Intercambios y Invernaderos

Most of you know that I am learning Spanish with the help of a lovely lady named Juana. In addition to our Monday evening meetings (with Friederike and Ana) I get together with Juana at least one other time a week for a more intensive lesson. During our weekly meetings Juana (whose first language is of course, Spanish) leads the rest of us who are at different levels within the language. In turn, we help Juana with her English-which is pretty darn good. This exchange of language skills is called an intercambio.
In addition to this group of ladies I am also learning Spanish from my new buddy Ramon. (Of course all of these people have come into our lives through Tom-thank you Tom!)

Ramon works in the tomato/greenhouse/agricultural industry with Antonia (the tomato heiress). He is a salesman and his job, as he tells me, is to make calls on various people in the industry; from greenhouse owners to the executives who run the companies that package and ship the produce all around Europe. Ramon and I have our meetings on weekday mornings while he is working so I get the pleasure of riding along to his appointments…..meeting the farmers and industry execs and seeing how this industry works; all the while we are having our own intercambio.

Ramon knows everybody! As we travel through the dusty back roads, between the many invernaderos (greenhouses) of the province or stop for a quick coffee at one of the cafes in town, many a friendly hand is raised in his direction. Through association, people in Campohermoso (the town just north of Las Negras where Ramon works) know me now too! (ok…...maybe just a little, but I’m just sayin’!)

Anyway, these invernaderos that Ramon and I visit are fascinating! I have learned that the tomato plants live in the greenhouses for about a year. Each plant has a single trunk that is split into two main stems and by the time the plant is 6 months old each stem is 10 feet in length. These stems are loaded with clusters of tomatoes and they need support as they continue to grow; each stem is individually twisted around a single piece of plastic twine that is suspended from a wire that runs above.
I’m really not sure how much each invernadero produces, and each one is a different size but…these greenhouses go on forever. Even though I have only seen inside the greenhouses that have tomatoes and berenjenas (eggplants), there are many that grow cucumbers, melons and peppers. An enormous economy has been developed in this part of the country that was once very impoverished.

As I think I said in an earlier email, Almeria grows 90% of the tomatoes that are consumed in the European Union. These greenhouses are everywhere.
To give you an idea of just how many…..Our friend Friederike said she heard an interview with a German astronaut. When asked what he saw on the surface of the earth--from his spaceship--he said…The Great Wall of China and the greenhouses of Almeria.

It’s just crazy. And it's a lot of ratatouille!