And just like that! Two months go by in the blink of an eye, and my summer of study abroad comes to an end. I have one more assignment to submit before I can really call it done, but this is it. ¡Ya está!
Regretfully, there are a few things in Oviedo that I didn’t get to do. I never made the hike to the top of Monte Naranco, where a Jesus sculpture looms over the city. I could see a view of him from the street of my homestay and the GEO center, but I never made the 8-mile hike up there.
I also didn’t get to do the 5-mile stretch of the Camino de Santiago with my classmates due to some bizarre and sudden sickness that overcame me, but rest and recovery were needed (feeling better now, thankfully!)
I wanted to bring home a bottle of sidra, the traditional cider made and served throughout Asturias and Oviedo, but it wouldn’t fit in my bags. You would think I could get it in there with how many bags I’m bringing home (3), but alas.
My last time having sidra was on Thursday at our send-off lunch for our program. A table of 11 can polish off a bottle like it’s nothing. It felt like a nice closing note to the first sidra I had with my host mom on my very first day here.
ignore my face in this pic lol, the photo got taken so fast!
Sidra is specific. You’re meant to pour a small amount into a glass, no more than 3 ounces. It needs to be aerated to activate the acetic acid produced in the bottle during fermentation. Sidra goes flat after a few seconds, so you’re meant to drink the small portion immediately.
one of our sidra missions after class last week.
Waiters trained on throwing the cider stand with their feet shoulder-width apart, holding the bottle over their head and catching it in the cup below their waist to achieve the desired aeration. It’s impressive to watch and more challenging than it looks. A couple of weeks ago, our waiter was battling the wind, trying to land sidra in our cups while we sat outside. They had some luck turning their back to the wind or stepping behind an enclave, and they would dutifully hand back our glasses one by one until we each had a round.
our tour guide pouring sidra straight from the barrel from our tour of Llagar Hermino last week!
I don’t think I’d get tired of sidra if I tried, just as the locals don’t. I feel lucky to have been steeped in manzana culture while being here, during our excursions, classes, lectures, downtime. We all kept singing the Charli xcx song…
One of our last lectures earlier this week had a quote from Adolfo Camilo Díaz, a revered Asturian author, that reads “Creo que si mañana muriera el último hablante de asturiano, Asturies seguiría existiendo. Si muriera el último bebedor de sidra, no.” This roughly translates to indicate that Asturias would still be Asturias even if nobody spoke the language anymore, but Asturias would cease to exist when the last sidra drinker dies. Sidra is one of those things so heavily rooted in tradition that I know if I come back to Asturias in 10 or 20 years time, they’ll still be bottling, serving, pouring it. I look forward to that day.
For now, I’ll bring home the knowledge of how to make tortilla española and a newfound appreciation for sangria and the thoughts and flavors of sidra, even though it didn’t fit in my bag.
See you soon! 🏠