Fish and Fruit!

There are two small grocery stores near us in our town - the BIP and the SuperCamarma (which is anything but super). They are the size of your average liquor store in the States and have very basic stuff. We usually go there to get our fruit, passing a "Fruteria y Pescaderia," mainly because we usually need other things, but partly because the American mind thinks "hmmm...a store that only serves fruit and fish - do I really want to go in there?" The occasional fish odors as you walk by don't help the matter. So in order to enhance my cultural experience, and take in more of the town, I decided that today's outing will be to the Fruteria y Pescaderia. Yes, they do in fact keep the fruit separate from the fish. A mother (the fish handler) and her daughter (the fruit lady) seem to run the shop and it wasn't bad. A bit pricier than the other shops, but I was able to find some things that I hadn't yet been able to (zucchini, fresh parsley, and broccoli) and the quality of the fruit is much better than the other stores. In my limited Spanish (you have to study and plan what you are going to say before you leave the house) I found out: the names of some new vegetables, that I will not be able to find fresh basil anywhere nearby, and where in Spain a particular fish came from. They gave the kids some lollipops for free (Spaniards love children), and were patient with my language mishaps (I think I called the cucumbers peppers and the bananas apples). Hopefully, the smiles and profuse thank-you's for the fruit and the Spanish lessons, will one day open the door for conversations about their faith. Pray for the fish lady and her fruit daughter!

So did I buy any fish? Yes, I did...