ACCIDENT IN SIESTA TIME

NIVEL – intermedio

30 Minutos

I was on vacation in Spain. I had a rental car which was a bit  bigger than I wanted. As a keen tourist I wanted to visit a ‘white village’ in Andalucía in Southern Spain.

But the beautiful village was not suitable for cars of this size.  So I drove down toward the town and reached a broad and empty street. I turned left and heard a terrible noise.

Casares. Photo: andalucia.com

I stopped the car and got out to look – both tires on the right - hand side were punctured. In fact, they were torn open. I had accidentally driven into a low concrete block used by builders to hold a temporary fence. It was 2.30 pm and the town was deserted.

LOST TOURIST

I immediately called the car rental company on my cell phone but they were not much help. Then I found a taxi driver, who took me to a tire workshop. This was good, except that it was siesta time. The workshop, which usually had twenty five workers, was closed.

It would not re-open for another two hours. So I had two hours to pass in the center of a small town where everything was closed.

I did not want to return to my hotel as it was quite far away. Two bars   were open; the taxis ran and a kiosk sold newspapers. Further away the supermarket was available, but it had no customers. None of these people could put new tires on my wheels.

A VACATION IN SPAIN

At last the workshop opened and they fixed my problem in twenty minutes.  I am not complaining – this is a note about a vacation, not a complaint about it.

Cadiz. Photo: rinconesdecadiz.com

But in those two hours I had time to realize that the siesta does not really help anyone except the workers in stores and customers who like to shop late in the evening.

THE SPANISH SIESTA WORKS - IN PART

Once again, I am not complaining – the workers in the stores need this rest because in this system they work from eight or nine o’clock in the morning and also have to work from about five in the afternoon until nine o’clock, when the store closes. That’s a long day.

QUESTIONS

1. In what region (department) of which country does the story take place?

2. What damage was caused in the accident?

3. Who did the writer first ask for help?

4. What method of communication did the writer use immediately?

5. We are told that four kinds of businesses were still operating – please name two of them.

6. How many people usually work in this tire workshop?

7. How long did the author have to wait in the town center?

8. How long did it take the workshop to deal with the damage?

9. This note says the siesta is good for only two groups of people – name one of them.

10. According to the writer, when do the shops finally close for the day?

ANSWERS:

1. Andalucia, Spain

2. Two tires were punctured (torn, ripped)

3. Car rental company

4. Cell phone

5. Any two ONLY of: bars, taxis, kiosk, supermarket

6. 25

7. Two hours

8. Twenty minutes

9. One ONLY of: store workers, customers (who like to shop late)

10. Nine o’clock