Monfragüe

On Saturday I went to the Monfragüe National Park, about 45 minutes from Coria. I had wanted to go there before I left but I didn't think it would happen (no car, you know...) I went with Jenny, students and profesores from Moraleja, and a group of Swedish students here on an exchange. Lavishly financed by the EU. All the Swedes looked out of place: pale, pale, pale. For once, I wasn't the whitest! They got more stares than I usually get, too. Monfragüe has a huge population of birds; I believe it's a refuge of some type... There are montones of vultures. I don't think I'd seen one before coming to Spain. They're HUGE. We hiked to this "castle" (some ruins), and all the Spanish students complained the whole time ("no puedo más"). Afterwards, we went to Plasencia. Now, I haven't been on a high school field trip in years, but in the US they are very different than what I saw here. No buddy system, no head counts every 5 minutes, no strict supervision and chaperoning. Kids were smoking left and right. One of the profesores handed out cans of beer to the "adults" (shit, I include myself here, as I am not a student), the Swedish teachers ordered brandy at the bar, the kids went off by themselves for several hours.. Very different. I also realized how American PB&J sandwiches are; Jenny and I with ours, the Spaniards with their baguettes of jamón or salchicha.

Our favorite bar, Las Candilejas, has reopened after 3 months of renovation. It's much bigger now and I realized that when we went to the inauguration, I knew about half the people in the crowded bar. One of the pinchos was morro, or pig snout, probably my least favorite pincho. You can even see the bristly fur on some of the piece. It's gelatinous. Sick. It's all about the pig here; if you can't identify the meat, it's probably some sort of pig. En fin, I miss being a vegetarian.