Week 5

This week:

• I gave a presentation.
• I went to a market called The Festival by SALESAS.
• I tried the matcha latte from Bianchi Kiosko Caffé.
• I made a King Cake for the first time.

I had a presentation on Thursday. I was a little nervous going into it because it was a very long presentation. We had the whole class, two whole hours, to present on social responsibility as it relates to universities. Aside from a very basic script that we spent maybe 15 or 30 minutes on and then never re-visited, everyone kept their own separate notes. So, it was very difficult to organize the presentation as you couldn’t really see the big picture. In the end it went well, but it was more like a collection of different presentations than a single presentation. It didn’t flow well.

On Saturday I went to The Festival by SALESAS with Nina, Thyri, and Nova. According to the official tourism website of the city of Madrid, [The Festival] “is a crazy, cosmopolitan and unique street market in Madrid. An outdoor space where fashion, art, gastronomy, culture, music and good vibes take to the streets, usually the first Saturday of every month, to turn it into an experience you won’t want to forget.” “is a crazy, cosmopolitan and unique street market in Madrid. It is an outdoor space where fashion, art, gastronomy, culture, music and a god atmosphere spills out onto the street, usually on the first Saturday of each month, to become an experience that you won’t forget.” The market is held by four streets arranged in the form of a plus sign. There was plenty of art, clothing, jewelry and other types of accessories. There was also a raw honey vendor, a liquor vendor, a cheese vendor and a microhabitat vendor. It was a nice way to spend a few hours with friends.

Later, after lunch, I visited the Bianchi Kiosko Caffé and got a matcha latte. The matcha was good, but the plastic cup took something away from the experience. I also bought a sponge cake that tasted good, but was very dry.

Sunday I made a King Cake for the first time. For how bad making it went, I think it turned out pretty good in the end. In the process of converting the measurements to grams I wrote the millimeters in a cup of water. But when it came to adding the water to the dry yeast I forgot to multiply by 2/3 to get an approximation of the grams in 2/3 cup. I discovered this when I was kneading the dough and it seemed very sticky. I tried adding more flour to correct it but I think it was only partially successful. Also the recipe said it should cook for 30 minutes. When I took it out of the oven after 45 minutes the top was cooked but the bottom was still raw. I think I started cooking around 8 o’clock but it was almost 11:30 when I took it out of the oven for the last time. Luckily, my roommates really liked it.