Garlic and Olive Oil

Garlic and Olive Oil is a blog written by  Sandra Staas about life in Spain during the seventies and eighties.

From 1972 – 1976  I lived in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz where I taught in a bilingual school.  The strange sounds that people spoke, the smell of sunflower seeds, garlic and cologne, black coffee and strong cigarette smoke became like paintings in my mind.  It was therefore with great enthusiasm that I returned to Spain in 1980. This time, it was to Talavera de la Reina, Extremadura. By then I had studied Spanish formally and was eager to improve my fluency. One year later, we moved to the coast, to Miami Playa in the Province of Tarragona where we stayed until 1984.

Garlic and Olive Oil deals with life in Spain during a time period which witnessed important events such as the death  of Franco and the aborted golpe de estado of 1981.  It is a lighthearted read that strives to paint a picture of everyday life in Spain in the mid seventies and early eighties, albeit from a foreigner’s point of view. You can read Garlic and Olive here.  I welcome your comments and/or suggestions!  Thank you in advance.