January 28, 2002
Heidelberg hosts meals with international flavor
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
cwilloughby@advertiser-tribune.com
Cold cucumbers and onions shared a plate with poached eggs in a tomato paste with a side of Spanish rice.
This plate full of international fare was enjoyed by more than 50 Heidelberg College guests Sunday night in the first of a series of dinners hosted by the International Forensics Club on campus.
Member Mary Roelefs said the combination of international-themed dishes, and talks on the countries represented, grew from a global initiatives grant.
"We have received funding from the Global Initiatives grant to allow the speech team to go to the international forensics competition in Rome this year,'' Roelefs said. "After Sept. 11, and after they found that there were terrorists cells in Italy, many of the teams dropped out and we decided not to go. So we thought we would do something to bring an international flair to campus.''
Planned for Sunday nights throughout the second semester, the club will sponsor themed dinners spotlighting Japan, Ireland, Germany, Soul Food and an undisclosed ethnic theme.
Sunday spotlighted Spain with Florida gispachi, Spanish eggs and Spanish rice prepared by ARAMARK food service. Recipes were from "The American Ethnic Cookbook for Students,'' by Mark Zanger.
Heidelberg senior Jennifer Newkirk, who spent a year in Spain as part of the cross-cultural exchange program, shared her experiences with the dinner crowd.
A Spanish and international studies major, Newkirk wanted to spend more than the required semester in Spain. She chose to spend her entire sophomore year in Spain, primarily attending classes in Seville. Classes from Monday through Thursday made for long weekends to explore the country.
She saw castles and museums in Madrid, the pristine beaches of the Canary Islands and even traveled to the Spanish cities in Morocco.
Her day in school started at 10 a.m., with siesta time at 2:30 p.m. She was back to class from 6 to 8 p.m., and dinner was served at 9:30 p.m.
"For the night life, we would go out at around 11 p.m. and stay out until the early hours of the morning,'' Newkirk said. "The Spanish are very laid back.''
The weather was hot in Seville, with only one week of rain while she was there.
"It would get very hot, in the summer it would be 95 degrees,'' she explained. "In the winter, it doesn't get below 50 degrees, but they don't have whole-house heating, and they have marble floors.''
She lived with a host family while she was there, which helped her with her Spanish. She also learned her way around the Spanish kitchen, picking up recipes for typical cuisine. One of her favorites was tapas, or finger foods, such as cheeses, sausages and "a lot of fried fish,'' which was typical for a quick dinner.
Her home was a 5-minute walk from Park Maria Louisa, which Newkirk said had beautiful sculpture, gardens and two museums.
She attended a bull fight, and climbed to the top of castles and mosques, seeing the Muslim influence in the architecture. Getting lost in the streets of downtown Seville and the golden lights that lit up tourist spots at night were other experiences Newkirk shared.
Madrid was the city she would most like to return to.
"The museums,'' she said. "The Prado is there. You can see the royal palace in Madrid. I saw it twice. You can see the history of the royalty in Spain.''
The next international dinner will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Great Hall in the Campus Center featuring cuisine from Japan.