4-11-09

Saturday, April 11, 2009

I woke up around 11:30, had breakfast, took a much needed shower, and then unpacked. We had macarrones for lunch with some leche frito for dessert. Even though they’re not, it sounds like Spanish families are mad at each other because they’re always snapping and yelling. I was still a little out of it so I just kept quiet for the most part. After lunch I watched some Disney channel with Cristina and Sylvia and la chiquinina climbed up next to me and used my highlighter to color in my Let’s Go! book.
I was sort of looking for an invite to go watch the processions together but wasn’t quite sure how it would work out. I felt it out for a while and decided that I should just go and call some friends instead, but nobody ended up wanting to meet up. It was pretty crappy weather – freezing cold and rainy – but I really wanted to see them so I stuck it out. There were tons of people all around just lining the streets so I headed to Plaza de Carmen to look for a spot since I knew that was the main area for them. This year was some special anniversary so lots of processions went on their normal time but also went Saturday night in chronological order of Christ’s life. In total, there were 22 and I saw every single one that didn’t skip because of the rain. It was a little heartbreaking that some of the first imagenes were covered by plastic, but they were still awesome. I stood by some interesting people who kept yelling whenever someone would try to push their way through or to the front (there was a path right next to us). It was significantly delayed because of the weather so I ended up spending the entire afternoon and early evening by them.

I absolutely loved the processions and was so glad we learned about them in Granada seminar the week before. There were the KKK-looking people, the people with the banner, some women with long veils, the incense carriers, the band, and of course, the imagen. It was absolutely incredible. I really can’t describe it; I guess it’s just one of those things you have to see for yourself. I was getting pretty grouchy: cold, wet, tired, and hungry and debated leaving early but at one point I looked up at the imágen and realized that I really don’t have much to complain about. If Christ could endure the Crucifixion for me I should probably be able to handle this for Him, right?

Sidenote: the imágen is a big table with a very realistic life-sized representation of Christ. They range from infancy all the way until Mary after the Resurrection. 40 men are underneath carrying this ridiculously heavy table and slowly shuffling their feet in unison. They parade it through the town for several hours (up and down stairs, through the narrow streets, etc.) and every so often they set it down and take a little rest. I loved when the leader would tap the knocker thingy on the front, yell a command, and they would spring up and bring the imágen up together. Most imágenes are over 100 years old and are adorned with gold, silver, intricate woodwork, lace or satin, candles, and LOTS of flowers – especially carnations. Gorgeous. Each cofradía (brotherhood, not linked to the church – actually none of the Semana Santa stuff is related to the church, interesting, no?) has two tables – one with Jesus and one with Mary.
So when I got home they were watching home videos of the girls’ swim meets and they invited me in to watch. They were really pretty impressive and it was so cute how everyone was so proud. I will say it seems like a pretty athletic family! We had dinner and I was thankful that I was served leftover macarrones because they had some pretty gross stuff – whole mini fish (haha sardines?), this little greasy ball of some seafood, tuna, and some cousin to sausage. During the meal we watched Tinkerbelle (“Campanilla”) on TV – so adorable. I went to bed and when I went to the bathroom around midnight I saw Mundi smoking a cigarette in the kitchen – what?!