La Barraca

So Carnaval is finally over!  On Saturday I went to a free concert put on by Andy y Lucas (I'll put a music video in the sidebar, they're pretty famous here in Spain), my friends and I got dressed up again and pushed through the crowds to get pictures with some of the cooler costumes, and then I went home early. I think I was in bed by midnight!

Why so early? Well, if you must ask, I am sick.  I almost had a priest come over to perform my last rights but he was too busy drinking and talking with his pregnant nun cross-dressing friends. But anyway there has been a bug that has spread through the household affecting everyone, including Floppy; the dog.  On my way weezing over to the bathroom this morning I saw Floppy sneezing and coughing as well.

My diet this weekend has been filled with unidentifiable horse pills for the chest, ibuprofen for the fever, manzanilla tea for the throat, and incredibly picante hot sauce for my nasal passages and sinuses.  Sunday I almost didn't leave the house, but by 7pm my cabin fever had reached its peak so I went for a walk and stumbled across the heavenly paradise that is La Barraca.

Three words in the Spanish language stir up indescribable emotions.  Maybe one day there will be a word to describe the feeling I get when I see "frutos secos" or "Barraca".  This chain of stores is a humble one (even though Barraca is to Cádiz as Starbucks is to Boston or New York), with tiny shops huddled in between other stores.  When you walk in, the bright light shines off of the white floors and metallic scale and Dora the Explorer or Sponge Bob balloons.  The wall is lined with clear plastic containers: a cabinet of pure bliss. There must be a hundred choices on that wall of gummy fruits, sour apple disks, gummy eggs, chocolate, sour straws, sour strawberry gummies, worms, watermelon sours, chocolate coins, etc etc etc.  This chain of penny candy stores is what makes my life a little bit better here.  The gummies are a bit chewier, the sour levels are perfect, the selection is impressive and at 5 cents a candy the price isn't unreasonable.  A trip to la Barraca makes any sick day better.

Off to class in a few hours! Back to school.  Today: Lingüística Aplicada with my "favorite" professor....  feeling happy and optimistic though!