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| "La casa no descansa en la tierra sino en la mujer" |
Sometimes,
especially on the days when I am on campus for 12 hours, I find it very
difficult to have a life. It's not that I don't want to hang out with friends
or call home and talk to my family, I just can't. My first year in this
program, I found it very difficult to find balance in my life. I focused most
of my energy in school, and found myself overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, and
sometimes depression. I was miserable. Summer break felt too short, and this
only left me feeling worse. That's when I knew something had to change. I still
cared about my academics—a lot—but I knew that the stress would get to me if
school were the only part of my life I focused on.
While
traveling, I had a brilliant idea—I was going to make a New Year's resolution
focusing on increasing my personal life. No, I didn't make some shitty
resolution like, "Lose Weight" or "Eat Healthier." I
modeled my resolution after my good friend Brenda's great New Year's
resolutions; she creates awesome, realistic, and fun resolutions like,
"Eat more delicious tacos," and, "Find the best wine and cheese
pairing." I mean, who wouldn't want to spend the rest of the year on a
quest to find the best cheeses and wines? So, I came up with one to help me
dedicate more time to my friends, in hopes to decrease my anxiety about school,
and have fun at the same time: "Cook more delicious meals for my
friends."
I
knew I wanted to have more fun this year, but I understand and embrace the fact
that I am a "starving student" who loves to travel. I have found
hosting events, and cooking for friends, is a great alternative to going out
and spending $80 for water-downed drinks at shitty bars. I am a penny-pincher; as
Raymond Chandler writes in The Big Sleep,
“I been shaking two nickels
together for a month, trying to get them to mate,” so I try to find ways to
spend time with my friends while not spending a ton of money (Check out my
contributing piece on Stylish Travel Girl for more money saving tips!).
This
weekend was my schoolmate, friend, and roommate's birthday. She wanted to meet
up with friends for dinner and then wanted to "turn up" in Oakland.
As soon as she said she wanted to go out to dinner, I quickly played the
scenario out in my head: 10 people trying to get a table at an over-crowded
restaurant on VALENTINE'S DAY. That alone was enough to make me cringe. Then, I
thought about the moment when the check came and all 10 people in our party
would start arguing over the check, trying to figure out how much they each
owe, and who will Venmo who by the end of the night. I did not enjoy this idea.
My
friend was already a little skeptical about going out on Valentine's Day for
dinner, especially considering that she is not "boo'd up," and
sometimes it sucks to be reminded of this fact. I mean, who wants to see overly
affectionate couples all dressed up, feigning love; the girls holding bouquets
of cheap red roses (barf) while the guys check out their waitresses’ ass. So, I
offered to cook dinner for everyone she wanted to invite out. Not only would it
be significantly cheaper, it would allow me to do something nice for her
birthday. She agreed to it and requested one of my favorites: POZOLÉ!
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| Adding the spices to the Pozolé! |
It
was time to call my very Mexican mother to get her recipe. It was also time to
call my fellow Mexican friend, Brenda, to recruit her as my assistant. Pozolé
itself is not a complicated dish to make, but chopping up the ingredients that
go into the stew can get really time consuming. After hitting up a
discount grocery store, and then my local Mexican market, my total for dinner
came out to be less than $50… that meant less than $5/person for dinner!
I
blasted the Mariachi music while I was in the kitchen, quickly getting into the
zone and feeling as if I were back in LA with my family. My parents may not
have been with me, but I got to spend quality time with friends while preparing
a delicious meal. Conversation during the meal was comfortable, since we didn’t
have to shout over the noise of a crowded restaurant. I also didn’t have to
watch anyone eating each other’s faces in public, either. Most importantly, the pozolé was a hit, even among those who have
never even heard of it before (which was most people).
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| The final, delicious product! |
So far this
year, my New Year’s resolution has been a success. I can’t wait to get back in
the kitchen to get my mind off of articulation and phonological disorders for a
moment, de-stress, and share what I create with those I love. Next, I’m thinking chicken and waffle sliders,
with maple bacon, and maple-sriracha coleslaw… how does that sound?
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