WTH!? Am I the ONLY one with curly hair up in this place?!

Hello Everyone.  I'm back :)

Well, let's see...where was I?   Oh yes...

Very cool place, this is.  Interesting to see people of all different nationalities and colors speaking with a British accent.  Its very evident when you are submerged in the middle of a new accent and new...er... English.

Pants are underwear.  Trousers are pants. Its not a tank top, its a vest.  Its not a sweater, its a jumper.  Eggplants are called Aubergines and Cucumbers are Corgettes.  If I'm sick I am "feeling poorly".  If I'm complaining about something I am "Having a winge".  They aren't bangs on the front of your head, they are "Fringe".  Its "Cheers" more often than "Thank you" and, apparently, people really like their fowl, cause half the people around you are calling you "Duck" when they speak to you, if they haven't called you "Love."

I may not be speaking with a British accent but its just easier to use their words, and sometimes I catch myself using their inflections - especially when I speak to the kids.  But no matter how much I may be slipping in, word-wise, I stand out.  Stand out like a neon sign.

I have curly hair.  Not wavy....curly.

Yes....my hair is long, and curly and it seems to be the only head of hair to do so in my town.  Everyone else's hair is straight.  Whether its naturally straight or they straighten it out themselves at home or at the salon......its straight.  And usually cut in the same style (regardless of face shape....shudder).

Go to any pub or club and visit the ladies room, and you will find hair straighteners hot and ready for everyone to use.  So when I'm feeling like people are looking at me.  I don't feel its the color of my skin, or the shape of my eyes or my weight at all...its my hair.

As a Puerto Rican and American and New Yorker, we are taught all our lives that when we are put in a situation where you are the one that sticks out from others, people are going to look at you and you are going to have it harder because of your uniqueness.

Darker-skinned Latinos talk about the "struggles of a black person in America" because they live it, because of the color of their skin, over their nationality.  Mexican soap operas have blonde-haired, blue-eyed, cream-colored beauties in the leading roles, while darker-colored actors play servants, farm-hands and clergy.  The color of ones skin, and the resulting treatment by others when not in your own comfort zone, is always in the front of our minds.

But here...I haven't come across any of it.  Sure, people notice me immediately, so you'll be able to point me out to anyone, but I've yet to be treated differently (that I know of) because of it.  People are accepted for who they are - as long as you aren't here taking up benefits in one hand and complaining how horrible the UK is with the other.  As a side note: I must say...its interesting hearing people complaining and having really negative feelings over someone who isn't Black or Hispanic.  Very interesting.

But it doesn't stop me from noticing when people take a double look at me as I walk through town.  They know I'm different and the moment I open my mouth, they immediately know why. I'm not from around here.  Of course, it instantly gets me a "Oooh Where are you from?" and then they are fascinated with what I'm doing here and why I'd leave New York.  But on first looks, its not because of my skin color...its because of my curls.

The Kidlets have commented on more than one occasion, asking me why don't I cut and straighten out my hair.  I said "Because I like my curly hair".  They responded, "but it would like nice straight."  I responded back "It looks like everyone else if its straight.  My hair is naturally curly and it makes me unique here.  And I like being unique."

And I do.

My Kingdom for some Goya Products!

You know us Puerto Ricans - our memories are made up of what and where we ate and with whom.  And yes, in that order.

If we aren't feeding people, we aren't happy.  If there isn't some family get together or someone coming over for dinner, we aren't happy.  And just like every other nationality, we absolutely love our food.  We can't wait to get our hands on our tacos and enchiladas and....

Wait..............what?!   What are you talking about Ana!?!  Tacos and enchiladas!?!? That's MEXICAN!  What have you been smoking! That's not Puerto Rican food!

Oy yeah? Try telling that to the supermarkets, where the 'Spanish' section consists of nothing but Old El Paso.   I seriously need to open up a Puerto Rican restaurant.  Oh DAAAAAaaaaad!!!! ::runs off::

Anywho, where was I?  Oh yeah.

Color me shocked when I found out Goya doesn't ship internationally.  I thought I'd be fine in the condiment/bean/guava paste/malta section, but alas...no.  They don't ship internationally.  You could literally hear the moment my heart broke.  And while I can (and have) made my own Adobo, the ingredients for Sofrito and  Sazón are really difficult to find.  So before I came I shipped myself a care package.  

The Adobo and Sazón have lasted the longest, but now I'm just left with a tiny bit Adobo. I cling to it, hoarding it like precious salt in Medieval times.  Adobo is my key to every one of my meats tasting delicious.  And how do I make my yellow rice without my Sazón with Achiote (Annatto)?  ::cry::  And I prefer achiote over saffron, so lets not go down that road, ok?

The stores here are full of Indian, Chinese and Thai ingredients.  Luckily, Indian and Thai are my two favorite kinds of food, next to mine, so...Yay for me!  But when all you can do is stare at a wall of Old El Paso for "Spanish" food, you have to learn to be creative.  Luckily, you can search through the Indian, Chinese and Thai sections for ingredients that you share.  I've found things like tamarindo (tamarind) and coconut milk, and cilantro (coriander) is very popular here.

Also, understand that you can't count on people sending you care packages.  ::stares at her friends and family::  So you have to fend for yourself and anything that DOES show up is a wonderful surprise.  But there IS a solution.  If you have set up a mail forwarding service in the States.  You can order from the Goya website in the states and have them shipped to your mail forwarding service. Most offer repacking services and will then ship it to you.  Obviously you won't be ordering perishables and frozen food, but that's not too bad.

I have, however, had some wonderful findings.  I found that there is an "International Store" in Nottingham that carries ripe plantains!  Oh man was that ever a happy moment.  And let me tell you, my honey appreciated those plantains the day I made maduros!  I even got him to learn to make them himself (not like its all that difficult and we have a deep fryer so...WIN!).  

I also found Malta (a non-alcoholic malt beverage) locally!  Its not as sweet as the Maltas in the states, but its close and it definitely hits the spot when I'm craving for one.

I've also found - to my absolute delight - that Parcha/Maracuya (Passion Fruit) is not only in abundance here, but its CHEAP!  Gone are the days where I spent $2 for EACH piece!  Now I can get 6 for less than $2!  Huzzah, I say!  Huzzah!

I'm still getting the hang of things and figuring out what I can and what I can't recreate.  There are Afro-Caribbean stores online in the UK that offer green and yellow plantains shipped to my door.   They have some other ingredients I can get as well, but things like yautia (taro root), malanga, yucca (cassava root) etc.  are just about impossible unless I grow them myself.  Luckily we have a nice back yard :)

Till Next time!

Adios! 

EEEEEEEEEnglaaaaaaand!!!

Alright, that's enough of me trying to recreate famous speeches by British Queens.

You may be wondering what the hell was I drinking when I decided to go so far away from either of my islands (NY and PR).  There's a four letter word for that.  Love.

Yes, I loves me a Brit.  And I'm not going to go into how that all happened.  Let's just say - there may be a movie on Lifetime, one day.  But!  I love my honey, and honey comes with kids on the weekend.  And since I don't have kids yet, there was no way I was going to yank him across the pond.  I couldn't do that to him or them.  No way.

So here I am, on an extended vacation at the moment but marriage is on the horizon.  And I'm already tired of people asking me "How's London?".  Well.....it was still there last time I heard on the news.  But I wouldn't know cause I LIVE THREE HOURS AWAY!!!!!    

OY! ::facepalm::

England is NOT London.  And yeah, you think a New Yorker wouldn't go anywhere but London.  Well let me let you in on a little secret:  This New Yorker doesn't want to live anywhere near London.  Or Manchester for that matter.  I like it right in my town, not too far from Nottingham.

Yes, ladies and gents, I moved to Sherwood friggin Forest and I'm loving it.

I think of it as the Nottingham's Westchester :grin: and since I lived up North about 40 minutes from NY for the last 7 years of my life, the change has been pretty seamless.  But let me tell you, I'm still in shock, no matter how well I've adjusted.  Here are some of the topics I'll be covering soon.

1.  FOOD! ::wail:: My kingdom for some Goya products!
2. WTH!?  Am I the ONLY one with curly hair up in this place?!
3. FOOD!  Hey! Your food doesn't suck!
4. Why no....I'm NOT Hawaiian...
5. What do you MEAN an hour each way is to far for 3 plantains!?  We're talking PLANTAINS!!!
6. Ok....if its a 'cubed steak' in the states...what's that called over here?
7. Its not that I don't want you to understand what I tell my Godmother...I just haven't spoken in Spanish for so long!
8. Damn this time zone difference!!!

Till then!
Adios!