least another person that would speak Castilian spanish with me.

An hour later we walked through town to a small restaurant where we ordered "arroz pescado". Not only do I dislike fish, but I didn't have much of an appetite either. So up until this point, my day wasn't great due to a few thing that I didn't like and my poor attitude.

At one point, as we were waiting for our food, a song came on the restaurant that caught my attention. It was a harmonica and a country man's voice. I couldn't make out the words but I had one of those moments where I mentally took a step back from everything that was going on in that moment, listened to the beauty of the music, and said to myself "Kalla, you are in Spain. SPAIN. Let that sink in right now. You are about to eat a typical spanish meal that you haven't tried yet. Do not jump to conclusions and assume that you don't like it. Instead of being frustrated with Valenciano do your best to listen and chime in on the conversation when possible. You can be content with this day, but you have to choose right now."

Needless to say, I tried every dish that they put on the table. I loved the oysters. And ate half of a tiny fried fish... I still don't understand how everyone was just eating the whole thing with bones in it- I had to stop when the spine got stuck between my teeth. hahaha
Next came the rice with artichokes, tomato, peppers, oysters, squid, octopus, calamari, fish, and other ingredients that I couldn't identify. It was the moment of truth when I took a spoonful and bit into the consistency of each piece of seafood.

It. Was. Delicious.
I ate myself full and sipped on a delicious white wine the whole time.

I was only spoken to a few times all afternoon but I focused on the positive and had a few laughs while watching an English couple on the other side of the restaurant try to order their food in spanish ;)