This story was sent by a reader and friend when she read my Sangria post.  Another illustration of how sustanence is meant to be shared, celebrated and unifies us all.

“Sangria, Spain, and My Father

I just had to share with you a terrific memory I have about Sangria, Spain, and my father.  When we lived in Germany, it was a fantastic opportunity to do a ridiculous amount of traveling.  One of our favorite and most memorable trips was a family vacation to Spain.

We spent 6 weeks in Spain with family and Trailer in tow.  This was the 70’s and back then everyone traveled with camper/trailer and set up home in Trailer parks.  It was a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world.  People would sight-see during the day, and gather at the campsite at night, to share their wonderful adventures.  So in Madrid my father learnt how to make Sangria.  It was a very traditional recipe with tons of red wine and just as much fruit.  My father wanted to really encourage people to gather (our place became the camper of destination), so every morning for about 4 days my father would make a fresh batch of Sangria in a large aluminum tub.  He would set it aside, and we would go on our way exploring, anxious to see what treasures we would see. Around 4:00 pm we would return back to the Camp site in preparation for the Gathering.  The tub of Sangria (which had been prepping all day) would appear, as would many other campers, bringing treats and specialties to share, often representative of their own culture.

One thing I fondly recall about the Gathering was the diversity of the people we met.  There were seasoned travelers, with many worldly tales and sage wisdom, and there were also young adventures, with a contagious sense of wonderment.  The language barriers didn’t seem to be an issue. People wanted to communicate with each other.  So at any one time you could hear broken English, fluent Italian, or Spanish, with a little dash of French, and German to complete the mix so much fun.

This explosion of community and eclectic sense of unity all happened because of a traditional recipe of Sangria, Spain, my father, and an aluminum tub.”

Kath’s quote: ““Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.”-MFK Fisher

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