A Blessing In Disguise

I apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this blog but I have been doing a lot of soul searching, contemplating, learning, and thought that my blog would be a great place to share these discoveries.

First off, I have been down here for almost a month and despite the cool, nonchalant air that I know what I am doing, I don't.  This is my first time away from home.  Imagine being dropped off in a city knowing only where you are supposed to work with a little bit of money to tie you over till pay day.  I had no connections and knew no one.  It was to say the least....  frightening; however, despite the overwhelming initial terror I began meeting people, making friends, and testing my limits and see where trying new things would take me.

Secondly, as I briefly mentioned in one of my earlier blogs working down here is completely different than back home.  At the hospital I knew the ins and outs of the kitchen, I was the go to person for anything and everything. Now I have to learn every job in this kitchen in a month, working 50 hours a week, plus 4 classes, homework, family, friends, roomates, love, loss, drama, and life as we know it continues to go on.  I came to this very simple but incredibly true realization today after working on the line and starring into the flames.  No matter what happens,  life will continue to keep occuring around you.  Despite all the confusion, fear, dilemas, I still managed to get up in the morning to go to work.  I'm not a chef because I have to be its because I want to be.  But in addition I wear the clothes and when I walk into the kitchen I have to be ready to throw down, be tough, put on a smile even if I'm having a bad day, the kitchen is relentless and the guest don't stop being hungry just because your not feeling well or having a rough time.

The toughest lesson that I have had to learn thus far is separating who you are at work from who you are at work.  At home, I am friendly, relaxed, loving, warm, spontaneous, fun, and independent.  At work its like I become a completely different person.  It is the survival of the fitest and I have already started at the bottom of the food chain.  I am the youngest, one of 3 girls, new, and working here as intern; needless to say, the cards were not dealt in my favor.  Therefore, I've had to fight and work extremely hard in order to accomplish anything.  The boys in the kitchen are very harsh and use cruel language, the servers are incessantly demanding and impatient, and the orders never stop whizzing past your head.  I did a lot of growing up in the first couple of weeks of working here.  And it was only today that I discovered how much of my work that I had been bringing home with me.  At work I have to stay completely organized, there is no room for error; I never realized that the intense need to stay organized at work would follow me home but it did.  And like an angry nightmare it attacked my sweet home life and turned everything topsy turvy.  Of all the learning that I have done down here, this was not something I was proud of.  It took nearly a week of sleepless nights, 50 hour work week, 2x 10 page papers,  and a cold cruel look into the mirror to realize what was happening to me.

Now that I know what has changed I've learned how to fix it.  I am happy to call those boys who tested every inch of my limits my comrades in arms.  I don't talk about work at home, unless it is positive.  And I'm closer to that independent, home town girl that I was when I left little old Novi, Mi.  I'm slowly working on improving my outlook and leading each day with a sense of adventure and chance; I don't worry if I don't have every little detailed planned out because where is the excitement in knowing everything =)

Not for a second have I regretted coming down here.  It has been tougher than I could ever imagined but I look forward to whatever challenges the good lord happens to send my way.  I know now that sometimes things will be hard to deal with, but behind every cloud there is sunshine and when you smile you share a little bit of sunshine with the world.

My friend Sally at work was one of my angels in disguise the other day and shared that gem with me.  The best blessing in disguise was my co-worker whose name is actually Angel.  I was having a rough day, struggling with alot on my mind and the only reason I had made it to work was because I needed a break from the thoughts in my head. Angel came up to me and said " Mami I haven't seen your smile all day, its making me sad. You know what I'm going to do, I am going to try and make you smile.  And I wont stop until you do."  So we went to lunch and I was going to get something to drink and he asked me if I could get him something.  I asked him what he wanted and he said four turtles ( Angel is from Venezuela and has a very thick accent).  He repeated this, waved his hands in the air, spoke slowly and I still had no idea what he wanted.  Finally he told my friend Rubin in Spanish, and Rubin said he wants a full throttle.  Needless to say I have never laughed so hard, it took nothing more than Angel being himself to make me realize that dwelling on one's unhappiness solves nothing and only makes problems loom over us like a growing darkness.  I've decided I'm done living with pretentions and I'm working on become that happy, fearless, independent crusader that I know my friends and family have sorely missed while I was earning my sea legs ( or at Disney earning my ears).  Remember, it is only after we get lost that we truly figure out how to find ourselves.  And after losing my identity, losing my mind, a couple a friendships, time.... I learned this valuable lesson.  And that concludes my soul searching for the evening. I have to be up at 4:30 for the opening shift yay =) c'est la vie
peace,
Ally

DInner at Jiko's

Hello world,
so I had monday, tuesday, and wednesday off this week and it was excellent.  Yesterday myself and a couple of my culinary friends went out to dinner at Jikos which is a signature dining restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom lodge.  They feature traditional African cuisine served in a contemporary manner.  Let me just say, it was AMAZING!!!! The girls and I were having such an emotional experience, a couple of times we thought we were going to cry because we were soooo excited and enjoying everything so much.  We had  a total of 11 courses  I posted what we had so you can all be jealous =) muwwwwwwwwwwwa ha ha ha

Barbecue Chicken with apple jicama slaw, coffee bbq sauce, and four cheeses

Grilled wild boar tenderlooin with mealie pap ( white corn meal polenta) chakalaka ( spicy stewed tomatoes), white truffle oil, and micro cilantro

Naan and Dabo bread with an array of African Dips

Market Salad with poached egg, radish, onion, bacon, dabo croutons, and sherry vinaigrette

Jiko Salad with Georgia Peaches, crispy plantain, hazlenut praline, honeyed chevre, blood orange vinaigrette

Seared lake victoria african perch, kushari with toasted pearl couscous, lentil, fresh chickpeas, almonds, tomato sauce, sweet corn cream, crispy onions, and harissa vinaigrette

Grilled marinated lamb loin with chickpea and chorizo, spicy swiss chard, and apple cider gastrique

Peri Peri Chicked with herb crushed potatoes, french beans, mango sambal, and onion jus

Creamy Madagascar vanilla cheesecake, layered with blueberrry and lemon cream

amarula creme brulee with spiced chocolate layer and pistachio biscotti

tanzanian chocolate and kenya coffee mousse with cinnamon mascarpone

Today I finished my 10 page position paper for my online english class and found out that one of my classmates arrived yesterday to start her internship so I might stop by and see her later on.  For now I think I'm going to get out of my room and go take a walk.  I've been on this computer way too long lol.  

Peace,

Ally

p.s. If anyone is computer savvy and can tell me how to post a slideshow of pictures up on my blog that would be excellent! if not then that is that I will put the food pictures up facebook soon .

Typhoon Lagoon

Hey everybody,
ok so for those of you who haven't heard yet. I passed my french test!!!!!! yay
So in 2 to 3 weeks I will be receiving a pin that says Ally Berenguer Novi, Mi and Francais =)
I am so excited.  In addition, I have finished my grueling final assignment about sustainable eating and agriculture for my business writing class.  A grand total of wait for it...... 10 Pages

Yesterday my roomate Ally ( yeah I know that's confusing) and I went to Typhoon Lagoon because we can get into the water parks for free until the 12th.  Let me just saying, alot of people asked me when I was coming down here wasn't I afraid that the magic of Disney would run out because you see behind the scenes and you have to work?  I still was acting like a little kid ridding on all the water slides and screaming my head off when we went down the rapids.  I don't think any of the magic has gone away.  In fact, I feel like I am developing a deeper appreciation for what Walt and Roy Disney imagined.  In all seriousness, these gentlemen were geniuses!!! And it is a complete honor to be a part of their dream, even if it is only for a limited time.

I start my two Disney classes on Monday, Advanced Hosipitality and Marketing You.  Hmmm , oh and I got a tour of the Disney Animal Kingdom lodge for those of you who don't know, this resort is the entire reason that I wanted to come down to Disney.  I got to me the Chef de Cuisine and learned all about the menu.  Hopefully on my days off I will be up there acquiring some new skills ( culinary is a continual learning process).
And finally my next day off is Tuesday I think, so after class my roomates and I will be going to Animal Kingdom then out to dinner a Jiko.  It is one of the 6 signature dining restaurants at Disney World.   It is my goal to not only cook but experience food.  Jiko is located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The girls who are going with me are fellow culinarians and it is amazing how incredibly excited we all get about food, what can I say it is a passion.  Alright off to work,
peace,
Ally

Day 1 of work

Alrighty, so for those of you who don't know.  I am working at Prime Time cafe for the next 3 months.  And let me tell u my first day was comical to me ( perhaps to only me but I shall still retell it for you).

So I had to be at work at 9 and just like a little kid on their first day of school I was SOOOOOO excited.  I had all my clothes laid out, I packed my lunch, and with my knife kit in hand I marched out to the bus stop with the biggest smile on my face thinking what a good way to start the day.

I was supposed to start training on the pantry and gardemanger station making salads, sandwiches, and desserts.  But the executive sous took one look at me and said you seem like a hot foods girl, let's try you out on the hot line.  Instead he put me on the busiest station in the kitchen =D fry ( middle station).

For my friends at the hospital, remember when we used to complain when the count was 200?
Lunch on a typical day we have 800- 900 covers.
For dinner we had 1000 and on the weekends it can be as much as 1200-1500 depending on holidays or events.  Needless to say it was very hot and very busy the entire 11 hours of my shift.  The funny part is when you go out on break and it is 94 degrees outside and it feels refreshing after being on that line lol.

The first day of work I trained during Lunch and was completely flabbergasted.  Then I did dinner almost by myself.  Today I opened and closed all by myself!!!! Can u believe it?  And I start training on another station tomorrow.   I am so excited to learn as much as I can because by doing so I'll be able to move up and hopefully be able to spend more time working around the parks at a variety of different restaurants.

This was longer than expected so I leave you all hanging in anticipation until I write again =)

Peace,

Ally
  p.s. I am taking a french language test on friday so wish me the best of luck as I really want to pass!!!

Florida

Hey guys,
so I actually tried to post something last night and now it is no where to be find hmmm....

Anywho, ok so the first day I got my housing assignment I am rooming with 5 other girls, two of them are in culinary with me.  My roomate is named Samantha.  She is from New Jersey and sooo nice, we have alot of fun and thank god she is as organized as I am lol

Next I went to casting and got my work assignments but not my training schedule.  In case you didn't already know I work at Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios for 3 months then on to the food and wine festival at Epcot.  I went grocery shopping and couldn't believe how expensive everything is down here, its a good thing that I don't eat too much.  And after a long day of be jostled around I decided it would be a great idea to set up my internet easy right?

WRONG!!!!!
Instead of taking like 10 minutes it took me a 2nd trip to walmart, an ethernet cord, 10 dollars, and alot of kicking and screaming at the wall ( which upon reflection is kind of hilarious).

Today we had the welcome session and the start of hurricane season.  It rained really hard for like 2 hours and now the sun is out like nothing ever happened.  Started researching for my 1800 word paper very =(
and hopefully I can get started on it tonight.  Hope all is well, miss you guys

Peace,

Ally