I'm still here in San Jose, California, enjoying my 10th sunny day in a row. This idyllic area hosts a Starbucks on every corner, similar to the abundance of Dunkin Donuts in our state. In fact, the first Dunkin Donuts is coming to this area, and it warranted a flash of excitement on the local TV News shows. Their bacon, egg and cheese sandwich would certainly be a welcome change around here; I purchased one at Carl Jr.’s and was surprised to find a huge hunk of fried chicken in the middle, which turned something somewhat healthy into a cholesterol fiesta. “Fiesta”. I’m even talking the language!

Hubby wanted to go to a local flea market after he saw ads with colorful pictures of the vendors. Off we went, even though it was in the “bad” section of town. Imagine his surprise when all of the friendly vendors spoke Spanish! The booths were filled with beautiful goods; colorful purses, hand carved pipes, jewelry, vibrant and cheerful dresses and scarves, and amazingly bright mobiles of fish and birds. The food vendors were a collage of variety, with a mixture of old and young, smiling vendors. It reminded me of the markets held in Guatemala, which I had visited with my mom and daughter. This cultural experience was a great reminder that even though Silicon Valley is full of computer geeks, many of those geeks are Hispanic who feel free to celebrate their heritage.

In San Jose restaurants, people eat outside and bring their pets. The tableau of multi-colored umbrellas, artistically tiled tables, delightful concoctions of multi-hued frozen drinks, adults, toddlers in high chairs, and dogs of all sizes and shapes, makes eating out an international experience. It seemed as though all of the food comes with black beans, rice, guacamole, hummus and salsa. I ordered an ordinary cheese quesadilla for dinner and it was accompanied by a surprise “salad” made of jicama, endamame, (pronounced “end a ma may) lemon and chickpeas. After skillfully picking out the pasty tasting chickpeas, it was surprisingly delicious.

The grocery stores also sell salads that have different ingredients; skinny spaghetti, lemon capellini, snap peas and arugula, or asparagus, artichoke, and endamane. Perhaps these recipes exist in Rhode Island at stores like Dave’s Marketplace, but it was a new experience for me.

Even at the tender age of 3, my granddaughter enjoys eating the multi-cultural food of the area; loves jicama and chickpeas, Greek gyros, Indian vegetable Khicheri, (a meal of rice, quinoa, yellow lentils, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, red onions and fresh cilantro, served with a cucumber and yogurt sauce,) Chinese food, and, of course, pizza. During our visit, Hubby found a Bostonian pizza restaurant, which served amazing deep-dish pizza.

Shopping in San Jose is comfortingly similar to the area of Route 2 in Warwick with a few exceptions. Most signs are in English, Spanish and Chinese. One must bring his/her own shopping bags or risk carrying new possessions to the car by balancing them carefully in one’s arms. The other surprise, reminiscent of the old Ann and Hope in Cumberland, was a method of moving a shopping cart from the first floor to the second. The cart is slipped through small, saloon style doors onto a moving conveyer belt to accompany the shopper up and down the escalator, making a wait for the elevator obsolete.

There are many more interesting facts about this area twirling around in my brain, but on this particular sunny day in San Jose, my granddaughter is calling me to join her swimming in the pool. Priorities required that I join her.