Life in Ciudad Rodrigo

Well, here I am teaching English, or more accurately between classes. In my last class, the one with a group of 12 year olds, I asked them a couple of settling in questions as always. Keen to be topical I asked them about San Blas (see last post) and they were surprisingly disparaging. "All it is is an excuse to get drunk, it used to be something nice for all the family to do but now it's just a bunch of young people getting legless, most of them can't even walk home when it's finished and the Red Cross has to take a mobile unit there to look after them!" Mirobrigense by the way means someone from Ciudad Rodrigo. It's based on the old Roman name for the town.

On the 3rd February the good Christian folk of Ciudad Rodrigo go on a romeria,  or procession, to the half derelict monastery in Sanjuanejo to get little coloured ribbons to tie around their necks.  The ribbons are blessed in the name of San Blas who, according to tradition, will protect the wearers from sore throats provided that they keep them on till Ash Wednesday when they should pop back to the monastery and recite The Lord's Prayer as they burn their temporary necklaces. Not to be sceptical about the religious significance of this or anything but I think that the ending of the press release gives the game away; "The pilgrims usually give good account of themselves before the hearty open air picnic of local sausages."  And what will I be doing as ribbons and sausages are handed out? Teaching English to people who would much prefer to be eating sausage that's what!