What can I
say about my village?
To
begin with the description, I'm going to write about my village in
the past and now. I live in a small town in the south of Spain, it is
called Lobres. 50 years ago, the town was very different.
Approximately, there was the same population as there is now.
Although
now it is small, before it was even smaller. There didn't use to be
any modern buildings. Now there are some blocks of flats. There used
to be one shop, where the was food. now there are two supermarkets, a
butcher's, one clothes shop, and two bars. Although too many people
go to shopping centres, the oldest people go to the shops there. Also
there was a church, and it is the same as now, but it was repaired
once. In the village there used to be sugar plantations, it was the
main crop in the area for that reason there used to be a sugar
factory. Now in its place there is a rum factory.
50
years ago there used to be an old bridge which used to go to other
towns, but it fell down in 1973. Now there is a new bridge. Most
people used to ride horses, donkeys or similar. People used to work
in fields in 'Palmares' and they had to walk across the mountain
without minding the weather (boiling or freezing). What a terrible
journey! Now there are a lot of cars, and there is a big motorway
which surrounds the village. There used to be a bus station near the
road, where all the traffic cross. How dangerous! Now the bus station
is at the entrance of the village.
People
went to Cataluña to find a better life, because here the only job
that there used to be was farmer.
My
grandparents lived here. They say that there wasn't much to do then,
except when there were the patronal parties. My granny used to go
with the other women to wash the clothes to the river. There used to
be a small room used as a school, now there is a state school. There
didn't use to be a health centre, if you got an illness, you couldn't
go to the doctor. All the people liked going out, and standing in the
street (children playing football or many old-women talking in the
door of their houses). Now fewer people go out, they prefer to stay
at home playing computer games or with their mobiles. Children used
to be by mid-night on the street.
All
in all, life was quieter then, but now we have technological things
which permit use to communicate without need of getting out of the
village. Life has changed so fast!
The
smell of war crayons reminds me of when I was at the nursery school
without anything to do. I was all day drawing. Among other smells,
I've always liked the smell of the beach and the smell of suntan
lotion because they remind me of holidays and the sun. I also like
the smell of fireworks because they make me think of Lobres festival,
like Saint-Antonio, who is the patron saint of the village. 
