Day 103: Things That Have Changed

I'm used to noticing small changes when returning to Ávila from Salamanca since I used to go back about once a month. But this time, despite having been away for "only" three months, many things have changed. Most of them are trivial and insignificant, yet for one reason or another, they catch my attention or bring back memories. Here's a small list:

• The Alameda bar is now a hair salon.


• “La Guarra” has closed its doors.


• The bakery street is now one-way.


• My cousin María has lost her baby front teeth.


• The walls in my house have changed color.


• True to form, the city council has added even more roundabouts where there were none before.


• More TV and radio channels.


• The first Día supermarket that opened in Ávila has closed.


• They’ve replaced all the computers at the faculty (and what a set of computers they’ve put in!).


• Immigration has arrived in Ávila in a big way (and what worries me the most: ghettos are forming! There’s hardly any integration).


• You no longer "feel clean, feel good"—now you "feel very clean, feel very good."

(I’ll keep jotting down more changes as I notice them throughout the holidays.)