I have been born and living in New York City all my life. Both of my parents are all of Spanish descent coming from the warm Mediterranean coastline of Costa del Sol. They emigrated here in New York City long before they conceived me, looking for that American dream. And they have found it and they have been successful.

A few years after I was born, they keep on telling me stories about Costa del Sol, their hometown. They always say that the food there is great and people there live long lives unlike here in Manhattan or the Bronx where people just pass out at the age of 17, high on Valium. According to my Pop and Mom, people in Costa del Sol and the whole Mediterranean coastline of Spain are living longer lives because they have very rural and coastal traditions. Long before Atkins and South Beach were a fad here in the United States, my parents and my grandparents have strictly adhered to a Mediterranean diet which consists of fresh picks from the Mediterranean either sautéed or grilled with olive oil. Olive oil is said to be the healthiest cooking oil in the world because of its low fat content.

Pop and Mom also mentioned that when you dine out at seafood restaurants in their place in Costa del Sol, you yourself will pick the lobster or the fish swimming out in the aquarium and you have to wait for almost an hour for your food to be cooked. Pop and Mom said that patience is a far more prudent virtue than the fast food lifestyle in the West where food served usually has high calories. It reminds me of the documentary Super Size Me which made me literally puke.

Pop and Mom also mentioned that if you like meat, they also have very yummy lamb meat but low cholesterol and uric content which they process as tapas. To maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle, top everything off with sherry. Now that I’m on a student exchange program in Madrid, I cannot help but experience all of these foods within one semester in Spain. During weekends, I’ll make sure I’ll be available to visit my grandparents on both sides once I’m there in Spain.

As an economics student in one of the colleges in New York, I think now is the sensible time for people to travel, binge, and shop and spend. For instance, I’ll be boarding an Iberian Airlines flight from La Guardia to Madrid. I’ll be contributing to the Spanish economy for that because Iberian Airlines is registered under Spain. When I’ll be paying my boarding lodge at the University of Madrid, I’ll again be contributing to the Spanish economy. Even when I’m still a student, I am proud that I can contribute in my own little ways to help maintain economic stability of my parents’ homeland, Spain.