Have you ever met anyone who ran a chocolate factory? Isn’t the hardest thing keeping yourself from asking about the Oompa Loompas? Paul, Denise, and I spent nearly an hour making conversation with a man getting ready to open an artisanal chocolate shop in Colorado. Paul opened the conversation by insulting the guy, when he asked if it would be like some other Colorado-themed chocolate. The answer was no: this chocolate would be made directly from beans. Most chocolate factories just buy chocolate (the gall) and make it into other things.

This guy was the sort of artisanal chocolate maker – we’ve all met them – who assumes everyone else is at least pretty familiar with the vocabulary surrounding chocolate-making. There are terms for the big things that crush the beans, for example, and he used them a few times while discussing the old equipment he had discovered in this or that factory. He talked about factory parts a lot, then told me I should buy a computer program to improve my Spanish pronunciation, and added that lots of Spaniards had asked him where his accent was from. I think he was taking it as a complement, like they were expecting an answer along the lines of “Montevideo,” but I think, personally, that they meant something more like, “Edinborough” or “Yellow Knife.” Not that my pronunciation is all that great, mind you – I was ordered to go to a special class with all the British and Asian students, in fact, to improve it – but I don’t think spending more time with the computer, while living in Spain, is the best idea.

Anyhow, we heard about beans and things, then went off to see Barcelona’s best kept secret: Los Dragons, of American football fame. Arancha and Philippe have season tickets (!) and Saturday was “take someone, anyone, please, to see the Dragons” Day. A crowd of maybe 3000 watched the Claymores score 5 touchdowns on their first 6 possessions and run all over our beloved Dragons. Stat of the day? Despite racking up 31 first downs to our 13, Scotland only had five third downs. All those touchdowns really help the stats. By the end, the players were so bored that when we yelled their names, they were willing to wave to the camera. All of them, that is, except a grouchy-looking former Brown University superstar, who refused to acknowledge Paul’s perfect rendition of “We Are Ever True to Brown.” He didn’t even crack a smile when Paul won a free shirt.

The Spanish contingent in the stands gave no indication of caring about the score, though they did begin a cheer which translates to, “We are going to win the game.” We were assured that it was sarcastic, which was easy to believe, since it began when we were losing 45-0. Barça did score a touchdown with about a minute to go in order to get some names in the paper, but by then the fans were throwing confetti at each other and mooning the referee. The Dragons have been outscored 92-20 in the last two weeks, but remain tied for second place. World Bowl, here we come.