Sunday we met Alex, the only non-American English teacher to come to Priego, and went to the mercadillo, an open-air market. Alex is from Poland and she didn’t speak any Spanish when she arrived. She wants to be an English teacher in Poland, but first has to do an internship in another country, which is how she wound up in Priego. The mercadillo has everything from clothing to olives to produce; today there was a man selling dogs. We’ve made it a weekly activity because it’s really the only way to get out of the house on a Sunday. Cecilia bought some tights for three euro and Alex, who had never been there before, bought some earrings. I got tomatoes. All of Priego goes to the mercadillo. Last week we saw the librarian there. This week we saw one of our gym instructors and, as always, a handful of our students.
There was also a special exhibition at going on….prize pigeons were on display in the event hall next to the market. Yes, you are reading that correctly. Pigeons were judged (out of ten points) in various categories such as the shape of their eyes and feathers. The other girls were somewhat grossed out by the exhibition, but I thought it was hilarious. It made me think of the rural animals exhibition I saw in Buenos Aires. The people that raise these things are so proud of them. We have dog and cat shows in the U.S., I like that people in other countries have pigeon shows.
After our shopping excursion, we stopped and had a drink/tapa at a café along the road that leads to the mercadillo. The tapa was awful- little hot dog pieces with a few breadsticks. My orange juice was good though. We sat outside, which was awesome because I sat in the sun, at the end of November wearing jeans, no socks, and just a long sleeved shirt (no jacket, no scarf). I know I complain how cold it is in my apartment, but when the sun is shining, it’s really nice out. Our final stop was at a roast chicken place. On Sundays, the people in Priego buy whole rotisserie chickens at take-a-way restaurants (there are a bunch all over town). Erin and Cecilia wanted a chicken and fries (the standard, and grossly soggy side dish). We went home, had lunch and took naps before cleaning the apartment.
When we don’t go to the mercadillo for groceries, we go to Mercadona, one of the two grocery stores in town which is open during siesta hours. This is the meat aisle there. I usually have to cover my nose and mouth as I walk through this area because the smell from all those legs of ham is so strong it makes me want to vomit. They keep the spices right next to the meats which drives me nuts because I’m always there looking at spices.
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