Convento de Santa Ines Dulces
by Joan Carroll
Title
Convento de Santa Ines Dulces
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
It's a little bit eerie, a little bit scary, seemingly sinful and illicit, quite archaic, and even a little bit like you are going to confession. That is the process of buying 'dulces' or sweets from the convents in Spain. If you live in Spain, this may be a common transaction, but to anyone in from Texas, it's a totally foreign experience. Many nuns in the convents earn their living selling sweets and confections. Their recipes come from the times of the Romans and Moors, which they have preserved over the ages. This is the Convento de Santa Ines in Sevilla. I enter a very small room with a lazy Susan installed on the wall and I approach the window with trepidation. You never see the nun with whom you do the transaction, since the nuns are cloistered and avoid direct contact with the public. On the wall beside the lazy Susan is a pricelist. I look it over but have no idea what any of the items really are since there aren't any pictures! Then I ring a buzzer on the wall. After a while I hear the voice of a nun. I assume she is asking me what I want. I freeze. My Spanish isn't very good, almost nonexistent. I depend on being able to see the person I'm speaking with, reading facial expressions and gestures to figure out the meaning. But this fails me here! But...what else would she be saying! So I just read something off the list and hope it's going to be something I like. After a few minutes the lazy Susan turns and I find my dulces on it. I put my money on the lazy Susan and turn it so that the nun can get it. If there is change, the nun puts it on the lazy Susan and I then can get my change. I've done it! Somehow I've managed to get my mystery treats! I can't wait to see what I've gotten so I just sit on the stoop outside the convent and have a snack.
FEATURED PHOTO, Spain and The Iberian Peninsula group, 9/12/15
FEATURED PHOTO, Spanish Theme Artwork Group, 8/28/15
Uploaded
May 22nd, 2015
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Viewed 2,174 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/22/2024 at 6:38 AM
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