Chuck the Chicken

The culmination of this story is the "Chuck the Chicken Ceremony". It is a story of cultural clash, cultural adaptation and international transition.

As many of you know, we love internationals, we love to travel, we love to experience new cultures. I'm mexican, my native language is Spanish, and I grew up in Mexico. As you might also know, Papito spent many years in Mexico, he is fluent in Spanish and understands the hispanic culture. We love receiving people from other countries in our home, some of you, our best friends are internationals. We also spent a summer in Turkey, when the kidDOS were only 5 years old.

I have been reflecting on these facts as we process all that has been happening these past days. In the midst of much joy and blessing, many times there is discomfort, some pain, some confusion, and a lot of work. As I share with you this transition, I want to mention again, that we are loving all of it, and we know we are walking in the blessing of God.

Since we arrived I have been working with lots of paperwork to make sure our stay here in Tenerife is legal and official. There has been many government offices I have visited, many forms I have filled out, many copies I have made. And I still have to run the house, make sure the family gets places and is picked up from places on time, everyone is fed, the clothes are clean, the house is running.

I could spend an entire post talking about food. Learning how to shop for groceries, where to shop, and how to transport food. In fact, I hope I get to post it. One thing I would like to say... I miss Instant Pot. If you have one, use it today and remember me.

About 2 weeks after we arrived to Tenerife, Principe asked to play with the soccer team at the school. So, I started investigating what needed to happen for him to play with his friends. And it has proved to be a test of availability of paperwork to demonstrate to the Soccer Federation that he is here legally, that he is who we say he is, that he is not in the USA right now, that we as parents are who we are, that we agree with him playing here, that we can support him as he plays, and also a Spanish licensed pediatrician had to agree that he is fit to play. The easiest of all these requirements was to receive a letter from the USA Soccer Club declaring that he is not playing there for this season.  Thank you Town and Country!

Papito has been also very busy, trying to set up an entire work environment, starting from relationships to the physical things, like where to print. He also has been using public transportation... an entire new world for us. I think it has been fun, but also challenging for him, especially the day that there was a Tram workers strike.  :)

And the kidDOS... we surely threw them into the pit of cultural immersion. They spend 5 days a week in the Spanish culture.  So, last week Principe got sick, I could see it coming... school has been demanding on both kidDOS as they try to assimilate many new things, and it's a long schedule every day. And as I type this post, Princesa is here at home (out of school) sleeping. She is exhausted.

Last week, after taking Principe to the doctor, part of the recommendations was a very light diet. Principe was having diarrhea and stomach pains. The main things in the diet were lean, white chicken, with not too many spices, toast, rice, chicken broth, and chamomile tea. Since I cook only one meal, that became the diet for everyone at home. We had chicken many days, that I was literally dreaming of hamburgers... so when I went to the grocery store, I was looking for the ground beef, hoping ... and then I saw ground turkey...  I got kind of happy... and then I saw ground chicken... "oh well, I guess I can cook it and give it a try", I thought. I never have had ground turkey, but I know a friend uses it for chilli. "What can be wrong with ground chicken?" (I never had it before either.)

The day after I got that chicken I prepared it. It was not at all like chicken. It was pink, it tasted funny, it was not pleasant to taste. Papito and I had it before the kids (they were getting ready for the next day) and we swallowed it. We did not like it. Then we gave it to Princesa (Principe was taking a shower) and she said "I'm not hungry". I laugh now when I think about all of our reactions. And finally when Principe arrived to the table, we gave him his portion. He careful and politely said "I do not like it." It was unanimous. I mentioned that "maybe I would need to prepare the rest with some type of sauce." I was thinking of something with plenty of tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The rest of the chicken went to the fridge.

Here is the story of the doctor's certificate to be able to play soccer... we go to the doctor, wait to be called and talk to the doctor. He explains that there is an official paper you must use to write this certificate. My next task is to find out where to buy this paper called "Papel Timbado Amarillo para Certificado Medico". To shorten my story it was a hassle finding this paper. There is some "Estancos" that sell it, but somehow they just sold the last one right before I arrived. The next day I ended up going to the "Colegio de Medicos" which is the Association of Physicians. I got it!.

The morning of that second day of soccer paperwork I went to the grocery store to buy food after dropping the kids off at school in the morning. I gathered many products, which turned into a big order that would be delivered at night, between 6:00 and 8:00pm. "For sure I will be home by that time", I thought that morning. This was my day's plan after grocery shopping: get the "Papel Timbrado", pick up the kids, bring them home for lunch, go back to school to drop them off, go to make copies of official documents, make plans for dinner, go back to school to get Principe, go to the doctor, go back to school by 5:30 to turn in the paperwork and pick up Princesa, go back home, get ready, have dinner and enjoy a restful night as a family. Little did I know, a long day was still in front of me.

After dropping the kids at school that the afternoon, I went to make copies of all the original documents that we needed for the soccer paperwork. After the copies were done, at a little shop just at the corner of our building, I decided to go upstairs to the apartment to safely leave all my originals at home. When I entered the house, it was full of smoke... oh no! I forgot to turn off the stove and a pot of lentil soup became a pot of charcoal. There was smoke everywhere, it was not pretty. That was supposed to be dinner... Quickly I turned the stove off, removed the pot, placed it in our tiny laundry area (that has a tiny window), opened all the other windows, started the stove top extractor, and left. I had to go and get the Principe to go to the doctor.

When I was walking to pick up Principe form school, Papito texts me that he was having some challenges at work, and that he would be home late. "OK... I can handle this. And now I don't have dinner ready... so maybe even better", I thought. My idea at that moment was to get Principe early from school, bring him to the doctor, get the form signed, and then go back to the school with all the paperwork ready to pick up Princesa.  I ended up taking both kidDOS out of school early to go to the doctor.  Well, I'm so glad now that their teacher thought of sending Princesa along with Principe for the early dismissal. At the doctors office we waited for 2.5 hrs. It was cultural, it was crazy... it was dinner time, from 5:00 to 7:30pm.

Do you remember my grocery order... it was supposed to arrive between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. Well, when we were waiting for the doctor, and it's almost our turn to see him, my phone rings and it's the grocery man at my door, waiting for me to open. "Oh no... what I'm going to do? Can I runback home? I'm only about 3 minutes from there..." But, Papito arrived and he got the order... it was a close call!

That night I felt like a marathon runner... victorious and exhausted. I had 18,661 steps on my Fitbit. But I was defeated in some ways... dinner was burned. The only thing we had was that chicken in the fridge... oh the chicken.., that was the chicken that we all disliked. Well, that was the only food we had ready.

Papito is my hero, for sure he complements me in the areas that I lack. I felt like crying at this hour of the night. But he started making all kinds of jokes. He started laughing and making us all laugh. And he Officially Declared that we will "Chuck the Chicken" at the plaza into the trash can, which just outside our apartment complex. And that we will go out and celebrate with a good dinner and a yummy dessert. He put the chicken in plastic bag and ceremonially carried it to the center of the plaza. Principe twirled the bag and chucked it into the trash can.

Things after our ceremony did not go culturally as we expected them. It was past 7:30, we were tired and very hungry.  The restaurant we have been waiting to got to was closed (we arrived too early). So Papito said, "Let's go and have dessert first". The bakery we wanted to go to was closed (we arrived too late). However, our outlook on the day changed. It became a day of victory, a day to "Chuck the Chicken".

Have you had a "Chuck the Chicken" type of day? (smile)

Vale,