Blog 12: Ronda y Semana Santa

Blog 12: Ronda y Semana Santa

            Not only does Spain have siestas everyday but they also have a weeklong holiday called Semana Santa followed by another weeklong holiday called Feria just two weeks later! After all this pampering I don’t know how I’ll adjust back to my normal life. So I am now enjoying my time off during Semana Santa sipping some green tea and relaxing before my five-day trip to Morocco. This is my last blog to about Spain for the next three weeks. I think to do Morocco the justice it deserves I will write two in depth blogs about my experience there. Then a week after I’m spending a weekend in Portugal so I’ll have a blog about that too. So a short adios (bye) to Spain after this blog!

            Last Friday I awoke to the sound of falling rain. I wasn’t all that happy about the 100 percent chance of rain weather report because today we were going on a day trip to Ronda. Even though I would have rather stayed in my heated room, I tugged on my jacket a grabbed broken paraguas (umbrella). Despite rain, the drive to Ronda was absolutely gorgeous. There were lush green hills dotted with wildflowers everywhere with lakes cupped between them. I wish I could’ve taken a picture of it. Once in Ronda we saw one of the most naturally gorgeous sights I’ve seen since traveling in Spain. There’s a gorge the height of two football fields and the locals built a bridge above the gorge in order to connect both sides of their city. One of our professors said that one of her previous student fell off this gorge and miraculously survived making him famous in this town. Looking down, I couldn’t fathom how living through a terrifying fall like that is humanly possible. But I wasn’t about to prove my professor wrong by giving it a try myself (gulp)! And the rain became a beautiful blessing because a cascada (waterfall) was running in between the gorge. Seeing a waterfall is a rare occasion in Ronda so muchas gracias to the lluvia (rain)!

            After Ronda, Semana Santa finally began. Semana Santa is a religious holiday that is celebrated for a week in Catholic Spain. And I am very lucky because maybe the best place to experience Semana Santa in Spain is Sevilla because the people here go all out during this holiday. Passions run high and hundreds of people flood the calles (streets) to watch the processions. I’ve watched several processions and it was simply amazing. For an outsider the white túnica (tunic) and capirote (hood) that completely covers that face and has slits for only the eyes looks all a lot like the KKK. But this traditional attire predates the KKK (who sadly have made a horrible symbol out of this traditionally religious garb). Each brotherhood from the church walks in this dress holding a staff sized velas (candle). Others hold silver staffs and crests and some carry crosses barefoot show their penitence. In the cover of darkness the procession becomes a line of glowing candles that fill the air with the smell of wax. But the most impressive sights are the pasos (floats) carried throughout the streets.  It takes sixty men to carrying these. Some are golden with beautifully crafted figures playing out the scene of the Passion while others are of the Vigin Mary protected by a palio (canopy) and surrounded by dozens of candles and white flowers. Sweet incense is expelled as she passes and the crowded hushes as she makes her way through the streets. The tears streaking down her face are match by some people in the crowd as the Virgin Mary literally sways away, a beacon of light in the darkness. Even if you’re not religious, it’s impossible to not be stunned by the beautiful pasos (floats) and the fervent love people have for their faith.