Carbo-Loading

Catedral de Granada

I am in Granada to attend a nutrition conference.  The subject matters range from straight-up hi-tech clinical dietetics to combating malnutrition in developing countries.  One would think at a food related meeting, they'd get the food right at least.  Logistics, sound systems perhaps no, but food?  That should be easy.  However, after receiving a sandwich in my lunch bag consisting of a thick slab of Spanish omelette in a baguette, I feel justified in a bit of complaining.  Indeed, I've been to diabetes conferences where the newcomer breakfast featured sugar cereals and whole milk.  The RDs were practically slapping each other to get the Total boxes and skim milk cartons.  At another, coffee breaks featured chocolate covered donuts and ice cream bars. But I digress.  At this conference, the coffee breaks come with mini-pastries and fruit and the afternoon coffee comes with mini-cookies and fruit.  The lunch sacks are salad and not one, but two sandwiches, though salad is a loose term.  Sometimes an assortment of seafood and sometimes a pasta salad.  There are very few places to eat nearby and I think they are trying to keep us at the conference center - ergo, we are kept fed and caffeinated on premises.

Tufts alumni & professors

On the plus side, I know many people here - many people from DC.  Colleagues, former grad school classmates and professors and acquaintances from the international nutrition world.  Plus, a friend of mine from DC happened to be traveling nearby and came down to stay with me for a couple days.  We ventured out last night and found a great little hole-in-the-wall eatery off a side street.  Cheap, good, friendly, oh but it turned out the proprietress is Italian.  Ah well.  Spanish cuisine is coyly playing hard-to-get.