Last Friday, April 23, La Fiesta De Sant Jordi was celebrated in Catalunya. Part of the fiesta (holiday) comes from a legend or tale. There are many versions of the tale but they all are similar. It goes that a dragon captured a princess and no one was able to rescue her. One day a man came along named Jordi who killed the dragon and rescued the princess. From the blood of the dragon grew a rose, which Jordi gave to the princess. After that the two got married and lived happily ever after... typical fairy tale.
The other part of the fiesta deals with books. Books are important on this day because it is said that Shakespeare and Cervantes (a Spanish writer famous for his work "Don Quijote") both died on April 23.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
So how is this holiday celebrated? First of all, school was optional. In school there were no classes just fun activities such as basketball, soccer and theatre. I did attend school. However, many of my friends from Segundo Bachillerato did not. It was a lot of fun, I played basketball and was also the referee of basketball for the youngins. But none of that stuff has to deal with a dragon, rose or Shakespeare. This fiesta is celebrated in that males give roses to females (wives, girlfriends, etc.) and females give books to males (husbands, boyfriends, etc.)
The rose giving was more popular than the books. On every street corner there were people selling roses. One of those fine salesmen was ME!! It was a lot of fun I was with my friends on the street corner selling roses for the school. I don't want to be bigheaded but I am a good salesman ;) One rose was three euros and we sold all the roses we had, which was a bucketful. I had some special offers in which I would sing in English if you bought a rose or two roses and a coke for six euros. This was probably one of the greatest days in Spain for me. Here is a link of my beautiful singing http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=T72THOj3Y08 This video was made a while ago...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Easter Break
Every country celebrates different holidays and if countries celebrate the same holiday they celebrate it differently. So how do Spaniards celebrate Easter??? To be honest for me it was just another Sunday. No Easter egg hunts or Easter Bunny, hahah or jajaj as they say here. Of course, that is not what Easter is really about. Many people know that practically all of Spain is Catholic. However, what I found to be a shocker is that not many people go to church. I myself have gone to Mass probably 10 times (muy malo) in my stay in Spain. My host family doesn't go to church and neither do the majority of my friends. However, during "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) there are more people that go to church. Just like back at home.
Something that I found different and intriguing are the processions. During Semana Santa churches have processions that go through the town. What are processions? They are somewhat like a religious parade with people dressed up, yes believe it or not, in costumes that look like those worn by the KKK. The people that wear these outfits belong to religious fraternities and other organizations. They are NOT members of the Ku Klux Klan. In the processions there are also many floats carrying statues of Jesus and Mary. These processions are also very serious. They aren't like the "Cabalgata de Reyes" (parade of the Three Kings who arrived to bring gifts to Baby Jesus) where they throw lots of candy. It was a totally unique experience for me.
Another special tradition here is celebrated on the Monday following Easter. It is called the "Dia de la Mona." La mona is a chocolate pastry that can be a figurine such as a monkey or Messi like I have here. It can also just be a cake. The godparents give a mona to their godson or goddaughter on this day.
So there you have the celebration of Easter- Spanish style. But what exactly did I do on my Easter- Spring Break!! I would like to start off by thanking two of my aunts or tias: Tia Linda y Tia Belia. My Tia Linda sent me an Easter egg basket: the Easter bunny didn't forget about me. And my Tia Belia sent me a box filled with JELLO mix and the molds to make JELLO EGGs (she knows I like Jello Eggs.) Both also sent me those glorious Reese's peanut butter eggs and other Easter candy. Of course, I shared the candy with my friends and host family. They enjoyed the Reese's eggs. I received both packages just before leaving for the small pueblo of Gemuno.
Gemuno is the pueblo (small village) that I went to for Christmas. Not much action going on there. There are very few people who reside there. It is in the country and there is a cierro (hill) near. It is a very peaceful pueblo with the quiet of the country. We spent a week there. During the week I was able to read a lot and play board games with my family. Although it is very relaxing I must admit that I prefer city living. I can't stand being isolated like that, but you do what you have to do. Not all the time was spent in Gemuno though. We did go to the city nearby, Avila and to another city called Segovia.
Avila, as I have said before, is known for its Muralla (fortress or wall.) It is, I believe, the best-preserved wall in the WORLD. We went to Avila a lot because it is only about 7 km away. On one occasion we went to Segovia which I found to be a wonderful city. It has some magnificent sights: the Aqueduct of Segovia and the Alcazar. Here we met part of Feli's family and had lunch with them. I loved looking at the Aqueduct--it was amazing! We saw those processions I talked about in Segovia and Avila.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
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