Chocolent

Life here in Madrid continues much as it has the past three months. In the case of any other blogger, this would make for a rather uneventful and possibly neglected blog; but not for me! I can, and will, spin a malcontent rant out of just about anything, or indeed out of nothing at all, as is about to be proven.

Easter is almost upon us. For anyone living in Australia right now, I would assume that this would be flamingly obvious. Even if you haven’t the slightest religious inclination (or indeed if you’re strongly inclined towards a religion other than Christianity) it would be almost impossible to ignore the brightly coloured chocolates on display throughout shopping centres all over the country. Impossible, that is, unless you never go there, and live as some sort of nomadic hunter-gatherer out in the Simpson dessert somewhere, in which case… how are you even reading this?

Here in Spain I would have thought I’d be up against something similar, especially given the strong religious beliefs adhered to by official Spanish culture. I’ve read all about the colourful parades and spectacles that some Spanish cities put on for Holy Week. But honestly, I haven’t seen so much as a solitary chocolate egg. To tell you the truth I hadn’t even noticed they were missing until yesterday, when I happened to spot three lonely chocolate rabbits in the front window of a chocolate shop.

What does it all mean? Could it be that despite all its religious zeal, Spain as a nation just doesn’t get into Easter as enthusiastically as Australia does? Or could it be that that same religious zeal prevents them from commercialising the holiday and making it about chocolate rabbits? Or perhaps, do the Spaniards simply not like chocolate that much?

Yep, it’s another week full of deep philosophical pondering here at FFH. Join with me next week as we tackle the juxtaposition of the search for objective truth in a subjective world, and the search for an Australian off-spinner who doesn’t get clobbered over the fence every second ball.

Far from home




Garry with 2 Rs