What were you studying in Spain? And what did you think of Spain?
I minored in Spanish in college, so I took basic classes taught in Spanish (art history was the most interesting, it helps that the teacher was amazing) mostly literature, grammar, cultural stuff etc.
I thought Spain was an interesting place. It's a big country with varied terrain, the mediterranean coastal areas are beautiful, the history is amazing, the architecture in Barcelona is really cool. I lived in Granada, which is an old-world city, not as modern as madrid but i preferred it. I could walk everywhere. I love the concept of tapas and delicious cheap wine. I had a hard time with the food, vegetarianism isn't really an understood or easy concept there. Lots of pig, bread and olive oil. Not a big emphasis on veggies, beans or grains other than wheat. Luckily I met my husband there and he had an apt with a kitchen so I was able to get what I wanted at the market and eat well with him my last month or so. I lived with a family and they weren't very welcoming so that was an uncomfortable situation but I know people that had great living situations. I was just too shy to do anything about it. I loved having a siesta and being away from the go-go-go of life that we have in the US. Overall it was great and if I was to return I'd go to the mediterranean and barcelona in a second. But honestly there's other places I'd rather travel to first.
What's your dream holiday destination?
That's a long list! I love to travel and I guess top on my list right now is Thailand, India, Denmark/Scandinavia, and Italy if the Euro wasn't so strong.
How did you become a baker?
I went to college for Natural Resources Management (Enviro Science, basically) and worked in the field for a few years and realized I was wrecking havoc on my body and making no money. So I decided I might as well be a baker and wreck havoc and make no money...seriously, I got so burnt out on the grunt labor that is data collection and realized (no one tells you in college) that if I wanted to move up in my field or do less monotonous work I would need a master's or probably a phd the way things are now. My last enviro job I worked for a timber company doing research on fish in their streams. Basically if there was a certain species of fish in the water, we had to find out where it ended and mark the boundaries so when they clear cut the beautiful forest, they would leave a few extra trees for fish habitat. It was depressing and the days were long and gruesome (i was caught in lightning storms, had to walk over dangerous log jams and climb some waterfalls which freaked me out) and basically it burnt me out on nature, which was my passion and i loved going to school for it but i wanted to spend all the weekends on the couch drinking beer. I decided that wasn't the life for me and I wasn't ready to do a master's in a field i wasn't certain about (jobs are few and far between) and I found my free time was spent in the kitchen. So I went to a community college culinary school and received an amazing education and am still passionate about food (except the 1st trimester) and get to spend my weekends in the woods, which I now enjoy. Baking is hard work but satisfying. I don't know what I'm going to do after the baby comes. I can't imagine going back to work but might need to. It might be time to find a kid-friendly job, or a job with more flexible hours. I'm trying not to freak out about all of that now, but it's in the back of my head.
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