Keiko continues to be a wealth of inside information. She probably can tell more than the locals in some ways, as she can see things from an outsider's perspective, while being inside too. She doesn't understand how things keep on going here. The mayor never showed up to turn on the lights for the Feria, to "inaugurate it". They didn't have the money to pay for the lights. There were protests.
Bus routes were going to be less during the Feria due to protests from unpaid/ill-paid workers.
Keiko has been working again but again has not been paid for some of the work she did. Unpaid workers of various kinds have probably been protesting ever since last summer. There is all sorts of political trouble. I don't need to ask what she means by there is a lot of "enchufar-ing" going on. Enchufar normally means to plug something in, like to a wall outlet. Anyways, as is usual everywhere, those who have, get to make the decision that they will keep, and that others will go without. Except that it sounds worse in Jerez. She says there are about 4 people that control stuff and do dirty stuff of their own with taxpayers' money while of course the average guy has to take cuts. Some bars have been fixed up a lot and others kind of wither. She believes there is a lot of enchufamiento happening with these. A bar may not sound like a very important part of the economy but it is here, and this is one example where she has some clues of what goes on.
Anyways, this happens because Jerez is very old, and so are the connections. Sevilla is big and dynamic, with a lot of foreigners so of course it's not the same kind of thing. Luckily, Keiko is a with it enough person to see that these kind of connections and deep history also have a good side - in things like flamenco, although she did warn me not to take Rocio's singing prizes as too much of an indication that she's so great, as these are often a result of enchufment.
BTW I am eating a fish that has skin like a shark; I had to turn the skin over cause it's scaring me with its perfectly smooth blackness, and have another drink of wine. I am home alone on Friday night cause my two friends in Sevilla are busy. Buying fish is akward here. I walk past the fish sellers' stalls a bunch of times today in the Arenal market before getting the nerve to try one fish that looks more like cazon. Of course cazon is a shark too. It's difficult because most of the fish are whole, and dealing with that on a regular basis when you just don't have time to look up a recipe is a hassle. Alicia broke the kitchen scissors the other day, cutting open a fish. I am used to such sanitised eating! I can deal with sole or red snapper filets, salmon filets or steaks, but not much else. This sharky thing is called marujo ("marooho", with the arabic gutteral "h" of course). The good thing about these shark family types is that they only have one big backbone and absolutely no other bones, the sort of which ruined my dinner of fresh sardines the other day in Cadiz and made it difficult to have a decent conversation with another Italian friend. (I have met some really cool Italian women about my age, various different times).
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