Domingo de Ramos

sad to say goodbye to granada and my little piso but not nearly as sad as i thought. and of course had a great last day of school...jamie and i made surprise guacamole from our class, then we had our culture class at my fav, horno de paquito, so not only did i get a last go at my papas bravas but i also got to say goodbye to the silverfox of a waiter, alfredo.

first step to home: sevilla. more beautiful than i would've expected, and remember how i keep saying i haven't found the spanish men to my liking? well, that's because i hadn't been to sevilla. wow, they are tan, they are manly and beautiful, they make eye contact. it's working for me. am having so much fun eating my way through sevilla: of course fried gambas etc in paper cones, espinacas garbanzo, boquerones en vinaigre, tortillitas de camarones, rabo de toro...you name it i've eaten it.

so today is domingo de ramos (our palm sunday but hear they use olive branches instead of palm fronds), the first official day of semana santa. you know what that means: processionals in the streets, day and night, incense, huge gold floats of the resurrection of christ, etc etc. not to mention the hooded kkk figures. i have yet to verify this fact but i cannot believe that they kkk and the nazarenos of semana santa just happen to have the same pointy hoods and robes without having some sort of connection. my theory is that the kkk used this idea (which represents penitence in semana santa) because it is a religious symbol, to exemplify their religious purity (whilst practicing racist atrocities--ah, the things that are done in the name of god)...but that's just what i think. so yes, the hood thing is creepy. and honestly the whole procession thing is a little dull. its very slow, there's usually a band (the music i'll admit is awesome and religious and intense) and then a bunch of hooded figures (black, white, green, blue, purple), some with shoes some without. they walk this huge parade route and each church brotherhood has two or three floats and they carry on this walk. the procession for each church takes about 4-5 hours and you can imagine the logistical mess this is for anybody wanting to explore the city on foot....half the streets are blockaded...and the entire world is out spectating.
but the best part, at least so far, is that EVERYBODY is done up in their sunday "go-to-meeting" clothes. it's so fabulous. men in suits and ties, women in dresses and heels...even the little kids: little boys in knee socks, shorts with suspenders over collared shirts, and little girls with dresses and baby baleros with bows in their hair. adorable. cant get enough.
and although i'm exhausted from walking all over today, lucky for me there is live coverage of the procession from key points...on five tv channels so it's pretty hard to miss...even while i'm taking my siesta.

interesting cultural moment to be sure, but this is supposed to be the slowest day of the week...glad we are headed to madrid tomorrow, not sure i could handle a whole week of this type of catholic intensity...wednesday the processions go all night. luckily by wednesday i will be eating burritos and enjoying the sf skyline from the couch....