Our last Thanksgiving. Nuestro ultimo dia de Accion de Gracias

Una de las cosas que mas nos han gustado en estos dos años y medio en Chicago ha sido la celebracion de "Accion de Gracias". Es una fiesta en la que las familias y amigos se reunen, se prepara comida realmente casera y en mucha abundancia y se comparten buenos momentos. Por suerte, nuestros amigos Christina y Lyle nos han invitado todos estos años que hemos estado aqui y ha sido un verdadero placer poder compartirlo con ellos. Gracias!!

El pavo siempre delicioso, jugoso y fresco. El resto de platos de acompañamiento son otro manjar: stuffing, jamon asado, toda clase de tuberculos, patatas, judias verdes, pudding de maiz, salsa de arandanos, tarta de calabaza y batata, maravilloso!!

Como siempre disfrutamos mucho de la comida y lo pasamos genial en una agradable noche. Aunque es nuestro ultimo año viviendo aqui, espero que podamos volar de vuelta en el futuro y compartir este dia con nuestros amigos.

Thanksgiving day is one of our favorite things since we arrived in the US two and a half years ago. It is a very traditional and familiar feast where people reunite with their families and friends to prepare and eat real home-made food and have a good time. Luckily, our friends Christina and Lyle were so kind to host us for three years in a row. It was a real pleasure for us sharing this day with you guys and the rest of your guests! Thanks!!

The turkey is always delicious and juicy. The rest of the side dishes are also amazing: stuffing, baked ham, roots vegetables, beans, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, gorgeous!!

We enjoyed dinner and company very much! We had a great time with our friends. Even though it is our last year living here, we hope we can fly back one day in the future to share this day with our friends.

El pavo. The turkey!

With Christina, Lyle and the turkey. Con Christina, Lyle y el pavo.

Pavo trinchado, salsa de arandanos, jamon, tuberculos, stuffing, patatas, ensalada, pudding...

Carved turkey, cranberry sauce, ham, roots, stuffing, potatoes, salad, pudding...

Gravy was served with the turkey! 

Tambien habia gravy para salsear el pavo!

Mi plato con un poco de todo :)

My plate with a bit of everything :)

Pumpkin pie. Tarta de calabaza

Christina cortando la tarta. Chritina slicing the pie.

FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!

Desde mi ventana. From my window

Nieve, llueva, haya niebla o luzca el sol, echare tanto de menos la vista desde nuestro apartamento en Evanston. La luz del lago Michiagan es increible, levantarte y ver el lago a 200 metros no tiene precio.

Doesn't matter if it snows, rains, it's foggy or sunny, I'll miss the view from our apartment in Evanston. The light of lake Michigan is special. Getting up and see the lake at less than 200 meters is priceless.

Blizzard. Ventisca.

Niebla. Fog.

Sol. Sun.

Chicago...

Campus

Nunca he escrito en condiciones sobre el bonito campus de Northwestern en Evanston, aunque he incluido alguna foto que otra. Hoy estaba recordando algunas fotos y me he quedado sonriendo pensando en lo bonito que es y lo cuidado que esta (mucho mas que los edificios del campus por dentro). Me gustan los arboles, las flores, la vegetacion, la decoracion en honor a Northwestern lleno de color morado. Lo echare de menos...

I've never written anything good about the Northwestern campus in Evanston even though I've posted some pictures in the past. Today I was looking at some old pictures and I kept on smiling while thinking how nice it is and how well maintained it is (a lot more than the campus buildings inside). I love the trees, flowers and purple Northwestern decoration. I'll miss it...

The American health system. Part III. El sistema sanitario americano. Tercera parte.

Hace dos semanas tuve que ir a urgencias por un problema ocasionado por mis maravillosos polipos nasales. Son tan agresivos y habian crecido tanto que me salio un gran bulto en la nariz y uno de los polipos salia ya al exterior. La incomodidad que esto produce es indescriptible y como no podia estar asi hasta Navidad, que es cuando tengo cita con mi otorrino español, tuve que ir aqui al medico. La primera cita con un otorrino me la daban a la semana siguiente y juzgando la velocidad de crecimiento de los polipos, no podia esperar ni un dia mas. Al final, me fui a urgencias. Ya sabia que tendria que pagar 100$ por el copago sanitario, mas el 80% de la medicacion. Aunque ya me parece caro, ya que pago un seguro medico mensualmente, no pense en ello y lo pague porque realmente necesitaba que me viese un medico. Lo peor vino ayer, cuando me llego la factura de los medicos que me vieron en urgencias. Lo podeis ver en la foto. Los medicos de urgencias me vieron 10 minutos, me miraron la nariz a ojo, ya que los polipos salian al exterior y no me hicieron ninguna clase de pruebas. Me recetaron los esteroides venento total (se merecen otro post adicional) y me fui...

Due to my asthma and nasal polyps problems I had to go to the ER two weeks ago. My polyps are really aggressive and they grew so much that I got a bump on my nose and one of them was already showing up to the exterior (pretty disgusting). This is incredible uncomfortable and creates a lot of breathing troubles. I couldn't wait until my next ENT doctor visit in Spain, which is during Christmas time, so I had to go to the doctor. I had to wait for more than a week to see an ENT doctor, so I finally went to the ER. I knew I would have to pay 100$ for the copay plus 80% of the medication prescribed. Even though I thought it was already expensive considering I already have an insurance, I really needed to see a doctor. The worse part happened yesterday when I got a bill of 180$ for the doctor who saw me at the ER. You can see it in the picture. The visit took around 10 minutes, they looked at my nose without any equipment since my polyp was visible from the outside and they gave me steroids prescriptions (the real poison, they deserve another post). I didn't need any other test and I left the ER very fast...

Al parecer, esto cuesta 973$, de los cuales mi seguro paga 792$ y yo pago 180$. En total: 100 + 180 + 25 + 35 (visita al otorrino) = 330$ por los escasos 20 minutos que pase alli. Ademas de estar jodida con mi cuerpo, me joden el bolsillo. 

Aprovechando que hoy son las elecciones, me gustaria hacer un llamamiento a mis amigos americanos: creeis que esto es normal? Que haria una persona sin medios economicos? Es justo?

It seems that this incredibly long visit costs 973$. My insurance pays 792$ and I pay 180$. The total: 100 + 180 + 25 + 35= 330$ for the less than 20 minutes in total at the ER, so my body is fucked up and then my pocket is even worse.

Today is elections day and I'd like to tell all my American friends to think about this: do you consider this normal? What can someone with no money do? Is it fair?

A mi esto me parece absurdo y ridiculo! Aun asi, hay gente que se atreve a hablar de la crisis economica actual de España. Al menos, puedo decir con orgullo, que por pobre que seas, TODO el mundo que lo necesite puede ir al medico cuando lo necesita, con y sin crisis. En España, no se beneficia nadie de los problemas de salud de otros. Hace falta tener poca moral para hacer esto y por desgracia, esto pasa en la grande y maravillosa America.

Como luchadora por los derechos humanos, me encantaria que esta situacion cambiase pronto en un pais que lo tiene todo para dirigirse cada vez mas hacia un futuro mejor. Amigos, por favor, seguid luchando por cambiar este sistema absurdo.

I honestly think this is absurd and ridiculous!! But still, some people dare to talk about the Spanish financial crisis. At least, I can proudly say that EVERYONE in Spain, with a lot of money or without it can go to the doctor if they need it without ruining yourself forever. At least in Spain no one gets profit from people's illnesses. One needs to have very poor moral standards to do this and apparently this is what happens in the great and wonderful America.

I still fight for human rights and I'd like this situation to change in this country, which has all the necessary things to grow up to an even brighter future. Dear friends please, keep on fighting for this to change. It is absurd!

The Rice Table

Ayer fuimos con nuestros amigos Christina y Lyle a cenar a un restaruante de Andersonville, una zona de Chicago con millones de bares y restaurantes interesantes. Fuimos a "Vincent", un restaurante holandes, si, si, lo que leeis, no se exactamente que tipo de comida cocinaran :) pero el restaurante es holandes! De todas formas, ayer no fuimos por la comida holandesa, sino por comida indonesa. Este evento, llamado "The rice table", se celebra cada año en Chicago y la empresa alquila un restaurante distinto cada vez. Este año fue en Vincent, asi que compramos los tickets online y nos fuimos a disfrutar de la comida.

Yesterday we went out for dinner with Christina and Lyle. The restaurant we went is in Andersonville, a cool area of Chicago with many interesting bars and restaurants. We went to "Vincent", which is a Dutch restaurant, yes, exactly what you are reading, a Dutch restaurant :) I don't know exactly how is the food there since we went there for a tasting of Indonesian food. The event is called "The rice table" and it is celebrated every year in Chicago. The company rents a different restaurant every year and this time it was in Vincent. We bought the tickets online and went there to enjoy the food.

Llegando a Vincent. Arriving in Vincent.

El restaurante por dentro me recordo realmente a los restaurantes holandeses por la decoracion y la luz, que aunque hacia la estancia muy acogedora, no me permitio hacer una foto en condiciones, jeje!

El menu consistia en numerosos platos pequeños para compartir cocinados con especias tradicionales indonesas. Entre los platos se incluian arroz frito con salsa de coco, pollo con jengibre, ternera picante, noodles con verdura, judias verdes especiadas, tofu, ensalada con salsa de coco, patatas fritas con salsa dulce, etc. Lo cierto es que me gusto todo, estaba muy bien cocinado y pudimos repetir. Algunos platos eran algo picantes, pero con limite y todo muy sabroso.

De postre un riquisimo pudding de arroz, un estilo al tradicional arroz con leche, pero mas espeso, todo ello con caramelo por encima, buenisimo! El cocktail que me tome estaba delicioso, era de champan con un licor especial llamado "San Germain", se llamaba "burbujas y flores" y espero tomarlo otra vez dentro de poco :)

The interior of the restaurant really reminded me of the Dutch restaurants. The decoration and the light was very Dutch and cozy, but it didn't let me take a normal picture of the food!

The menu consisted of many small plates to share based on all kinds of typical Indonesian food: fried rice with coconut sauce, chicken with ginger, spicy beef, tofu, sweet fries, salad with coconut, etc. I absolutely liked everything, the food was well cooked, a bit spicy but with a limit and everything very juicy. 

Desert was also delicious, it was rice pudding, very similar to the traditional "arroz con leche" but more dense and with caramel on top. I also ordered a cocktail that was delicious, it had champagne and "Saint Germain" liquor, I hope to drink it soon again ;)

Aqui podeis ver como se sirvio la comida, aunque la luz era fatal para las fotos.

Here you can see how the food was served, even though the light was awful for the pictures.

 The menu. El menu.

 Rice pudding. Pudding the arroz.

Posando con Christina. Posing with Christina.

Despues de cenar dimos un paseo por el barrio y me encontre este caballito tan gracioso!!

We walked around the neighborhood after dinner and we found this cute horse :)

Fue una cena estupenda, buena comida, risa y amigos para disfrutar de nuestras ultimas semanas aqui :(

It was a great dinner: good food, laughs and friends to enjoy our last weeks here :(

Halloween 2012

Debido a que estamos en los USA :) podemos disfrutar de esta festividad en todo su esplendor. En España es un tema muy comentado, ya que desde hace unos años, se ha adoptado la tradicion americana y cada vez mas gente celebra Halloween con disfraces, calabazas, etc. En eso no me meto, cada uno es libre de celebrar lo que le parezca y ademas, es algo bueno para divertirse. Por otra parte, nosotros tambien tenemos nuestras propias tradiciones, comidas y dulces tipicos de este dia, que tambien tienen su encanto.

En 2010 y 2011 celebramos Halloween asi: 2010 y 2011, pero este año no tenemos plan :(

De todas formas, siempre hay alguna pequeña celebracion. En este caso, en el laboratorio, donde he improvisado mi lado psicopata con una disolucion de "dicetopirrolopirrol" con la que estaba trabajando, jeje! 

Otros compañeros han trabajado con su disfraz como es costumbre y por supuesto, tenia que enseñarlo. Podeis ver a Mark "Diablo sexy", Adam "Super Mario" y Roman "Cerdito ruso" :)

Veremos lo que nos depara el 2013 y si seguimos celebrando esta fiesta. De momento disfrutaremos del buen ambiente que se respira y del modo de vivir la fiesta en Chicago.

It is awesome to be in the States for Halloween. This festivity is being adopted more and more by Spanish people and many different opinions are found related to this. However, I really don't mind people celebrating it since it is just something funny and it doesn't really hurt anyone. On the other hand, I also like people keeping our own traditions for the day of the death and all the Saints, enjoying the typical food and sweets for these days and our own way of living the festivity.

We celebrated Halloween the past two years, here are the links to the blog posts: 2011 and 2010. Unfortunately, we don't have a plan for this year :(

However, there is always a small celebration. This year I have improvised my own Halloween "costume" and I've brought to light my most psycho side with a solution of "diketopyrrolopyrrole" dye I was working with, hehe!

Other colleagues have come to work on their costumes as they normally do on Halloween. You can see "sexy devil" Mark, "Super Mario" Adam and "Russian pig" Roman :)

I wonder was is awaiting for us in 2013 and if we will celebrate Halloween in a completely different part of the world. For now, we'll enjoy the good environment here in Chicago.