The rundown-
Pueblo=village
I went to my host family’s village home to gather food
The house was built in 1619
We picked apples, wild mushrooms, and veggies from the garden
 
“Pueblo” is a Spanish term for small village or town. Almost everyone who lives in Ourense has a house in a pueblo. Whether it is their parents’ or grandparents’, almost everyone has a pueblo they can go to in the mountains. Many students do not stay in Ourense over the weekend because they go to these homes. In the early fall especially many students go back to help pick grapes or chestnuts, or just gather food from the garden. Because this is such a common thing, my host family, of course, wanted to take me to their pueblo.
I we loaded up the car with a few buckets then Javier, Maria, Maria’s mother and I all made our way to Maria’s mother’s house in the mountain. After an hour and half drive, and many winding roads, we had arrived.  The pueblo was small with maybe 20 or so old stone houses. When we first arrived I was given a tour of the house. After walking through a dusty garage/ chicken coop, we opened the heavy wooden door to inside. Above the doorway, etched in stone, read “1619”. The house felt like a jig-saw puzzle with this door leading down a long hallway and this one cutting across the house. A few steps here leads to a different level or room, and this door in the floor leads to the basement or outside. The family showed me where animals were kept in the house, where meat was hung to dry. They showed me where they store the apples and potatoes during the winter and where they make their own soap.
            Once outside I could see neighbor’s sheep in the front lawn and an old man walking a cow down the cobblestone and dirt streets. I also had an amazing view of  the large garden where we picked tomatoes, egg plant, zucchini, squash,  and a few other items. After we had gathered the food from the garden we went for a walk. The walk wasn’t long maybe 10 or 15 minutes until we were in a grove. We found a few wild mushrooms and put them in our baskets. Then the family walked up to what appeared to be a random apple tree, but this was THEIR apple tree.  Javier climbed up in the tree with a stick and began beating the apples down from the tree. While covering our heads to avoid getting hit, we gathered the fallen apples. After gathering two buckets full, we went to the house and dropped before walking making our way through the neighbors cornfield to get to the families other apple tree.
            I had been feeling ill at the time and was quite exhausted after we had gathered all the food. Inside, Maria’s mother had been preparing lunch and we all ate fresh empanada, roasted meat and potatoes, fresh baked bread and some dessert. After being sick, picking apples all morning and slowly slipping into a food coma, I was in need of a nap. Shockingly, the 1619 house did not have central heat, so I buried myself under 100 blankets and rested. By the time I got up the family had gathered eggs from the chickens, stored the apples and potatoes and were beginning to pack up the car with all the goodies. We finished up and made our way back to Ourense and I was given a few of the fresh fruits and vegetables to take with me.
            While I am really happy to have my own place now, I will be forever grateful that I started with a host family. Because of them I was and still am able to see a very different side of rural Spanish life that I wouldn’t see on my own. I loved getting to spend a day in the mountains and felt like I traveled back in time for a bit. It has inspired me to have a garden of my own and hopefully a few fruit trees to beat  some day.