Holy Week, Batman!
So, it's Holy Week.
Does that mean that today is Ash Wednesday? Or is that during some other time? Because I certainly didn't see any Spaniards with any ash on their foreheads.
Anyhow, you may or may not know that Holy Week is special to me because when I was seven years old, for some reason we had Good Friday off of school (and this was in the Carlstadt Public Schools, so maybe it overlapped with Spring Break? Because I imagine the ACLU would have been on my little New Jersey town's case otherwise, no?) I went with my mom to work that day. I distinctly remember asking her if I could get my ears pierced that day, and she said yes, later. And on the way home from work with her, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, I got my ear pierced! They used a gun, and the earrings that I got were small gold circles, with, I distinctly remember, very pointy tips (the better for piercing with.) I always think of that story around Good Friday.
But this year I'm in Spain! And to top that, I'm in Andalucia! I'm in Holy Week land, as far as I can tell, and I was looking forward to seeing some processions, particularly as I'd never gotten to go to my hometown of Popayán to see them!
The first processional confraternity to leave its home church, the Borriquilla, was supposed to pass by my house! I was so excited to put my balcony to good use seeing everything be carried by! It drizzled, however, and so the procession was off. And it's been raining on and off ever since.
Today, we were supposed to go see the Gitanos (gypsy) procession that ends in the Sacromonte. It was supposed to be fourteen hours of proceeding! But it rained and so that got cancelled too. I went into the church because they have the floats (if they can be called that) on display, and saw some of the people in their getups (the men in their robes, minus pointy caps), and some women in beata outfits.
I understand that (in some cases) what they're carrying around are four century old pieces of art. But on Sunday, it drizzled way before the procession was supposed to happen!
The day wasn't a total loss, however, since I made sun-dried tomato waffles with a caramelized onion and cheese topping.
So, it's Holy Week.
Does that mean that today is Ash Wednesday? Or is that during some other time? Because I certainly didn't see any Spaniards with any ash on their foreheads.
Anyhow, you may or may not know that Holy Week is special to me because when I was seven years old, for some reason we had Good Friday off of school (and this was in the Carlstadt Public Schools, so maybe it overlapped with Spring Break? Because I imagine the ACLU would have been on my little New Jersey town's case otherwise, no?) I went with my mom to work that day. I distinctly remember asking her if I could get my ears pierced that day, and she said yes, later. And on the way home from work with her, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, I got my ear pierced! They used a gun, and the earrings that I got were small gold circles, with, I distinctly remember, very pointy tips (the better for piercing with.) I always think of that story around Good Friday.
But this year I'm in Spain! And to top that, I'm in Andalucia! I'm in Holy Week land, as far as I can tell, and I was looking forward to seeing some processions, particularly as I'd never gotten to go to my hometown of Popayán to see them!
The first processional confraternity to leave its home church, the Borriquilla, was supposed to pass by my house! I was so excited to put my balcony to good use seeing everything be carried by! It drizzled, however, and so the procession was off. And it's been raining on and off ever since.
Today, we were supposed to go see the Gitanos (gypsy) procession that ends in the Sacromonte. It was supposed to be fourteen hours of proceeding! But it rained and so that got cancelled too. I went into the church because they have the floats (if they can be called that) on display, and saw some of the people in their getups (the men in their robes, minus pointy caps), and some women in beata outfits.
I understand that (in some cases) what they're carrying around are four century old pieces of art. But on Sunday, it drizzled way before the procession was supposed to happen!
The day wasn't a total loss, however, since I made sun-dried tomato waffles with a caramelized onion and cheese topping.
posted by AV at 5:19 PM
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