It seems as though Spain is out to get me. Everywhere I go, I find something new and delicious. (Too bad it's not at home here...) The girl who works at the chuchería where I buy my water every day recognizes me on the streets now and waves when she sees me. (I admit I don't always just buy water. The almonds are delicious. As are several other things...) I was officially introduced to the owner of the German Bakery, which I try to avoid visiting more than once a day, and where upon entering, I find myself unable to order for at least 15 minutes. Oh, and I'm only allowed to buy one thing. Maaaybe two. Even the people at the university cafeteria (which has the best/cheapest coffee in all of Europe, I'm convinced) know me by name.
To make matters worse, Cádiz is celebrating the signing of the Spanish constitution and therefore, the Ayuntamiento has filled Plaza San Antonio with vendor tents. Medieval style. Yes, there are actually people walking around in Medieval peasant clothes. It reminds me, actually, of the Saturday Market in Portland...if it were Medieval themed. Did you get that EVERYTHING is Medieval? Good. There are a lot of not so interesting things in there, but there are also lots of food stands. There are hundreds of traditional Spanish baked goods. There are dried fruits, nuts, caramels, hard candies. There's even a barbecue. Today on my way back from class I had the pleasure of seeing an entire wax-like pig skewered on a 1-2 inch pole roasting over a fire pit that probably had a diameter of 7 or 8 feet. But let me come back to the dried fruits and nuts. There is one stand in particular that I like. It's run by a group (family?) of Africans (I'm not sure what part of Africa...). The table was covered with baskets filled with incredible dried fruits - mangos, pineapples, coconut, cranberries, oranges, papaya, apricots, strawberries... And next to the tent they had a huge roaster, filled with sunflower seeds. I've never been much of a fan of sunflower seeds, but they let me taste some, and they were amazing. They had been roasted with a little bit of sugar, or something. Not a lot, but just enough to make them completely irresistable. And completely addictive. I guess it's a good thing, then, that I have never seen them anywhere else here. Apparently they were from the center of Africa. I will have to stock up by Sunday, when this whole festival ends.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll manage to get some pictures...
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