fin de semana

Sunday, 7:05 p.m.

Kyla and I have been writing papers on the statue of Pedro Velarde for the past three hours. It shouldn't have taken that long...we're easily distracted.

Here's a brief weekend recap...

On Friday morning I took off on a run and saw this:

Lovely.

On Saturday I didn't do much of anything...but I was able to see the first of the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions.

It was kind of creepy at first. There was an intense drum accompaniment that made me feel as if the city was about to be taken over by bad guys. Add in the fact that people in the procession were wearing black hoods that reminded me of the KKK (okay so the hoods weren't pointed or white. But still) and it was a pretty interesting vibe.

There was also incense - and I am happy to report that the incense in the U.S. is the exact same. I was pretty excited by this realization.

This was the actual statue being carried through the streets:

There are about 20 of these that going to be processed through the streets this week. I went through a plaza and saw them all, and they're pretty intense. They have a lot of the stations from the Stations of the Cross in it, as well as a few others. I'm going try to see as many of the processions as I can this week.

After I saw the procession and wandered for a while, I headed home for the evening. It was another quiet evening for me - I read and fell asleep by 10:30. I'm really not cut out for Spain's night life, but that's okay with me.

So that was Saturday.

This morning I got up with every intention of going to church - I even went into the cathedral for mass. But then my fight-or-flight instinct kicked in...normal people wouldn't be freaked out in a huge cathedral, but I was. I kept worrying about what would happen when the doors were shut - how would I get out if I needed to? My claustrophobia drove me outside where I got to see the end of the Palm Sunday procession (this statue was of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey) and the beginning of mass. The palms given to the general public are actually branches from this:

I read in a plaza for a bit before returning home for lunch. I ate a four-course meal featuring shrimp (still in their shells - gross), potato-olive salad, fish in tomato sauce, and a gigantic bowl of strawberries that I topped with a dollop of whipped cream (something my host family thought was crazy as they put several scoops of whipped cream on theirs).

Now I'm finishing up a paper at Kyla's and gearing up for another week at school. Only three days this week, due to Semana Santa! Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

♥ abigail