Happy Easter!

Well, that was quite an untraditional Easter I celebrated this weekend.  While most of my peers took off to travel this week since we are on spring break until next Sunday, I decided to stay in Spain for the weekend to check out "Semana Santa" (Holy Week), and see what Easter would be like here.  From Monday through Sunday, there were at least 2 parades scheduled every day, and I didn't want to miss a thing.  The first parade I caught was unplanned; out with my friends Saturday night (?), we were standing outside a bar chatting when we saw a slow moving hoard of people dressed in white robes with red sashes silently make their way through the late night streets of Salamanca. It must have been around 3 in the morning, so needless to say, us foreigners were quite surprised and taken aback.  At the end of the line, a life-sized statue of Jesus atop a candle-lit bed was carried by at least 40 of these strange looking people.  We all thought to ourselves, or at least I did, surly this would never happen in America!

"Capirote" is the name of the pointy hats traditionally worn during Easter. Easily mistaken for "KKK" members, there is in fact no connection between this religions tradition and the American group.  The strange, pointy looking hats worn during Easter are actually very creepy looking, as the whole face is hidden except for the eyes.

A photo taken by my roommate Lindsey during the late-night procession

Ironically, most of the parades later in the week were cancelled due to bad weather.  My host mom explained to me that during Easter week, this usually happens.  Well, determined to experience the culture of Easter here, I went out in the rain on Friday evening to see the "best" Easter parade.  Scheduled to start at midnight, I stood outside in the rain, camera in hand, outside the cathedral for 45 minutes waiting with the crowd, dripping wet from the steady rain.  Well, 1 am rolled around, and still nothing.  And yet people still waited.  As soon as the rain let up, the parade would start, so people stayed.  Wet, cold, and sick of standing around with puddles in my shoes, I left after an hour, disappointed I didn't see any parade.

Crowds of umbrella line the streets of Salamanca, patiently waiting

Trying to get inside the Cathedral to see the decorations within

The Plaza Mayor, decorated all week with Eater banners

Surprisingly, my host parents did not go to any parades.  They did not even to go church on Easter Sunday.  No special meals were cooked, and life went on like always.  I try not to be judgmental, because I have learned that is one of the worst mistakes you can make in life, especially when traveling.  It's just that I find it quite ironic! I mean, the only decorations in their house are Jesus-realted!  So, this is something I will never fully understand.

Easter Sunday was quite anticlimactic, I am sad to say.  And yet...it was one of my favorite days in Salamanca so far.  For brunch (well, really lunch), I made pancakes and French Toast for my friends who live in an apartment complex near my apartment.  Of course, I had to share with them my Vermont maple syrup! Which, of course, is the best food in the whole wide world.  As it was the first sunny day in about a week, we spent the rest of the day at a park, playing catch on the grass and enjoying the sunshine and company of friends.  Maybe I didn't go to a traditional church service, see a fancy parade, or eat a huge delicious out meal as I would have in America, but  I was with my friends and we enjoyed the day and each others company, and really, that is all that I could have asked for.   It was one of those days that I never wanted to end; it was simple, unplanned....one of those memories that surly will make me nostalgic for this city someday soon.  

But that is in the future! And I do not want to dwell any longer. Right now, I'm in the bus station waiting to catch a bus to Madrid, and then tonight I am off to Budapest! Another adventure awaits!