K & L's Travel Blog

Our apartment is two blocks away from a big old market “Galvany.” It has been in use since the early 1800s and it is a glorious building.  The ceilings are high with steel beams and stained-glass windows. There are stalls with fish, meat and produce. I still feel intimidated by the challenge of purchasing food, but each year we get better and bolder.  For instance, we managed to buy some fresh cod and it is just our first week!  Of course, we bought twice the amount I wanted, 400 grams instead of 200 grams but hey we managed it.  It is so confusing when the Spanish starts flying and the numbers begin.  Let me stop and praise Lorena for her hard work studying Spanish.  She is able to clarify and ask questions.  Meanwhile I find that we must forgive ourselves and each other constantly.  It is such a miracle to even succeed in the purchase. I have to stop my critical self from reacting in a shaming voice when we make mistakes.  Humor is our best defense.  And did I mention that I cooked the Cod to perfection?  

Guess what I did with the extra cod? I froze it for next week. At the time it seemed like an insurmountable problem. Grappling with my anxiety is one of my great struggles with traveling.  At home, I have so many strategies and resources to deal with problems, but when traveling you get thrown back on yourself.  

In a more regular grocery store I searched for eggs.  Back and forth I looked in the refrigerated shelves among the dairy, cheese and milk.  We have been hearing about the egg shortage so I even thought maybe they have no eggs.  Lorena went up front and asked and was told to check in a certain isle.  There they were – unrefrigerated.  Then I remembered reading about how in the US we wash off some protective coating that makes it necessary to refrigerate the eggs.  

Back at our apartment, the next morning I took the eggs out of the refrigerator to bring them up to room temperature before cooking.  Then I remembered that I did not need to refrigerator the eggs!  It seems so strange and makes me laugh at myself.

Getting attention and service in the market stalls is a trick.  There is much jockeying for position.  You already feel overwhelmed and uncertain so it’s hard to push people aside and say “it’s my turn Bosco”.   Plus I don’t know how to say it in Spanish.  But you find the courage when you realize you will get nothing if you don’t assert.  And once you do purchase the exact thing you wanted it is such a victory!  You really appreciate the kindness of strangers.  

People don’t smile here like at home.  I read an article that says it’s a way to spot Americans.  They smile at strangers on the street.  The article also said that we are too loud especially indoors.  So, I am trying to be aware of my volume and modulate it.  But I am not trying to stop smiling at people.  That would be a bridge too far.

We went to a pharmacy to purchase some vitamins and things for Lorena’s sore knee.  The woman came out and examined Lorena’s knee.  She was so kind and thorough.  The pharmacists here assess and recommend much more freely than at home.  It is great.   

I bought myself a new purse! We had seen the store three years ago.  I had been attracted to the style but at the time too intimidated to actually buy one.  Lorena had taken a picture of the store.  We often play the game at home of “locate this picture location.” So we were aware of the area.  It was so much fun to spot the store, go in and find the perfect pocketbook.  I have needed a new one for a long time.  Then we saw a nice lingerie store “Curvaceous Bras”.  I need a new bra but I was not brave enough to enter.  “Lorena, take a picture.”  

We made our way to a flea market I had been following on Facebook. The tables were packed with knick-knacks of all sorts. Everyone was handling everything which is strange because in the markets they discourage you from touching anything. Great bouts of haggling and arguing about prices. We were super cautious about our money belts because we had read that the flea markets were prime targets for pickpockets, but I did not feel unsafe.

We did see someone pickpocketed on our way to lunch that day. There were a group of young guys highly animated, skipping across the street. We thought they were recreating Abbey Road as they were posing and prancing. An older man across the street was filming with an I-pad, and as he was engrossed, another guy pulled a wallet out of his pocket but inexplicably put it back. Maybe he saw me watching? Maybe they were practicing? It was a lot like the soccer scam Lorena had read about (distraction with soccer moves while picking a pocket).