Lorca Market on Sunday

Here I am at the market in Lorca on Sunday.

I still have not had a proper cover/ shade/ toldo made for the stand. Just threw a bedspread over it and clipped with clothespegs. I was actually on my way to the seamstress yesterday who will be making the cover when I injured my leg. I am rather incapacitated for a few days (hopefully that is all because I will go CRAZY if I can’t move around). So, I can’t drive and couldn’t make it to the seamstress.

Some other images of my stand on Sunday.














My car with the stand loaded on the roof-rack!

I did want to tell you a little about Lorca though…

Not sure if you all know that there was a bad earthquake there about 1 month ago. Lorca is only 45 minutes from where I live but I didn’t feel the earthquake at all.

Anyway, one thing is to see images on the web or TV but it is another thing entirely to be there and see the devastation caused by the earthquake. There are over 8000 people without homes now because so many of the buildings have been at least partially damaged, cracked and need to be torn down. It felt like a ghost town. So many people have had to leave and look for apartments in the surrounding towns or moved to the country or moved in with friends and/ or family. There is rubble all over the streets, at least after a month they are mostly organized rubble piles now. Here are some images:












This is the rubble behind my stand. To the right, outside of this photo is a school that children can no longer attend because the building suffered damages and is unstable...


I snapped this shot on the way for a coffee from my stand and was later told that it is a mini shrine for 3 men who died in the quake by a piece of falling building...

So why am I writing about this...and posting pictures...? because I am morbid? No. Because of how I was reminded of a lot of important things that day. There were barely any stands that Sunday, not like usual. This market is every second Sunday and usually the whole Plaza is filled with stands. There were not many passers-by because so many people have left Lorca. My car also broke down on the highway on the way home...So, why the heck did I have to go all the way to Lorca that day? Well, as a reminder of how beautiful life is, and how wonderful Spaniards are and how lucky we are to be alive and healthy. That's why.

Each person that stopped to chat, I asked if they had been affected by the earthquake. And EVERY ONE had some marvellous story. They all said that the actual moments of the quakes (there were 2, a few hours apart) were scary and eery. Those who were outside said the ground rippled like waves. But all of the people that I spoke with that day have moved on positively and see the great things that have come out of this. Many have been reunited with family, having to take family members in to live with them. Landlords all over the area have dropped rents to rock-bottom prices to help out the earthquake victims. People are taking in neighbours, friends. And they all said, it took the earthquake to realize what is really important. That things were getting out of hand materially and in fact, they can live on very little. It is the people in your life that count and our health. They all said they felt lucky to be alive.

And so do I....

xoxo
Jen