La Semana Santa
AndalucÃa, 1st of May
We hadn't realised until we arrived that Easter is a really special celebration here in Spain. Every town
and village has processions through the streets for several days over the Easter weekend and the huge images carried
through the streets are quite breathtaking. Some need a hundred people to carry them.Our village did not celebrate
Easter in the usual way because the church is currently being refurbished and is surrounded by scaffolding.
Incidentally, they have set up a temporary church in what used to be a paper knicker factory! So on Good Friday evening
we went to the next village a couple of miles away to see the procession.
Everyone gathered in the square in front of the bar and the church. An old man sang a mournful
unaccompanied song and then the procession started. Four candle-lit images moved slowly through the streets to the sound
of a slow drumbeat with all the villagers and visitors following behind. Every so often we came to a stop and the images
were propped up on stilts so that the bearers could have a rest. It was very atmospheric and moving.Next year when we
are feeling more adventurous we might venture further afield to some of the big celebrations in Malaga or maybe
Granada.
Progress on the building front
We
are having a very uncomfortable time at the moment and all our possessions are covered in dust and are mostly
inaccessible. We have had no cooking facilities for three weeks and are heartily sick of eating out. The work probably
would have been finished by now if we hadn't kept asking for more things to be done. However the end is in sight and by
the time I write my next diary entry I hope to have pictures of my beautiful new kitchen. We have new windows and
external doors but no internal doors at all at the moment which means no privacy anywhere!
Spanish on trial
My
Spanish skills have been severely tested again lately. We have needed to choose tiles for various places and it has only
just dawned on me that there are at least three words for tiles and I have probably been asking for the wrong ones every
time. Wall tiles are los azulejos, floor tiles are las
baldosas and roof tiles are las tejas. We had similar confusion at the plumber's
shop to choose which sink we wanted for the utility room. We asked the girl in the shop what sinks she had and so she
showed us los lavabos, the bathroom sinks, on display. This wasn't right so she then
produced a catalogue for el fregadero, kitchen sinks. What I actually wanted was a
traditional ceramic deep sink used for washing clothes. This is called una pila. No wonder
we all find it so hard!
Sent by: Sue
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