Medina de Ríoseco, el pueblo que me robó el corazón! (Medina de Ríoseco, the village that stole my heart!)

Almost every week day, right after morning class my boyfriend and I set out on a journey through the province of Valladolid. We visited numerous towns and villages. I liked all of them, but one especially stole my heart: Medina de Ríoseco.

Yes, we saw beautiful churches inside and out. Yes, we saw the typical streets lined with wooden and stone pillars so the traders in the 16th century could do business in the shade.

Typical street lined with 16th century wooden en stone pillars that provided shade to traders.

Yes, walking along the ‘Canal de Castilla’ was a marvel. But that’s not what made my day. It were the locals who enchanted me.

Medina de Ríoseco has some 5000 inhabitants, almost none of which we saw, it being siesta and all… as per usual. :-) But we did get to meet some:

Walking along the ‘Canal de Castilla’ we saw an eldery man setting out some sort of small fishing nets. We walked passed him with a polite ‘Hola, ¿qué tal?’. On the way back we crossed him again and I couldn’t help myself –being rather nosy– and asked him what he was doing. He started explaining how he was a pensioner and to fill time he came out there on a regular basis to catch crayfish. We walked up to his bucket and there they were, some two dozen crawling creatures. He further explained how they were much smaller than normal and how his wife would prepare them back at home. We were an appreciative audience and he seemed happy to be able to relate his story. He took a crayfish out of the bucket and showed it to us. It fiercely waved its crusher claws at us. In the end, we didn’t talk all that long, maybe five or ten minutes, but when we parted he was in such high-spirits he concluded the conversation with a sincere ‘¡Encantado!’.

I didn’t get the full meaning of that word till later on that day. In class we learned that you can say ‘encantado/-a (de conocerle)’ when you are introduced to someone, much like the French ‘enchantez (de faire votre connaissance)’ or the English ‘delighted (to make your acquaintance)’.

Crayfish - Rivierkreeftjes - Cangrejos de río

Crayfish - Rivierkreeftjes - Congrejos de río

Later on, in the village centre, my boyfriend noticed an old-fashioned cOOkie-shop. Seeing as he has a sweet tooth (as do I), he decided to go in and buy some. We were welcomed almost immediately by the shopkeeper with a whole plate of different biscuits for us to try. Humble Flemish as we are, we reluctantly tried some. I spoke to her about how almonds and pine nuts are typical for the region and their use in cOOkies and cakes. She suggested a box of half a kilo, we agreed. We talked about the town and she informed us that the upcoming weekend would be the highlight of the year with all kinds of medieval celebrations, decorations and activities.

cOOkie shop 'The Good/Beautiful Star'

Old-fashioned cOOkie shop in Medina de Ríoseco

With our freshly packaged cOOkies we went searching for the ‘Convent of Saint Franciscus’. An elderly person saw me standing rather baffled on the Main Square not being able to orientate myself. He spoke to me from some distance and pointed out the right direction.

Naturally, when we got there the convent/museum/tourist office was closed (yeah *siesta*), so we sat down to munch some of the biscuits, waiting for some staff member to turn up. In vain, for nobody came. So we decided to call it a day and return to the car.

Back at the main square we crossed the elderly person again. Our eyes crossed and we had the same inviting look in our eyes. I addressed him and told him the convent wasn’t open. And then something extraordinary happened. He asked ‘Do you have a moment? Or are you in a hurry? I want to show you something.’ My boyfriend and I looked at each other, not really knowing what to say. Back at home, I would've had my ‘No, sorry, no time’ ready without even halting. But here, the people are so open, so enthusiastic, they just pull you right into that frame of mind. So we said ‘¡Sí!’

Suki's car! Fits right into the scenery. :-)

He walked over to his car, a gold-colored metallic citroën, and came back with two thick photo albums. We didn’t know what to expect. So he started a monologue of little less than an hour explaining how he had always wanted to draw, but how art school didn’t work out for him. So he became an employee at a bank giving out loans. A job he did for some 40 odd years. How he could tell inside stories about his clients back in the day, how they lied to him about their financial situation and marital status. But he had always minded his own business and done his job. He explained his name was Ambrosio, but that everybody knew him as Suki, which is what his Bask relatives call him. Page by page he showed us the scaled-down photo copies of the drawings he makes now as an eighty something year old pensioner: beautiful portraits of this children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, … He showed us his landscape and architectural drawings of the area, always explaining what he had added or changed that wasn’t real – an extra door, an extra tower on a church, some pigs, some birds, a carriage –.

The man just kept on talking. I can’t say I understood all the things he said, maybe some 70 percent. His pronunciation wasn’t as clear as that of the people in Valladolid city, but I saw the twinkling little stars in his eyes and when he laughed, I laughed, without even knowing what he was on about. I could literally feel my heart growing warmer.

When people passed they greeted him amicably, shouting ‘Ah, Suki, the best artist in town.’ It became more and more clear we were talking to a known town figure.

He showed us drawings of his parental home, explaining how his parents back in the day had taken in a penniless gypsy who they would sometimes give some eggs. Then he started explaining the local history and the architecture of the church we were standing next to, on and on... Then he talked about his wife. How she would always stay at home and was forever cleaning the house.

All this time, my boyfriend – who doesn’t speak any Spanish – stood there looking at the guy not having the faintest clue what he was on about. I felt a bit sorry for him, so I told Suki my boyfriend didn’t speak Spanish. Suki asked me to translate for him and said: Now you (pointing at my boyfriend) are wearing the trousers, but the day you put a ring around her finger, those pants go from you to her. :-) By that time I was laughing out loud.

At some points during the whole conversation my boyfriend and I glanced at each other thinking ‘how are we ever going to get away from this bloke’. But it the end it was Suki himself who realized he had taken up quite some of our time. He thanked us for having wanted to listen to his stories. I wanted to shake his hand, he grabbed it, shook it firmly, drew me closer and gave me two kisses on the cheek, saying ‘¡Encantado!’. I answered with a sincere ‘encantada, señor’.

I would have loved for my boyfriend to have taken a picture of Suki and I, but it would have felt like he was just another tourist attraction to photograph, so I decided against it. When we parted I had tears in my eyes and for days on end thinking back to that encounter, my eyes welled up and my heart seemed to literally grow.

Now I was starting to get the real meaning of the word ‘encantado/-a’. Rather than a formal way of greeting somebody new, it is used to express great joy having met someone new that you really like. I felt proud.

Addendum: On the last day of our stay we visited the castle of Montealegre. We were the only visitors and so got a private guided tour. At the end of the tour the guide asked if we had enjoyed it since most tourists just want to get to the top of the castle to take some pictures. I explained how fascinated I was by Spanish culture, history and language. She playfully asked if maybe I wasn’t a Spaniard without realizing it. Before leaving our guide asked us what other towns we had visited in Valladolid. When I mentioned ‘Medina de Ríoseco’ she lit up, explaining that she lived there. I asked how the medieval festival had been, also mentioning that we had bought cOOkies in the local shop. She knew immediately what shop I was talking about. Then I said we had met a guy called Suki. She was very pleased, probably since the area hardly gets any interested visitors.

A little while later she passed us while we were already in the car ready to drive back to Valladolid. Again, I couldn’t help myself, I opened the car door and asked her if she could give my regards to Suki. She was so enchanted that she came over, gave me kisses on the cheek, uttered ‘¡encantada!' and hugged me while I was seated in the car.

This is what I mean when I say ‘I love the people of Spain and Spanish mentality’.
(I’m rather thinking of writing a letter to Suki. <3 )