Passion Victim

While BJ visited Spain, Spain was celebrating Holy Week - and Semana Santa is a really big deal, specifically in the south. Each city we visited, we found ourselves in the middle of a procession, unable to pass & unable to escape. At first it was really exotic and interesting - una maravilla - but by the 3rd day, we were sick of it.

For those of you who don't know, Sevilla is super special for Semana Santa:

"Seville has been holding its Easter week celebrations since the 16th century, and they have become universally famous. Some 50,000 people put on traditional robes to parade in the 58 organised processions, while the "costaleros" carry the pasos (religious statues) on their shoulders. There are processions in the evening and at night every day. Each brotherhood sets out from its church and has an established route, although they must all pass the so-called “official section”, which starts in Calle Campana Street and finishes passing through the Cathedral. Once each procession has left the Cathedral, it returns to its church on a different route to that followed on the way out. Thesaetas are very emotional moments of the processions: these are flamenco songs, recited a cappella from the balconies in honour of the statues."

Granada was the 1st place we experienced it. 1st we were in the streets but then we moved to a restaurant with a better view and fewer people. I captured video of two of the floats as they went by, and I enjoyed seeing them more than I expected; they were more beautiful than I imagined. This video is good because you can see the 'Mary' float at night with all the candles lit. (I love that the Catholics revere Mary almost as much as Jesus.)

Granada

The next day, after drinking all day long with our new amiga mejor in Granada, Fina, we went to Sevilla. We arrived just late enough, and just drunk enough, that we just enjoyed the party with Josh & mis companeros. We didn't pay a lot of attention to the sacred ritual going on all around us; it was too exciting for me to introduce BJ to Josh. Still I tried to get video of a float but, like I said, I was so busy drinking, talking & laughing that I barely caught anything - but here it is.

Sevilla in the nighttime

And we had lots of days to get better footage so I didn't worry about it...little did I know. The next day we were tested by the lord. At first we enjoyed more processions. And this video is probably the best to see a good example of the whole experience: the crowds of people, the enormity of the floats, the feet of the people carrying the floats, the music when the men lift the floats, the glorious beauty of it all and the incredible amount of chaos.

Sevilla in the daytime

But after this experience we searched the city for a hotel for BJ and couldn't find one. John Carrillo (bj's bf) even suggested we call a nunnery and ask for help but that didn't work out either. We were literally trapped for 3 hours in the center of the city after already being in it for 2. At first it was fun getting swept away but after the same float passed us for the 5th time, and the 5th street we tried to use was blocked off - we felt like blowing off the whole thing. So we packed our bags and went back to Madrid...where we ended up in gigantic masses of people again.

Madrid

We also saw these guys in Madrid.

RENEE, AURORA, SYNA, SARAH! Your people are with ME!

Mariachis at Plaza Espana