Thanks to my sweet friends and neighbors I had a very active New Years celebration time. The eve before NYE some of my neighbors got together to celebrate and they invited me. I was so happy to be included and they were all so sweet to make sure I was tracking with the conversations and understood all the slang they were using as they spoke.
I also needed a little help with my food and they showed me what to do. You see, we ate a big disc of mariscos (shellfish). Now, I have eating some shellfish here and there since being here but usually it they were already out of the shells or covered in cheese. This was the real deal. Game time. Go big or go home.
I can't say mariscos is something that I want to eat on a regular basis but it wasnt the worst thing I have ever had. :) It is just a lot to get your mind around and an interesting taste to get used to. These shellfish were dang fresh. They pretty much tasted like chewy sea water and I even felt a little sand in my teeth as I ate. Their shells had barnacle looking things on them as if they had just come out of the ocean that morning. Some of them were still closed and I had to pry them open with a knife. This is where my neighbors stepped in. They showed me where to put my knew to break them open and then which part of their gooey body to eat and which part not. Then, I put the shell up to my mouth and suck them out. I did it and did not make any faces and was quite proud of myself.
The rest of the night we sat around talking and listening to one guy play his guitar. He had instruments for the rest of us to play along with as well and I got the maraca! It was really fun to get to hang out with all of them and felt nice to be included.
