medusa/noche del vino

Yesterday, August 16, may be the day mas tranquilo of the entire year in the village, the day after the Noche del Vino. Other than the bread shops, everything was closed until the evening, and even then the waitstaff at Perico's still seemed half asleep. (On the subject of bread shops, where do the madrilenos buy bread? I didn't see a one panaderia during our brief trip there.) Big Jim and I skipped the piso (the traditional stomping of the grapes) this year and opted to spend Monday at the beach. We arrived to find few people in the water, but after a little while I decided to investigate. I figured the Sea must be cold, which would explain why most were just wading about to their knees. However, I found the temperature to be quite pleasant and therefore plunged right in. Swam out quite a bit and then down the shore line, looking back at our village tucked neatly into the mountainside. And then my tranquil little scene was abruptly interrupted by pain; nasty sharp pain smacked my arm and then my thigh. Without seeing the offender, I knew straightaway the culprit---a jellyfish, or medusa had entered my path, or vice versa.
Medusa's revenge. I quickly swam to shore and rubbed my welts with ice water from our thermos flask. After ten minutes or so, the pain subsided, and I was able to resume reading of my beach book. But the nasty sting marks are still lingering and probably will for a week. I reckon after my wasp encounter and now the jellyfish, I am now due for a bite by some land-dwelling creature, perhaps a scorpian or some highly poisonous snake in Pakistan. Must remember to stock up on antivenin. Before we went to the beach, I stopped by the town hall to see whether there were any tickets still available for the music in the square that night. The performances are gratis; however, 2 euros buys a seat on a wooden folding chair invariably squeezed up against a fleshy abuela. But nevermind---after a couple plastic cups of the free local wine, the 2 euros is money well spent. We skipped the hour-long speeches from various local dignitaries and instead shared a glass of wine with M.A. on our roof terrace and headed to the square only when the music began. As I commented in my Noche del Vino review last year, there were again very few expats out for the music. I suppose many were done in by the free wine earlier in the day. And what a pity because the performances were all excellent, except for one singer whose performace was just shy of inspiring. Arcangel was back for a repeat performance from last year, and he and his guitar player were simply awesome. As was all the dancing.



Unfortunately, the last dance troupe was missed by half the people, who had stumbled home before their 3 am start time. Many of the abuelas around me lamented how early the performances ended (3:45 am), but I believe this is a result of the changing times. Many folks in the village no longer work in the town and thus Tuesday was not a holiday for them. Perhaps this is something the organizers are going to have to consider in future years. The weather has been strange the past couple days---not particularly warm but definitely overcast and humid. We skipped the beach in favor of a sort-out at home. Big Jim filled several bags with shredded bank statements going back to 1993. It may seem like a strange way to pass time during his visit, but sometimes it is nice just to do typically boring mundane things when we are together. Sitting down at our dinner table, cuddling up on the sofa with the pets to watch a movie, hanging out in the office together---these are the things we most miss when we are apart. The weather looks more promising for Thursday, so we will again try for a day at the beach. But this time I will be on better guard for the nasty medusa. Hasta luego, mylifeinspain