Snack time!

Spaniards eat lunch late, typically mid-afternoon, around 3:00 p.m., and at my school, my grade is assigned a 2:45 p.m. lunch slot. However, it is impossible to make it from 7:30 a.m. breakfast all the way to lunch without eating something. Fortunately, we have a 30 minutes break from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m., which, back in the U.S., is an early lunch. So everyday at 11:00 a.m., out come snacks. When not store bought, snacks are wrapped in aluminum foil (Spaniards' favorite wrapping method). As students unfold cracking foil, others look for potential sharing or swapping opportunities. Snacks can be of many varieties.

Sandwiches

The most common snack is a bocadillo or sandwich, but the curious thing about the sandwich is that if they are not on a baguette, they are made on crustless bread. A large assortment of crustless sandwhiches and loaves can be found at most grocery stores, and they only cost 1 or 2 euros at most. I have adapted, and enjoy tasty crustless sandwhiches, and prior to getting on the school bus, stop at a Rodillo store, where I purchase my favorite curried chicken sandwich.

Crustless bread to satisfy the crustless craze

Bocadillo options at Rodillo

Olives 

There are many other snacks that are popular including highly saught after olives. The olive rage surprised me since this summer when I saw 12year olds happily eating olives at a “potluck” snack. I’d always been a big fan of olives despite my friends disliking them, and I was surprised to see so many children and teenagers in Spain overjoyed with olives. You can find them in small tins with pull back lids purposely made for snack time. Once opened, the can is passed around as everyone tries to pull out an olive without getting one's fingers too wet from the liquid in which the olives are soaking.

A convient snack packs of olives

Potato Chips
Chips are also eaten in HUGE quantities here and also come in some special Spanish flavors, like ham or egg flavored chips. Even the brand Pringles has a ham flavored version to satisfy teenage cravings. The Spaniards cannot get enough of their beloved ham.

Egg flavored chips

Ham flavored chips

Sunflower seeds
When attending movies or bullfights or even casual gatherings, Spaniards love munching on “pipas”sunflower seeds. Most often, they come in the shell, which requires a bit of work by chomping on the shell, extracting the interior and then spitting out the resulting soggy shell on the sidewalk or floor of a sports stadium. Finally, after many months of trial and error, I have mastering the complicated and messy art of eating pipas.

Candy
Although not healthy, candy is a sweet tooth pleaser here in Spain. Teenagers pretty much like all candy, but chocolate bars are more a luxury than an every day candy. The most typical candy are of the gummy variety, which come in all shapes, flavors and sizes, sour or not and are typically purchased at convenient stores by the piece. This is fabulous because for just one euro, I can buy about 20 pieces of candy. On birthdays, parents usually purchase an entire drawer of candy (see photo) so that you can offer a piece of candy to everyone in your class. Isn't that sweet?

Choosing our favorite gummies

A drawer of gummies for school is quickly consumed