Sept 8th: Another shopping lesson

Agur took us to the local B M grocery store (yes, an unfortunate name for squeamish English speakers).  The service was unbelievable.  There we are in the meat dept.  Agur placed her order…I wish I had a video of the butcheress as she sharpened her knife very deliberately by hand, and very adeptly took a chicken hind quarter- deboned, and opened it up to make it thin and flat, added special ham, then cheese, rolled it up and used this interesting tube with netting to hold it all together.  She made a half dozen of these.  They were absolute works of art.  We went through all the aisles at warp speed…me following like a puppy, trying to remember the brands and things she chose, how to weigh and mark things.   At the checkout, all her groceries were boxed in big plastic tubs for later delivery at the requested time to her house!  It was amazing…what service!  That’s how one can grocery shop with ease, without need of a car, or developing tendinitis from carrying copious bags of groceries home.  Wonder if they will deliver my groceries up 6 flights of stairs when I move next month!  

I went out for coffee with Agur…her friend Julia…and Julia’s mom, daughter, and 2 grandchildren!  Wow 4 generations all together for a coffee! I negotiated a special dance performance from 4yo Adriana after promising to both dance and sing “I’m a little teapot short and stout….”, as well as “Teddy bear teddy bear turn around.”  Why do I still have songs from kindergarten stored in my brain (seems like a waste of valuable space)? We were both quite enchanted by each other’s performances.  I hung out with Ander, Maddi (Anders’ 17yo adorable sister), and Agur…doing a few chores like taking down laundry with Ander, while Agur cooked a delicious lunch of lentils with sausage, and broiled tomatoes on bread (which is to be eaten with thinly sliced Iberico ham). It was amazing to see clothes lines cleverly strung on the roof top, along the stairway, and foldable dryers placed anywhere they would fit.  I began feeling both lazy and wasteful about using my clothes dryer in California.   I told them about our new apt, and they were very excited for us, especially knowing we would still be very close…”you can join us for Christmas, and holidays…and we’ll have coffee.” 

4pm- Made a quick trip to the beach to read and enjoy the scenery.  Then jumped on bikes and took a nice ride to explore a bit of this beautiful city laden with bike paths. 

We must be adjusting to the culture because around 9pm (normal dinner time here) I said, “hey are you hungry?"  Off we went to a bar for dinner.  An irresistibly cute little dog belonging to a patron was keeping the whole place entertained, as he made his way to various tables both inside and outside the restaurant. I whistled and in no time I was his favorite…chicken scraps trump bread.  I have been told that it's not normally acceptable to bring dogs into bars/restaurants, but we see it all the time.