Jerez, Judías y dos Jesúses.

Today was a beautiful (finally!) Sunday afternoon with a slight breeze and the whole fam decided to go to Jerez to meet up with some friends of Mila´s. These friends were so much fun! A gay couple who happened to both be named Jesus. Jesus number one is studying to be a sign language interpreter and Jesus number two is an artist. They have a lovely flat in Jerez, where we dined on fancy cheeses and discussed life. It was a lot of fun. I felt very classy and kind of like I was in a movie of some sort. After a bit, we decided to go walk around Jerez.

Jerez is really cool. It is a lot bigger than Chiclana, or Cádiz for that matter. We went to an outdoor flea market type thing that is every weekend. Gyspys tried to sell me old dresses and watches while their children tried to steal my money out of my pockets.

Just walking around the city was a lot of fun. Jesús number one taught me various sign-languange signs (for example, hijo de puta y tú puta madre)....you know, things that will come in handy when I have a run in with a deaf Spanish person. I had a lot of fun and I felt like I was a functional person, speaking Spanish without making too big of an ass out of myself, feeling classy and sassy all at once. I had only slept 5 hours the night before (came home at 3:30 and then had to get up at 9:00 am to eat breakfast with los abuelos) and besides a melt down when I got home, it was a very good day.

I will now to segue into breakfast here in lovely old Spain. Back in the U.S, my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I love cereal, vegan muffins, vegan pancakes, oatmeal, and tofu scramble. If I had the choice, I would eat breakfast items at all hours of the day. Here, breakfast is very different, with a much less emphasis on food than on coffee and waking up.

At least a few times a month, we go out to breakfast with Joaquin and Pepa. When I was first informed that we would be going to eat breakfast out at 9 am, I was excited...finally I could get that pancake fix. Well, we roll up to an old, little bar/restaurant and I immediately knew that there were not going to be any waffles in sight. The walls of the Venta Florentina are decorated with pictures torros and torreros, Spanish flags, and CruzCampo posters. An old waiter takes our coffee orders and then brings a large tray. This large tray is an vegan´s nightmare. On it are 4 large mugs of various breakfast spreads. One is manteca, manteca colorado (colorOW), and two other meat type paste. Manteca is pig fat. There are no other ways to describe it because it is simply the fat that comes from the pig. The waiter then returns with one peice of thick toast for everyone. Joaquin was telling me about when he was a young boy and sold flowers on his motor scooter to buy manteca for his family and Pepa (at the same time) is telling me how she use to eat 4 peices of this bread with various things for breakfast everyday.

After explaining to family that I don´t eat lard (for breakfast for that matter) I was given the option of jam and butter or olive oil and tomatoes. I went for the olive oil and tomatoes because it is a million times better than jam. I still really like going out to eat breakfast, and although I did a bad job of explaining what it is like, it is a lot of fun and sometimes I don an old hat of Joaquins and feel especially nifty.


Sorry that it has been so long since I have written, I am just very lazy.

I have officially made the half way point which seems unreal. Honestly just unreal.

I remember what I wanted to say! Here, a type of white bean are called Judías. I find that quite amusing, especially when reading a recipe of Judía soup with garlic bread. I just see a lot of old, tiny Jews dancing in a bowl of soup and jumping over crotons.

tee hee

much love

Violetaaaaaaaaaaaa