"La Jamsa" خمسة

Can I just say that in order to write a blog- literally, to type the letters- means that my fingers have to be exposed to the frigid icebox that is now my apartment. In other words, my ten little dedos and I hope you appreciate our efforts.

Thursday night is quiz night (a.k.a. trivia) at Café Piaf, my new favorite tapas bar. Naturally, I went to the bar with a group of French girls. The only catch is- the questions are in French, and then in Spanish.

Let's just say, the French and Spanish don't know their American geography very well. Yet, somehow I ended up looking like the tonta (idiot). By a stroke of luck, the question was: What American city is the Pentagon building located? The answer: ARLINGTON, Virginia, of course!! My town! While everyone was so sure that the answer was Washington, DC- I knew the real answer and would take our team to victory. Only, it turned out that anyone living outside the United States (and some living in the US- cough, cough Michelle)- including the quiz judges- thinks the Pentagon is in Washington, DC. Oh, well. I still have my pride!

Another weekend, another baking experiment. This time, chocolate chip banana bread:

Michelle and Casey, two of my American friends in Granada, came to my piso for what turned out to be a baking and cooking fest.

Yes, Saturday was my first attempt (and relatively successful attempt at that) at making an authentic tortilla de patatas, also known as tortilla española. A very simple recipe- just potatoes, eggs and onions. The catch: you have to flip the tortilla with a plate back into the saltén (pan) to cook the other side. It may not have been the prettiest tortilla, but that's not what matters now, is it?

Stéphanie invited me to my second Moroccan dinner in Granada... Only this time it was a Moroccan feast. Stéph really does have the hookups around town when it comes to Moroccan friends and cuisine.

Stéph and I:

To put it lightly (and use a new vocabulary word), ¡había una barbaridad de comida! ("There

was a ton of food!"). In fact, I mistook the appetizer for the entire meal. Little did I know that lamb with rice, cous cous with vegetables, tea and nuts, and finally ice cream were awaiting us. I'm not sure if it is just Stéph's friends or all Moroccans, but they are especially generous.

The "appetizer:"

Omar and Mehdi with the second course:

Amazing cous cous:

Afterwards we gave our bellies a rest and played some games that required more than a few embarrassing performances from the losing teams, which I hate to admit was mainly my team. Yes, I was the only American in the room and yet somehow I could not name all of the "Friends" actors... And yet the Moroccan and British in the room could. My bad! In any event, my team found ourselves dancing to the "Las Ketchup" song (well known throughout Spain- do you know it?) as our castigo (punishment).

Our team (ironically named "The Winners"):

In reference to the title of this blog post, "La Jamsa," also known as the "Mano de Fátima" (Hamsa, the hand

of Fátima), is often given incorrect significance. The host of the dinner party, Omar, told us that "La Jamsa" is translated to "cinco" or "five" in English- a number that in Islam is connected to the image of an open hand. La Jamsa is believed to be a symbol of protection against the "evil eye" in many societies, but Omar told us that it simply represents "las cosas buenas" (the good things) that Islamic culture associates with an open hand: happiness, peace, etc.

I'd say I have a lot of those "cosas buenas" in my life right now.

Currently obsessed with: Breaking Bad (a television show on AMC). Currently listening to: Alexnder Ebert's Truth (from the show, surprise surprise).