Spanish Life in Easy English

The Market on Saturday Morning

I live near the Russafa market. I go to the market to buy vegetables, fruit, eggs, olives, meat, and seafood.  The quality of the food at the market is very high. The vegetables are very fresh. At the butcher shop I can tell the butcher exactly what I want.  I have a better relation with most of the venders at the market than I do with my own family.  Unfortunately, I can only go to the market during the week (Monday through Friday). The market is closed on Sunday. On Saturday the market is a very dangerous place. Why is the market dangerous on Saturdays? Do people from Al Qaeda or ETA terrorists shop at the Russafa market on Saturdays?

The market is very dangerous on Saturdays because there are lots of little old ladies (LOLs).  The little old ladies who shop at the market on Saturdays are the same women you see during the week. They are very nice and will talk to you in cafés.  They play with their grandchildren in the park or they go to church to go to mass. They walk with their little dogs in Turia Park. They say “hello” to you in the lift. These little old ladies are very nice every day of the week except on Saturdays at the market.

The Russafa market on Saturday changes these sweet elderly women into cold-blooded assassins.  A little old lady who perhaps thanked you yesterday for opening a door will run you over with her shopping cart on Saturday morning at the market. If you are between a little old lady and her tomatoes it is worse than standing between a mother bear and her cubs.  The Russafa market is a war zone on Saturdays and there are no prisoners.  I am against war. I am too young to die. I don’t shop on Saturday at the market.

The Spanish and Holidays

I learned very quickly when I moved to Spain that Spanish people love holidays.  Many Spanish people tell me the same thing: I work to live; I don’t live to work. I think that this is a great attitude. I think Americans should be more like the Spanish in this respect. Americans should take more time off from work to enjoy life, to travel, to relax, and to cook good food.

Good bridge

Dangerous Bridge

In Spain there are many holidays. In December most of the month is a holiday. When I came to Spain I learned a new word. In Spain when there is a holiday during the week—for example, on a Tuesday—people will not work on Monday so that they will have a long weekend. They call this a “bridge” in Spanish. If people only miss one day of work (Monday) this “bridge” is very strong. There is no problem if people miss only one day of work to make this “bridge.” If the holiday is on a Wednesday things are more complicated.  People will often miss work on Monday and Tuesday so that they will have five days off from work. This “bridge” isn’t very strong.  Some people will also miss Thursday and Friday and take off the whole (entire) week. This bridge is very, very dangerous (the danger is if you lose your job for missing a lot of work days).  You have to be very brave to cross this “bridge.”  Even Indiana Jones would not miss work on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday when there is a holiday on Wednesday.

A Chinese family owns a café near my flat. They work every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. One day I walked past the café and saw a sign in the window. The sign said: We will close at 20:00 on Tuesday for Chinese New Year. The Chinese family took off work for four hours to celebrate this important Chinese holiday.  Most of my Spanish friends took off work on Monday and Tuesday for Chinese New Year.