For the most part, I have been warmly welcomed here in Spain. I have a good group of friends, supportive coworkers, and several adoptive families. But there is one segment of Spanish society that has declared out and out war on me – viruses. Last year I had three debilitating colds in two months and here I am again, two weeks into my second year laid low. Great. It’s as if Spain has thrown down the gauntlet – if you can survive the anti-foreign body security measure of their collection of viruses with your foreigner’s immune system, you are worthy of residency in the country. Challenge accepted with lethargy. And hey, it gives me a chance to play such games as Fever or Not? as I yell at the Celsius thermometer.
When I get sick, I get a super impressive cough that usually leads to me losing my voice and sounding like a very creepy man. When we lived together, Gabrielle used to have me make threatening phone calls to all our friends. Rosa just calls me Manolo the truck driver. The real problem is that I’m an assistant teacher, so losing my voice is a big deal. I got sent home from work one day because listening to me made my coworkers wince.
What does all this whining have to do with my food blog? Well. In the midst of those three colds last winter, I got increasingly shacknasty and desperate and started soliciting cough remedies from pretty much everyone I knew. Herbal tea, hot water with lemon, tea with honey, hot water with ginger, and from my parents – hot whiskey. Anything that would soothe my throat and help me stop coughing so I could sleep and drag my butt through my commute and back.
In my cold medicine addled state a brilliant idea came to me. What if I were to combine all of these ideas into ONE? It would be like the Power Rangers or even Captain Planet – a MegaTea!
Desa's Dishes 