The Spanish Siesta

Three to five in the afternoon is my favorite time of day in Spain: la siesta. The siesta starts out with lunch. But this is not lunch as you know it. Lunch in Spain is known as la comida – “the meal” because it’s the largest meal of the day, and we usually eat a lot. Additionally, lunch is not eaten on rigid, posture-enhancing chairs, but rather on couches with sufficient numbers of cojines – small, throw pillows. After we’re finished eating, we pull the table-cloth over our laps like a blanket, and cozy up to the brasero (the heater under the table). We turn the television to our favorite lunchtime entertainment – Saber y Ganar – which is Spain’s form of Jeopardy, and incidentally has possibly the most hilarious, quintessential game-show host in the world. Jordi charms us every time with his flashy white smile, and infallible camera-flirting tactics! Then, as we begin to settle into the couch and feel quite comfortable, Saber y Ganar finishes and Spain’s version of The Discovery Channel comes on. Just as we’re being informed about the mating habits of bottle-nosed dolphins, we are lulled to sleep by the narrator’s soothing, monotone voice. We usually drift into about a 20-minute nap, and wake up feeling quite refreshed. I’ve often said that my body was made for the Spanish life-style. My ACCION co-workers may remember my becoming sleepy every day around 3:00 in the afternoon, and wishing badly for a quick nap (hopefully they don’t remember, actually. I generally tried not to advertise this fact).
These two beautiful hours known as "the siesta" are the best hours of the day, and will be the most missed Spanish tradition of mine. In my last two months here, I’m going to savor every moment of the siesta more than ever. :)

Every Spanish home has a brasero under the table:

Here's Inma demonstrating the siesta: