Grilling!!!

One discovers many new and interesting methods for doing things while they are in a foreign country. Yesterday myself and a few other students discovered a wonderful way to start a Grill!!! Let me paint the picture for you...

It was a rainy afternoon in San Jose, but the students who live at Cincel were desperately longing for a Barbecue! So, Tim stepped up to the challenge and pulled the Grill in under the car port and began to prepare it for the blaze. He did so by first creating a massive pile of crumpled spanish notes and half-finished homework assignments. He then found a left over cardboard box and proceeded to break it down, tear it into peices, and place those peices into the already foot tall pile of papers. Somewhere, beneath or on top of all this paper and cardboard, he placed some charcoal. Then came the fun part...LIGHTING IT!!! With the help of some lighter fluid and several matches, Tim got the fire going. But with this inferno, I biggest problems truly began...

You see, the Grill was in the car port that has two openings...but these openings create something of a wind tunnel which causes any amount of smoke to, instead of blowing out and away from the apartments, blow in and fill the apartments with a lovely smokey fragrance. After several attempts to move the grill from one side of the drive to the other to find the optimum wind location, Tim finally gave up and I got out a handkerchief to tie around my face to keep the smoke out. :) Sadly, I do not have a picture to show you of this hilarious site, but let us just say i was the bunt of many jokes throughout the course of the evening. :D So, let us continue...for the best is yet to come...

With the paper burning down quickly, Tim realized that the coals were not catching on well. It was, after all, a rainy day outside. I had pulled my box fan out to blow the smoke out of my apartment...when suddenly Tim comes over and picks up the fan. He then...well...you must see the picture to appreciate the genius of what he did...

Indeed...he used the fan to blow the fire and get the coals lit!!! Amazing idea, eh? And, I must say, it was the best set of coals we'd achieved all year long!! I made some amazing steaks that tasted absolutely incredible!!! Therefore, it is my firm belief that the use of the electric fan to get the coals lit was a wonderful idea and is one of the best ways to make a successful grill!!! :D

Of course, the fan did not work so well to alleviate the smoke problems...but I guess you can't have everything, now can you? :D