However, today is different. I don't wish to describe any part of the region or its fruits, but rather share with you an incredibly funny incident that took place today.
So to set the scene; today is my first day of vacation here in Portugal. The day entailed a trip down to the local markets where I ended up purchasing spoilt avocados, addictive honey coated almonds and of course some seafood.
At the seafood stand, hidden, in a posy of adult live crabs was a miniature baby crab. It was different to the others, not only was it smaller but it was wearing a red and purple polka dot shell. The crab immediately caught my eye because it was just so cute (sorry no unusual creative adjective word can describe the crab better than cute!).
The stall owner saw our (my sisters were present too) reaction to the crab and being the happy man he was gave us the crab for free.
The whole day then revolved around what exactly we were going to do with the crab. It was too cute and too puny to cook. So I had an epiphany, that we should keep him (despite being a feminist, I do have a tendency to assume creatures are male unfortunately) as a pet and name him George after the Royal Baby (British pride kicking in even when abroad!).
Now to fast forward to the main part of the story! The crab for the of most day was kept in the kitchen in the bag and water it was packed in and was very calm.
At around 5pm, I decide to go for a shower and as usual, something always takes place when you least it expect it too. I hear from outside the bathroom, my sister who is eleven calling me. So slightly irritated that I can't have a shower in peace, I respond asking what is going on. Then I hear a tremor in her voice as she responds, I will wait for you to come out.
As you may know Algarve, is the region most famously known for the area where Madeleine McCann, so in frenzy, I fluster out the bathroom thinking the worst thoughts, to find her hesitantly standing outside.
I ask her what is going on and she says with that same tremble and fearful eyes that I think you should go in the kitchen. Given I have been addicted to Body of Proof for the last few weeks, I prepare myself to find a kidnapper or worse inside.
With my heart racing at a million miles, I find that it is crabby lying there in a soup plate. I turn around in confusion and ask for an explanation. To which, my sister responds she wanted to make crabby in a full pet like I suggested earlier and thought she would surprise me by putting it in a bowl but became scared as it started to slowly move.
As I held a crab this size before in Ghana, I felt this was no big deal and decided to walk towards the crab and transfer it into a deep bowl or pan as it could not fit on the current soup plate. As I extended my hand to reach for the soup plate, with my sister hiding behind me, the crab decides to jump around the bowl and do some 360 degree rotations.
Terrified I jump around, end up whacking my sister in the face, screaming and basically running for my life. My sister following me behind in tears and hitting me back (of course sibling fights are not forgotten in moments of high stress and pressure).
The funniest part of this whole saga, was the fact that all while this was happening, my other sister calmly was sitting in the living room next door watching her Indian soap opera. I tapped her to ask if she had any idea what was going on and she had no idea!
As a means of an ending, I trapped the crab using three saucepans as a means of calming it down. After which I transferred it into a nice bowl with water. And of course, my mother couldn't help but be a mother and gave the crab some fresh chives to eat, which he didn't really like!
Below, I have shared some photos with you (I will upload them later - wifi issues!) :)
