Friday, March 7, 2012

It is abundantly clear that Fallas is drawing closer and closer.  All streets are adorned with festive lights that are now lit at night.  Large tents have been erected on many streets to house the celebrations of the casals that have constructed their very own falla.  Stands selling buñuelos have been erected all over town.  The same is true for stands that sell Amstel beer.  Every afternoon at 2:00, the city echoes with the sound of the mascleta that happens in front of City Hall.  Hundreds of kilos of powder cause the surround buildings and sidewalks to shudder and threaten to temporarily deafen those who witness the event.  This is only the prelude.  It will get busier, noisier and more festive.

The knee continues to improve, but has yet to reach the state of better.  I have more flexibility in my knee joint and I can walk gingerly without having to limp.  I just need to continue the regimen of ice, Advil and rest and just not overdo things.

I went out today for the first time since Tuesday evening.  We took a cab over to Kosher Tov, the only store in town that specializes in kosher food, and discovered that it was not open.  It was impossible to tell if it was closed because of the approaching Sabbath or because it has gone belly up.  There is no information on the website and phone calls go directly to an answering machine.  If it is closed, this will complicate Rachel’s visit a bit, but we know there are workarounds.

Susan will be heading out shortly to catch today’s mascleta and after that will catch up with Zahava for lunch and a movie.  I plan to take it easy this afternoon and start a new book although I am not quite sure what my choice will be.  In the past week I read all three of William Landay’s novels.  His Defending Jacob is a current best seller and I liked it so much that I bought his earlier two novels.  There are no pictures today, but hopefully there will be some tomorrow.