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There have been very few events throughout my lifetime that I feel have impacted or inspired me with such noteworthiness and that I know will change my outlook on the world and affect me forever. One of those events occurred when I traveled to Portugal, my parent’s homeland. From this excursion in 2007, I learned the importance of family, most importantly the distant kind. It provided me with a totally different perspective on the world and how large and extended one’s family can really be; even across cultures and continents. I felt so fortunate learning this lesson at a young age and growing to appreciate the ideals I was brought up with as a child. The family I have in Portugal has always been there; however, their faces have aged and…show more content…
Since the town I was in was in a very rural area of the country, on the northern most point, near the border of Spain, whatever meats, fruits and vegetables I ate were freshly grown or raised on local farms. I had a first-hand experience with this when I went to my grandmother’s very old friend’s house. While I was there, I saw my first freshly prepared chicken with the head, feathers,and feet removed in front of my eyes. Even though this seemed like a gory and almost disgusting thing to me at the time, I later found out, in the film Food Inc., that the ways animals are treated in this country are much worse than what I saw that day. Nonetheless, the freshness of ingredients in any cooking is always a plus, and this made better by being at the table with my family and friends. From having spent these few hours with my relatives in Portugal, I was able to come away knowing great tasting food and beautiful, and at times gory, memories. Quite honestly, I’ve never had better tasting chicken. The Portuguese culture, which I had already grown up with in the U.S., was a main part of the trip in and of itself. The magnificent architecture that I saw there, even though it was decaying with time, was very symbolic of the Portuguese heritage. I learnt to never be scared to try new things.
