Las frutas

If the smell of fingernail polish remover has a taste, then I've had it. We had melon today for dessert and while it looked fine, it smelled like rubbing alcohol. And because the senses of taste and smell are linked, I decided that if things ever tasted the way they smelled, the melon was for sure fingernail polish remover. I've had a similar experience with corn that tasted the way I think the smell of skunk would taste. Mmm-mmm.

Every other time we've had this kind of melon it's been good though. Must have just been a bad chunk of prematurely fermenting fruit.

This part of Spain has only one kind of melón- the outside looks like a cross between watermelon and muskmelon/cantaloupe rind and the inside is green like a heartier honey-dew melon. They have watermelon too, just not more than one kind.

For me the fruits aren't more spectacular than the fruit in the U.S. Except for the smaller varieties of oranges/naranjas - they are awesome! The normal oranges have thick skin and not much juice, but the smaller ones (similar to clementines or tangerines) are delicious. The skin peels off like melting butter and the slices are sooo juicy. I've also tried mandarine oranges, but those are too sour for me.

The grapes/uvas are nearly the size of ping pong balls, but they also have 3-4 huge seeds inside them. The peaches/melocotones are alright, but don't have much flavor. The pears are perfectly delectable. The bananas are small and a little meatier. The normal plums/ciruelas are okay, but the white plums are exceptional (they actually have green/yellow skin with white/yellow flesh). The apples aren't that great - really grainy and soft. It makes me want a nice, crisp, slighty tart apple from Minnesota/Wisconsin!