Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Proper jamón disposal.

Cured ham (jamon) is revered here in southern Spain. If you talk to a native for any length of time, the conversation will eventually circle around to jamon. You get lots of advice. Iberico vs. Serrano, acorn fed, black pigs, aged etc. You can buy slices of it at exorbitant prices. If you're really into it you can buy a whole leg of it. If you're not sure where, just walk out your front door and start walking into random stores. By the time you've hit your 3rd random store, you'll find a display similar to this:

 
We've become accustomed to such displays in our time here. What never occurred to me until today is what people do with these legs once they've been exhausted of their tasty ham bits. Today, I learned the answer to that question:


No, this is not a drunk, dumpster-diving pig, it's the remains of a leg of jamon. I guess that's one way to dispose of it.

***

This afternoon, Taylor, Rachel and I walked around a bit. We went to Plaza Nueva to see the Christmas craft market, but our visit coincided with the 2 hrs during the day when it's closed. Instead, we walked along the river. We crossed over the bridge and walked the grounds of old ceramic factory now modern art museum. I've been here several times, but never really walked the olive orchard area. It's really pretty this time of year (as compared to the summer) because everything is green. The trees didn't have olives, but they were lush. In this photo, the olive trees line the left side of the walk:


Olive trees are the major agricultural crop in southern Spain. Outside of Sevilla, nearly all of the open ground is covered by olive orchards.

***

This evening, Rachel and I got looped into listening to/criticizing random EDM songs on Spotify.

A bit of a cold.

My sore throat has turned into a bit of a cold. I mostly stayed in and worked. My one outing was to Spanish class at 4pm. I was pretty worthless there. When you have a cold, it's hard to run your brain at peak. Unfortunately, listening and speaking in class requires that. Even when I don't have a cold, there are some days where I really hear Spanish well and others when I don't.

On the other hand, sometimes you just don't know. Our teacher put the following clues on the board. Each clue described a different Christmas tradition:


All were traditions you find in Spain and some elsewhere. If you zoom in on the photo, the resolution is good enough to read the sentences. The answers:

  1. The Christmas Lottery "el gordo".
  2. The Cavalcade of the Three Kings.
  3. Twelve Grapes.
  4. Describes the use of pig fat in candy. I didn't get the name of the candy.
  5. Describes the tradition of putting up a nativity. It comes from Italy. Nativities in homes are far more common than Christmas trees.
  6. Describes the tradition of singing Christmas carols, los villancicos
***

Laura made hamburgers for dinner. After dinner we watched a "Christmas movie" on Netflix called Office Christmas Party, it was funny enough. Jason Bateman and several other notables were in it. I really like Jason Bateman.

After the movie, we hear a lot of successive bangs coming from outside. Turns out they were fireworks coming from one of the nearby Catholic brotherhood buildings. You could hear a marching band too. Yet another procession in the neighborhood. I took this from the roof of our building: