nostalgia

You can talk to someone who has never been to Spain and ask them what Spain is to them and they will probably spew of a series of generic stereotypes such as. Bull fights. Matadors. Flamenco. Sounds like a Hemingway novel doesn't it?

That's not what comes to my mind when I think Spain. The images that my mind conjures up are three-fold:
- Mini Milk
- Back to the Future
- Coca-cola

Let me explain.

Mini Milk is this amazing little ice cream/popsicle thing that you can get at all the little ice cream vendor stands in Spain. As a little girl I remember eating them with my cousins. I actually ordered one the other day for old times sake and the man at the stand gave me a funny look. I guess it's just not something that 21 year-olds normally order. Well, whatever, it was so good.

Back to the Future is a movie that to this day I have never seen in English. It was one of the few movies that my abuelo had that appealed to me when I was young. I used to watch it over and over again with my brother. It never got old. To this day, I still think Michael J. Fox sounds funny when he speaks English.

Coca-cola is a drink that I never have in the U.S. It is soda. I don't particularly like soda. But I definitely remember the first coke I ever had. I must have been around four or five and I wasn't allowed to have it, but my brother, who was around nine, thought I should try it. So he snuck me a sip of his can. We were in my abuelo's apartment, somewhere where my parents couldn't see us. I was such a rebel. To this day, the only cokes I remember enjoying were had in Spain. It's the same drink as in the U.S. It just tastes better here.

Well, those are just a few of the things I associate with this country. Most everything that is Spanish for me is linked to some nostalgic memory of my childhood. I also think of Enid Blyton books, soccer games, camels, The Beatles and Yorkshire terriers. They are my associations and no one else's. My life. My memories.