After hearing from our friend Sorrel (who was walking the El Camino) that she could meet us in Logrono on
Thursday, I found and booked a hotel for Drew and I online. I learned that I couldn’t book bus tickets online
without a DIN (national identity card), so must walk to the bus ticket office to purchase them.
Sorrel will be exhausted after walking 28K that day on the El
Camino. Now that I had my
arrangements with Sorrel made, I could commit to a date to start language classes. Monday is my first day. There will be 5 of us in the class (3
newbies). Today in the grocery store, I learned a lot
about HAM. It was awesome…the butcher lady ran in the back after I did my first
imitation of a sheep (I forgot the word); I was trying to buy cheese. She brought out Miguel, whom I
recognize from my last shopping lesson with Agur. In perfect English he told me he had left home at age 18,
over 35 years ago, to be a sheepherder in the US (California and Nevada). He actually studied 2 months in
Australia to learn how to sheer.
He told me that it is a lonely life…just sheep, 2 dogs, thousands of
acres. He said it was the hardest
thing he had ever done to leave his mom. Then he asked me if I needed ham...I shrugged because to be honest. I found those big hanging ham legs intimidating. Thus, I got a HAM lesson. The sweetest part of the ham is the
triangular part closest to the hoof.
This is because as it hangs, the salt must settle in the lower
parts. He said it is often too
salty. The pigs that "become" Iberico ham are free
range and live on acorns.
Ander called to
invite us on a dog walk with Mendi up mount Ulia.
The humidity was really high. San Sebastian donned a shroud that left only the tips of the higher
peaks clearly visible. It wasn’t exactly fog.
Tonight is the biggest moon, with highest tidal swings in 4 years, a good evening for a beach walk.
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| Ham |
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Enjoying our outings with Mendi
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