More shopping

Today Sam, Tamara, and I went to a mercadillo (flea market). Having never been to a flea market before, I thought it was a pretty great experience. It was definitely one of those “life lesson, Spanish language improvement” times. After taking the 6 bus to Plaza de Armas, we trekked across the bridge and started walking in the general direction that Ana told us to go. Ana spent probably 15 minutes of history class telling us where to find the good mercadillos. Eventually we started seeing groups of people walking across a parking lot, so we followed them across the parking lot, down a street, under a bridge, and there it sat. Vendors yelled rapid strings of unintelligible Spanish words. We were suddenly swept into a crowd of yelling, smoking, talking, good-natured Spaniards. We ducked in and out of various tents, selling underwear, clothes, shoes, sheets, make-up, toys, and really everything else. Loud shouts of various numbers followed by “Euro… muy barato, oye, oye senora!” clashed against each other, begging for our attention and money. Seeing our confused faces, one vendor tried to be helpful by telling us the prices in French. “Deux euros,” he explained while holding up two fingers. Flattered, I quickly spit out the first thing that came to my mind in French, “Oui, merci.” The morning quickly filled up with moments like that one; although, that man was the first and probably last to mistake us as French. Sam and I purchased trendy Spanish belts from a man who recognized us as Americans by our accent. He practiced his English by telling us he was pleased to hear that we are studying Spanish and told us that it would be very easy to find a job after returning to the States. We ran into several people tickled pink to practice their English with us. We also ran into people who were quite content that we could understand Spanish. After I acquired a larger purse, a belt, and a set of three necklaces with matching earrings, I was ready to go find some zumo (juice) and sit down. Sam and Tamara felt the same way. We ended up at the bus stop instead, fanning ourselves with the traditional Sevillian fans we purchased last night. When Sam and I got on the connecting bus to go home, María was there. Today is her santo and she went to Mass this morning. María is Catholic and in addition to her birthday, she has a saint day. Her saint is La Virgen de la Regla. She took us out and bought us Fanta after we got home for her santo.
During lunch today, we watched television as usual. I know so much more about the world since I have been here. Spain’s crown princess had her first day of school yesterday. She loved it and didn’t even cry. World renown tenor Luciano Pavarotti died this week of pancreas cancer. Madeline’s parents are suspect in her kidnapping. Gloria Esteban will be in Madrid. A hurricane recently hit Mexico. Japan’s crown prince had his first birthday yesterday. He is adorable. An Italian study shows that birth control may not be all it cracked up to be. Bin Laden sent out a new tape. George Bush gave a speech in response. It might rain here tomorrow or Monday.