The end of winter is the beginning of spring of course but more importantly in Andalucia, the beginning of fiesta season. They come in all sizes from thousands of people flooding a city to just a large gathering of family and friends. I have had the privilege to join in on the celebration of Carnaval in Ronda and a romería in Andújar
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Carnaval is like our American Halloween in one sense because everyone dresses up in costumes and goes out for a party. The major difference is that the costumes are very homemade and always fun rather than scary. Then around midnight or so a parade of floats go down the main roadway
el paseo and the people gather along the sides and on their balconies. The Carnaval fiesta in Ronda was nothing special because its a very small city compared to Cádiz where Carnaval is the most famous in Spain. I had the chance to go there but I decided to stay home because that day the weather was rainy and I didn´t have a costume. Luckily this party takes place on two weekends (one at the start and one at the end). For that reason I was able to catch a Carnaval party the following weekend in Ronda where I was visiting a friend from NYC who is also a teacher that decided to take a year off and live in Spain just like me. It was great to hang out in my mother tongue but we also had some nice moments of speaking Spanish with her flamenco singing friends.
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| If you take out a camera, everyone is ready to pose for a photo. Look at me dressed as a Hawaiian...I was not prepared to wear a costume but I did have my bathing suit with me as always. My friend is the Rastafarian. |
Truly the most unique experience I have had so far in Spain was the romería in Andújar! This a Catholic tradition that involves a long trek from a village to a religious monument. In this case we were going to a statue of the Virgin Mary called Virgen de la Cabeza because she was built on a mountain called la Cabeza (the head). Once the people arrive there is a giant party of the most delicious food and plenty of beverages to go around. I went on this journey with Andreas and his housemate, Mario. We felt like guests of honor because it was our first time on the pilgrimage and the event was hosted by a tight knit group of mostly family unlike the open parties of Carnaval. At the evening meal we were awarded certificates and nicknames with our initiation into the "family" horse association. And why horse association, because the adventure is made on horseback or mule back in the case of Andreas and me. We rode horses and mules the entire day for over 20 miles (33km). The journey started at around 10 in the morning and ended after sunset. It was an incredible experience!
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| las mulas....our mules that would soon take us on the journey to the virgin. in this moment they were snacking on the wooden banister. |
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| we were a group of about 45 people and this was our first stop on the long trip. delicious snacks like bread sticks, mini sandwiches of cheese and ham, and delicious chorizo (a spicy sausage) were being passed around as well as small cans of beer. |
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| simply cuteness! |
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| it's about noon now and the horses and mules are very thirsty after a sweaty climb up the steep hills. the people are ready for another round of snacks this too. this time they included yummy chunks of cured sheep cheese, croquettes, and olives and more beer of course. |
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| our fierce leader and father of Mario, the guy who invited us on this trip |
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| it was love at first sight and i think it was mutual. at some points i couldn't ride this animal knowing that she had to work extra hard to take me up some sharp climbs or down some steep slopes. i couldn't get over feeling for her so there were times we just walked together instead. i'm really weak-hearted! |
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| this could be a cigar ad or something. andreas squeezes in to pose with the big dogs. i guess you could say these are the leaders of the group but it wasn't really like that. we had such friendly encounters and we were shown lots of love and appreciation. |
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| the final destination, the sanctuary of the Virgin Mary, where we had a small service the next morning after a very long night of partying |
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| and the reason for the party...Viva La Virgen de la Cabeza! |
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So that about sums up what I've been up to the last few weeks. There are some other important fiestas coming up like Semana Santa which is the Holy Week of closed schools and big parties which include a special kind of music and a parade of Jesus statues. Andreas and I will be in Mallorca with Gundi and Ferran (mother and best friend of Andreas). Everyone here tells me there aren't good celebrations of Semana Santa in Mallorca but that might just be because there are high expectations from the people here in the South of Spain. It's like a competition of who can throw the biggest party and attract the most tourists. It's understandable...the celebrations are truly impressive! Here's a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSjWznTqvs @ 3:11 is really nice. That's all I've got for now. My dear friends and family, I hope all is well. Besos!
