Armpit Dinner

"I'm going to buy things to munch on, but bring what you want to eat," said the birthday boy pre-party.

"Ok so I will bring 4-5 tortillas de patatas," I reply.

"No no, I am buying those and drinks, and snacks - just bring what you would like to eat for dinner, for yourself."

Was totally lost. What do I bring? A bocadillo? or kebab? but how do you share that? are we meant to share the food we bring? is it a potluck? felt stupid to ask, so initially I thought I'd take a bocadillo, but then thought it would be embarrassing if we were meant to put our food in the middle to share. Didn't have time to prepare anything for 20 people, so I decided to eat a bit at home and not take anything.

I was the only one without my food. [Which was fine because there was more than enough food to pick on]. Everyone had their non-sharable sandwiches. Aparantly this sort of dinner is called 'cenar de sobaquillo' - which translates to 'dinner of armpits'' because it's like carrying your bocatillo under your armpit for dinner; like bringing a folder to a meeting. Que raro verdad?

Reminded me of the 'dabba parties' we used to have in school as children.