El Chino

If you live in Spain for any extended period of time you will quickly become familiar with the uniquely Spanish yet not Spanish at all shopping experience of the 'Chino'. This somewhat non PC moniker refers to any one of the many (and I do mean many) shops in Sevilla run by Chinese families. There are hundreds of them. Exactly why this is so was explained to me one night at Feria and I believe it is something to do with trade agreements and tax, nonetheless it's a strange phenomenon to come to terms with when you're in a not very multicultural city in the wild south of Spain. I first ran into one in a fishing village in the Basque Country, in retrospect it was even more odd there. But I did pick up a very affordable and stylish rain poncho.

fashion!

Ranging from the humble Alimentación to the awe inspiring Bazaar, these shops come in many sizes. Some just sell food, some sell household items, some sell clothes, and some sell quite literally anything you could possibly want. My favourite thing about the Chino shops are the fact that they never seem to be closed (except at night. There is one 24 hour shop in Seville.). However, if you find yourself hungry on a Sunday or indeed on any one of the multitude of days off Spain takes and every supermarket is closed, your local Alimentación is where you should head. On more than one occasion my need to eat my feelings after 9pm has been met by their selection of Haribo and Lays, and for that I will always be grateful. I think that the family who run my local one must either judge me or feel sorry for me at this stage, I go through a lot of sweets and noodles. 

I spy a pool noodle

The Bazaars are where the fun really begins, however. I don't know how I would have set up home here without them; it's difficult to know where to buy things like sheets and towels and bowls in a new country which turns out to be surprisingly different to your own. The only other option seemed to be the Corte Inglés department store and do you think I am made of money don't be ridiculous. Aside from being useful, the Bazaars is also a great place to kill some time. You can challenge yourself to find the oddest item costing under one Euro. Toys, cleaning products, pots and pans, glue, tools, paper, candles, those cats that do that thing with their arm, wool, fake flowers, yoga mats; you name it they've got it, or at least a close approximation of it. Sometimes you might find yourself being followed around by an employee, but it's possible that that's just me because of the amount of times I just go in and walk around for a few minutes without buying anything. The Chinos have turned out to be a large part of my life here. I'd like to take this moment to appreciate just how odd yet amazing they truly are.

Do I need this? YES.

Hasta luego x