A bed among the lentils at the back of the Mercado, SMA
In 1987 Alan Bennett wrote a short monologue entitled Bed Among the Lentils, wonderfully rendered by Maggie Smith (click here for the YouTube version) as part of the Talking Heads series for the BBC (also available as a great DVD set). I was always fascinated by the somewhat inscrutable title, but it was not until this week in the Mercado in San Miguel that I actually came upon it in reality. Here, blissfully taking a nap after school, is the daughter of the lady at the back of the market who sells all the grains – where the lentils, black beans, and arroz integral sit intermixed with the bird feed and cat litter. Choose carefully.