Mac was extremely taken with flamenco dancing. We went to a dinner and show in our neighborhodd one night, and he was mesmerized. He danced all the way home, and then in the courtyard.
I was also taken with flamenco. The music and self-possession of the dancers was amazing. The women especially were there to demand attention, to take up space, to approach anguish and stomp it out. They weren’t particularly young or thin or stereotypically beautiful—they were fully embodied, which made much more of an impression. Mac was particularly drawn to their hand movements, the snapping, clapping, flicking of fingertips. I’ve tried and tried to upload a video of him dancing, but I’ll have to figure out videos another time.
Another new experience for Mac has been the discovery of Fanta naranja. Until this trip, I don’t think he had every had more than the odd rejected sip of soda, as no one in our family really drinks it. Lots of hot days out walking with stops at cafes has led me to relax my rules, and all of the kids have developed a taste.
Speaking of stereotypically-Spanish things that are in fact widespread, we did enjoyed churros and chocolate on several occasions. Probably for the best that we didn’t discover the “churrería” around the corner from our house until the last day. This was 1.70 Euro worth of churro! They were fried in a giant steel drum of hot oil. Dipped in a cup of chocolate, or cafe con leche for me? Mmmm.
Something I finally got the appeal of, once the heat came on, was sangria. I’ve had it before, of course, but I’ve never felt like it was the one thing I really wanted at any given time. But one day I had been out walking all morning, and we sat down to lunch. I saw a table next to us with icy glasses of sangria, so I ordered one, and it was the best thing I’d had in the longest time. Sweet and bitter and poured over fruit and ice. Delicious, and something I will figure out once we get home!
