10-5 # Market

On Tuesdays I only have one class at the university. I should probably use the free time to work on my online class, but instead decided to write on my blog.

So I go to class at 10 and get out at 11. This gets me home very early, and I ran into Juani before she had gone out to go grocery shopping for the day. I asked if she needed help and she assured me she didn't. I didn't think she quite got that I truly wanted to accompany her so I just flat out asked if I could go. She was delighted and took me along with her.
The first place we stopped at was the Meat Store. I have to tell you, for a butcher shop, it smelled awesome. They have some crazily awesome spice floating around in the air there. There, Juani bought some chicken and some sausages. The community environment here is so much different! She was just talking away with the other women in the store buying food, even though she didn't know them, and they were all talking among themselves too. The butchers were just working away and talking to whoever made their way to the front, yet there was still a sense of who came in first and no one really cut in front of anyone else.
When Juani got up there, she asked for her food, they prepared it, and then she realized she had forgotten her money. She told them she would run to the bank real quick and they were absolutely fine with it. Absolutely. Not like America where you might get a glare because you should have come prepared. Not like America where they're busy and you're wasting their time. To me, it seemed like they would have run to the bank for her if she had asked! Very nice people, those Spanish butchers.
Next, I asked her about supermarkets because I had wandered around and found one. I was there and about to buy a bottle of pop, but then realized everyone had "club" cards, so figured it was like Sam's Club. However, apparently it's not, and those were like mini Sear's Cards. Though upon talking to Juani about this, she explained that even though I can shop at that one, there's one about three times the size right next door. She took me to it and I cannot explain how dumbfounded I was when I realized that for the past 3 weeks, I've lived right above the Spanish equivalent of Hy-Vee.

Well anyway, I am going to go and enjoy my siesta and maybe grab something from the Hy-Vee-ish store!