Characteristics of a Spanish PRT

 This was the 27th rotation of Spanish troops through the PRT.  This particular contingent is largely from Asturias and Galicia. The most striking aspect of the PRT to me was how Spanish it was.  At the tables in the bar - yes, the Spanish have a large bar, and I believe every soldier and civilian posted there was in there either for an after-lunch coffee or glass of wine, or a few glasses of wine or beer in the evening - you see what is probably the most indicative feature that shows how Spaniards and Americans are different: social vs individual.  In US coffee shops and food places, tables are in short supply.  Often you see one person at a table, with two or three vacant chairs.  But it's hard to find an empty table.  In Spain, tables are plentiful - what are hard to come by are chairs.  You will see one table overloaded with a dozen or more chairs, and every Spaniard who comes late, but comes, would never think of sitting at a different table by himself - he just pulls up another chair to join the group.  I saw the same pattern at the PRT.  What was also Spanish was the food, and I believe it's the best food I've had at a PRT.  Besides the wine - and they had Rioja, Ribera, Albarino, Rueda, etc - at the canteen itself, the meals included trout, monkfish, roast lamb, paella, salpicon de mariscos, alubias, roast mushrooms, various estofados, solomillo, flan, chorizo, ensalada con anchoas, sardinas a la plancha, Fanta limon y naranja....  At the bar we had tortilla, pulpo gallego, jamon serrano, manchego, etc.  Plus, they give you real silverware, including sharp knives!  In Kabul you get the plastic cutlery, even flimsier than the stuff on airplanes.  But in Badghis, real knives and real glassware.  And for breakfast - strong cafe con leche, tostados, and galletas Maria, the breakfast of champions.