One lazy Sunday morning I woke up and pulled the metal cord attached to my blinds to let in a flood of sunshine through the giant double windows in my room in Larabee House. As I was lying in bed enjoying my free time my phone lit up. One of my friends had sent me a direct message on Instagram with a link to a funny video that showed a woman receiving a variety of popular snacks and foods for Valentine’s Day. Although everything in the video looked delicious, one item really caught my attention. It was a Mexican sweet bread called concha. I called my friend to discuss the video. I told her how badly I wanted to try concha. We realized our schedules were free for the day so we made an impulsive decision to travel to a restaurant that my friend had visited in Providence, R.I. Within 30 minutes of our phone call, we picked up another friend at her residence house and we were off to Tienda y Taqueria Puebla to grab lunch. 

After 45 minutes of driving and jamming to some music we arrived. We got out of the car and shared a collective sigh of delight as the delicious smell of sweet bread wafted through the air toward us. We sat at the counter in the crowded restaurant and looked over the giant menu on the wall. My friends are both Mexican and they gave me advice about different foods, helping me translate the ingredients I couldn't understand. Since everything looked so good (thanks to the giant photos accompanying the menu) I decided to go all-in and order three dishes: pozole, tostadas and three tacos al pastor. Thanks to my time studying abroad in Cuba and my conversations in Spanish at home with my mom I was able to order for myself. As soon as all of our food came out I realized that our journey had not stopped with our drive. Eating the giant portions would also be a journey. We took bites of our own food and shared bites of each other's. As we worked through our meals we became full and content. I packed up my leftovers and planned to eat them for lunch the next day. Although I had a food baby, I hadn't forgotten the primary reason we traveled all this way. I had to get my concha. I bought three of them to go. Then we got in my car and headed back to campus so I could make it to my shift at The Coffee Closet where I work as a barista. My shift on Sundays is three hours long. Toward the middle of my shift my appetite came back. It was finally time to try the concha! My friend told me I should dunk the bread into my coffee so, of course, I did. The concha was like nothing I had ever tried before. It was very sweet and fluffy and large, and it paired perfectly with my coffee.

I often go out to eat at the restaurants in the New London area. There are so many delicious options that I am grateful to have nearby. But after this trip I can definitely say that food tastes a little better with a side of adventure.