A National Pastime in Spain

"Onces"

It's bigger than baseball, football and Mom's apple pie put together. It's called "Onces". Once (own-say) is the number eleven in Spanish so every work day at 11:00 everyone stops what they are doing and enjoys "Onces" which for the most part means going to the closest small restaurant, sitting outdoors and enjoying a cafe con leche, cafe solo, hot chocolate or some other beverage and a small snack, often a sweet.

It is also a time for socializing with friends, planning the evening or weekend and catching up on the latest gossip. It is a pleasant break from the humdrum of work, refreshes the mind and body and improves productivity. OK, I made up that last part but two out of three ain't bad. I often join Karen and the others at the Azabache, next door to the Archivo General de Indias where they are doing research on old documents.

A few minutes later, maybe 20 or so, it's all over and everyone goes back to whatever they were doing. One might think there is an afternoon equivalent called "Treses" or something but no, instead all the stores close about 2:00 and reopen for a couple hours around 5:00 or 6:00.






The archives here close for the day at 3:00 and don't reopen until 8:00 the next morning so for the archivists siesta begins at 3:00. Time to rest up for the big evening that begins about 10:00 PM.

Did I mention how hot it gets here in the afternoon?