Bridges's Questionnaire

I live in La coruña, Galicia, Spain, I wanted to study more about Spanish cuisine so i moved there when i was young, been living there since my parents disowned me for choosing the culinary arts as my career. Since they disowned me I chose to pursue my dream and stole enough money from them to go and start a new life in spain and pursue the culinary arts there, changed my name and started a new life here in la coruña, they never called the authorities on my for stealing their money, but also, they never reached out to me, I guess I'm as good as dead to them, I decided to live here because it was the first place the cruise ship I boarded decided to stop, so I'm here now, and sometimes I like to help out in the soup kitchen. My home is a small apartment which i share with my buddy juja, he pays the rent as long as i cook for both of us, i started living with him after he found out I was sleeping in the kitchen.

I work as a cook in a fancy restaurant near the beach, the Chef saw potential in me and decided to take me in and teach me his ways, I think he sees himself in me, he was a shcool dropout who ran away from his house too when he was young, and started his own restaurant. I spend most of my money in expensive knives, and expensive ingredients to try out myself and experiment, but i try to be mindful of the money i have and not overspend, but fail sometimes because I tend to buy more food than needed for myself.

The first days after i arrived here, no one would help me out, i was completely on my own, having spent all my money in the trip and counterfeit papers to live and work here, but the part of my plan to get a job failed the first months of my stay, barely knowing spanish it was hard for me getting around, even more, getting a job, then, the worst part of being completely alone in a place struck, hunger, I had no way of substaining myself, so, i resorted to search in the garbage, i lived off of spoiled food. That's why I will never let anyone else feel hungry again, nor eating low quality meals, even if i die achieving that, i would die gladly knowing that people won't suffer from hunger or low quality food again.

When my parents laughed at me for wanting to be a chef my little heart broke, that happened when i was 6 years old, and i still remember it to this day. When the day come, I went and applied to the Chef Apprentice School of the Arts and got accepted, thinking my parents would at least be happy for me I went back to my home and showed them the acceptance card, they lashed out, telling me i was going to be disowned for going against their wishes, and that i was no longer their son, that night, they packed my things and throwed me out of the house, I stayed with a friend for a while until one day i went behind their backs to steal money from them, cash so i couldn't be traced, and left to spain, telling myself that they will not be the ones taking my dream from me.

Aleixo Delgado, the chef from the restaurant "O Monzón de Aleixo", who took me in 13 years ago, 1 year after my arrival, and has been my mentor since, he taught me everthing i know, and even took the time to make me learn spanish, the most pacient man i've ever known.

Juja, my first buddy here in La coruña, i met him at a kebab stand after going out to drink, his nickname juja comes from that time he was a child and killed a snake with his bare hands, the his grandpa said "este niño es la polla" which rougly translates to "this kid is great" and he replied "juja" and after that, it was his nickname

Brian, my buddy from my hometown in NYC, he was my best friend since middle school, but havent spoke since the day i left my home, i miss him so much, think of him every once in a while, but haven't been able to find him in any social media.

My childhood was fine, my parents where kind of assholes but they weren't that bad, until i decided to study the culinary arts, i still wonder why they fipped out like that for no reason.

I attended to private schools my whole life, I didn't had issues fitting in, but never had any close friends appart from Brian.

Like, i had those friend that you hang with in recess, or that your mom invites to your birthday parties because "he's your friend from school", but mostly, the closest friend i had those days back in new york was brian, his parents were nice to me always.

My dad was a workaholic, he was always out working, almost never had a chance to bond with him.

My mom took care of me but was scared to hell of my dad, if he said something, she wouldn't disobey him in any way, even if her look said otherwise, i still see her fearful eyes in my dreams, the fear of losing her son, but still no contact from them since 14 years ago.

I've had a fling or two with some girls that visited the restaurant, but never really had a real love, might be because I lived in the restaurant for a year or two before crashing at my roomate juja's place, and he's kind of a weeb, he's a nice guy tho, but still, no real love yet, like, deep deep love for someone, not just a girlfriend or a boyfriend but a lifelong partner, I mean, not that I'm actively chasing that, but still the oportunity hasn't come yet, and i haven't searched for it.

for now, just me, and my friends from la coruña