I had merienda last night with one of my students and his father. Let me take a short time out to explain the concept of merienda. In the normal course of the day, they label the three main meals here as desayuno, almuerza, and cena, breakfast, lunch, and dinner in that order. Where almuerza is served at noonish, cena is served much later. Eight pm would be considered the early-bird special. Merienda falls at about five pm.