Today Isabel and I stopped to have coffee and juice at Don Teo's, a hole-in-the-wall cafe on the Escorial on the way to the metro. We sat outside at one of the few tables they have set up. At some point, I heard someone calling someone else and the woman at the next table waved. I looked at her and wondered where I knew her from. What store did she work in, I asked myself? Then it hit me -- she was one of the candidates running for mayor! She's running on the IC-Els Verds platform (Iniciativa per Catalunya/Green Party). She was sharply dressed, as she always seems to be in the pix I've seen of her in the papers and on the TV news. Once, I saw four men in suits and then Imma standing out next to them in a very red leather jacket. And here she was having a simple coffee and chatting with two other women right next to me! She's also married to one of the men who ran for President of Catalunya in November when I first got here.The rest of the day I couldn't help looking at all the election posters, not that you can't help the posters with huge faces plastered all over town. Later on, I went to my Spanish conversation class, and funny enough, the topic of conversation was the elections, which was great, since I didn't have a grasp on all the parties. Below is, from left to right, Jordi Portabella (Esquerra, Republicana - independistas), Xavier Trias (CIU, or Convergencia i Unío, conservative/nationalists), and Jordi Heuru (PSC, partido socialista, and current mayor). Missing is Alberto Fernandez Diaz (Partido Popular -- PP).
