Semana Santa

Hola & Happy Easter!!!

After traveling to Palma de Mallorca & Lisbon for the first half of Semana Santa, I stayed at home for the rest of the break to catch the processions held in Sevilla. Unfortunately the weather was not too kind; only a handful of pasos (floats) were able to parade the streets. I later learned that rain hasn't affected Semana Santa this badly for about 150 years!! So of course I visit on the unusual year...haha.

Here's my paso viewing group! On Saturday we went out to search for a paso...& were successful! We watched Jesus & Mary parade through the streets of Sevilla for an hour & were so proud of our success. We then decided to stay out & watch the other processions, which would have been 1 every hour from 4-9...but it started raining again :( & when I say rain, I really mean monsoon. We headed home, still happy that we were even able to see just one.

My first paso: Jesus carrying the cross. This was a Saturday paso; the happier pasos showed on Easter day. The pasos are held up by 30-50 men (costaleros), who stand underneath the super heavy float and shuffle their feet around to make the paso sway. The floats are so heavy that the costaleros switch out every so often...sometimes the float parades around for 14 hours, so they have to take shifts! The costaleros wear head protection & wrap their stomachs tightly for support (so their insides don't rupture...does NOT sound like a good time).

This is the Saturday paso of the Virgin Mary. In this paso she is sad & mourning for her son. The candles on this float made it absolutely stunning.

Sunday (AKA Easter day): My friends & I woke up at 6AM to catch the last pasos of Semana Santa...I forgot how early 6AM was until then!!! But let me just say that I am SO happy I experienced the Easter pasos, they were sooo beautiful. Pictured above are Nazarenos, men & women completely covered in order to reflect their pure unity with God. This was the first year where women were allowed to participate as a Nazareno. If this outfit reminds you of the KKK, that's because the KKK was inspired by these capirotes (pointed hats) & hidden identity. WEIRD.

The beautiful Virgin Mary with all the candles lit. I can't even imagine how heavy that float was.

Jesus Christ, risen. Gorgeous.

After catching the last pasos of Semana Santa, we decided to get some desperately needed café con leche & pastries. We then headed to mass at the Cathedral, which started at 10AM...& finished 2.5 hours later! The first 40 minutes of mass was just music; someone played the organs beautifully and then the Archbishop said mass in Spanish. All the music was in Latin. I'd never felt more Catholic. :)

On Tuesday I went to my first bull fight! In Spanish it's called Corrida de Toros. 7 of us bought the 26 euro ticket (sitting in "sol alto," the cheap seats!) and soaked in all the culture. The older people watching the fight had their Sunday best on, & the crowd was NOT afraid to share their thoughts during the whole fight. They would boo or cheer or yell and it was so interesting to see. A group of older men (in their 70s) sat behind us & explained bits & pieces of the fight, which was very helpful.

Turns out, I actually LOVED the corrida! Here's how it works: There are 3 rounds.

• Round one—5 men waved their cape at the bull in order to tire it out. There are men on horses (picadores) that parade the ring, poking the bull if it gets too close to the men with capes.
• Round 2—3 men, banderilleros, place 2 banderillas (sharp barbed sticks) each into the bull. Again, this is in order to aggravate & tire the bull out.
• Round 3—the torero (called matador only after he has killed the bull) enters the ring alone with a small red cape & a sword. It his his job to kill the bull.

Describing what happens in an actual bullfight is just not sufficient or fair enough to depict my experience. Although there was a lot of blood, the whole fight was beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off of the toreros. They move so beautifully & seem so daring & confident when facing the bull. The bullfight is suppose to depict how man can conquer animal; I'm so glad I didn't chicken out & bail on the fight! I do have to admit that I had to close my eyes or turn away when the bull was killed, but everything before that was great.

This week: IT'S FERIA!!! Which means fiesta, fiesta, fiesta. We don't have classes this week, so Katie & I are catching up on some homework & making a day-trip to Ronda & Cádiz this week. & I may or may not be going to Portugal next weekend...3rd time's a charm?! haha

HASTA LUEGO. xoxo B

Palma De Mallorca

Hello Hello!

I just got back from my first trip of my super long spring break—Palma de Mallorca! My University, la Universidad Pablo de Olavide, gave the students this week off because of Semana Santa, the holy week right before Easter. My friend Sara & I left for Palma on Thursday after class & returned Monday night. Palma is a Balearic island near Barcelona, so it was a bit chillier than Sevilla, but fun nonetheless!

Day 1:Ready to go to Palma de Mallorca! Sara & I hopped onto our Ryanair flight around 8PM, arriving to the island at 10PM. We set off to find the hostel.

We were suppose to stay at this hostel called Sol de Mallorca...but somehow ended up at Hotel Enchant??! When we arrived at Sol, they said they were overbooked so they took us to a nice hotel for the same price. This is the view from the hotel! What we didn't know: we chose to stay in German-ville! Who knew that Palma de Mallorca was the place for Germans to vacation? Not I! I'm pretty sure there were just about as many German signs as there were Spanish signs...if not, more. Culture shock. Good thing we had already booked a hostel for the last 2 nights within the city.

Day 2: We found the beach & became beach bums for the majority of the weekend. Palma stayed in the 70s during the day...minus the clouds it was absolutely perfect!

Sara & I found a fun place to dance for one of the nights, it was great to see the Palma nightlife!

Day 3: After hitting up the beach Sara & I cleaned up a bit & found the cutest diner in the middle of nowhere. First glance at the Heinz ketchup bottle & we were sold to eat here. I had the greatest burger ever & ate pickles for the first time in 3 months, woah. I had to top it off with a chocolate milkshake of course!

Did I mention we went to the beach? Ha. That was the majority of our Palma spring break trip.

We wrapped up the trip at the Palma airport with Burger King & the Duty Free store. I forgot how awesome the BK Whopper was until a few days ago...now I'm hooked! Uh-oh. Anyway, the food was great & the company was even better!

Our mini honeymoon to Palma de Mallorca was relaxing & fun, but I am very glad we were only there for 4 days...I guess I like exploring new cities more than bumming around on an island! Adjusting to no travel when I get back to the States in not going to be fun.

My next trip: Lisbon, Portugal. I am taking a midnight bus that will put me in Lisbon around 7:30AM (yup, I will be on a bus for 7 hours). This was more of a spur-of-the-moment trip & I am so excited to get going again! Well, enough procrastination, time to get my Spanish Art History paper written before Portugal.

XOXO B