Jamon...you devil you!

Ok so I am coming clean, I have an addiction.

Is that a....yes, my friends it is! A leg of jamon....ok I just weeped.
I had a Carrie Bradshaw moment when I calculated how much I spent last year on Spanish JAMON BELLOTA in NYC. Let's put it this way at $165 a pound, I could of funded small countries.
Yet I say to you, anyone that has tasted this beautiful and wonderous item will tell you "yes, it is worth it's weight in gold." You see in the states this beauty is still a forbidden fruit, there are only a handful of places licensed to sell it. So you can imagine when I moved to the land of this gem, how my eyes twinkled and I danced with pure glee. (ok I'm pretty sure I twitched like a crack whore) anywho...

It's funny because I hate ham, I mean I would rather be run over by a mack truck than eat ham, but I "heart" jamon..jamon bellota to be specific. My friends this masterpiece can never ever be called ham.

My addiction caused me to believe that yes I was a real Spainard and bought the next best thing, a jamon iberica leg(bellota though not as much as stateside, is still expensive here) and a jamonera at the local Carrefour and drag it home.
I walked ahh struggled through the streets with pride. Ready to proclaim to everyone, "why yes, this is my jamon.". It's ok to insert geek jokes here....
What can I say, it was by far one of the best purchases I have made here. I get to feed my addiction anytime I want and most importantly, everytime I walk into the kitchen I feel like I have finally settled in. I have in my own little way become part of this wonderful fabric of life and tradition here.
I will always be American but now I have my slice of Spain as well. 
Buen provecho!

Time...

It has been awhile. I have been in Malaga for over a month and time seems to escape me some days and drift ever so slowly on others.
I like my job and I have settled into my apt., which I love. I have a view of the mountains and can feel the breeze from the ocean (although I can't quite see it). There is something different yet familiar about this city. I guess cities everywhere tend to take on similiar personalities from time to time. At one point I forgot where I was and when someone held the door for me I proceed to speak in English.

Ahh English, being that is all I am suppose to speak at work, it makes it tough to really get a handle on my Spanish. Sure I can go to any bar and order with the best of them but my everyday Spanish is taking a hit. Here in Andalucia, people let's just say have a very distinct way of speaking. Some days I applaud myself for being able to catch every word and other days I'm lucky to pick up one-tenth of what was said to me. Those are the days where time seems to drift every so slowly and leave me feeling a bit lost at sea.
I promised myself on those days I will take a deep breath and remember how blessed I am to be in a position to not only feel but act and do. Rough day? there's always the next one!

This morning I made coffee, curled up on the couch and started reading the NY Times(via laptop). It felt like I was back home in New York then I looked up and out onto the balcony and saw all the splendor that is Malaga. I had to stop and take notice...this was a start to a perfect Sunday. You see, right then and there I had the best of both worlds.
I didn't feel like everything was moving too fast or too slow...it just was... well it just was a beautiful moment in time.