Part 4: La Siesta

A time to rest during the middle of the day

Today I want to tell you about something very Spanish.  

La siesta.

In Jerez people don’t tend to go to work in the morning and come home in the evening.

No.

Instead they go to work in the morning. Come home in the afternoon. Go back to work in the evening. And then come home again at night. 

In other words, they take a siesta in the afternoon. 

So, what do we do during the siesta when we're in Jerez?  

Siesta time

Time for you to do whatever you want…

Eat leisurely.

Rest.

Get some things done.

Write.

Practice.

Socialize.

Have a café.

Take a walk.

The siesta happens every day.

Basically, the town takes a rest during the middle of the day.  

Most businesses (except for restaurants) close during this time.

Some supermarkets and other stores stay open. 

Siesta hours vary, but más o menos businesses close from anywhere between 1:00-2:00pm until between 5:00 and 6:00pm. 

Some people go out to lunch. 

Some people stay and have lunch in their apartments. 

Some people do both.  

Sometimes Maribel (our landlady) even prepares something special and leaves it for us to eat when we come home from class.

Some people go for a walk.

Some people hang out and socialize.

Some people practice in their rooms, the courtyard, or on the roof. 

Some people lie down and rest.

Some people find other places to take a break.

Most people do a combination of things during siesta time.

The thing is this,

There is an energy of rest about the city during the siesta. With most stores closing for three to four hours it makes it hard to go, go, go. 

We’re kind of forced to rest.

And this is good.

I won’t lie to you, while siesta is one of my favorite times of the day, it can frustrate me every now and then. (Like when I want something to be open, and it’s not.) But most of the time, I find la siesta to be much more inviting than frustrating.

Because who can complain about mandatory relaxation?  

See you in the next post for palmas class.

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