This week I’ve pretty much just chilled around Granada. Tuesday (April 7) Whitney and I went to the Granada airport to pick up her cousin who is visiting for the week. This makes 3 sets of visits for Whitney to my none, bummer. Then I started figuring out scheduling stuff for classes next semester and had a Skype date with Mom. Wednesday I set out in search of a book to read. I’d prefer a book in English because then I can read for fun without seeming like I’m doing any work. However, no English books were to be found, but it’s alright because I found one of my favorite books, Wicked, in Spanish. So I have started reading that. Then I watched a processional before dinner and then a couple with my friends after dinner.
Thursday morning Whitney, her cousin, Sara, and I went to Café Futbol for churros y chocolate for breakfast. I also got freshly squeezed orange juice which was delicious and a nice change from the continual hot chocolate I get for breakfasts. That evening we all met up to go to a Flamenco show at a restaurant in the Albayzin. When we walked up to the restaurant we located free ticket lady who got us free entrance to the show and drinks. The show was scheduled for 8pm, but this is Spain and it started at 8:20pm. It was actually real flamenco! Not like the Aladdin musical we went to last month! There was a guy playing guitar, a guy singing, and a girl dancing, wearing a black flamenco dress with big red polka dots. It was really cool; I had forgotten how important singing is in flamenco and the guy sang really well. I really liked the dancing too, how the stomping of her feet became music along with the guitar playing.
At midnight the Silencio processional began and it made it down to Plaza Nueva, where we were waiting, at about 12:45am. This processional is one of the most famous ones in Granada during Semana Santa. They turn all the street lights and business lights out so the city is dark and the only light comes from the candles in the processional. Everyone is completely silent, including the crowds watching, and you WILL get shushed if you try to talk. The only sounds you hear are the shuffle of the feet of the people in the processional and the eerie drums playing. Every processional is done by different brotherhoods from churches and has an image of Jesus and Mary (we would probably refer to them as “floats” so think large scale), usually from the 17th or 18th century. They keep these images in remarkable condition; Jesus always comes first and the Virgin ends the processional. In the Silencio processional, however, there was only a large image of Jesus on the cross, which looked a little creepy floating in the air all lit up in the dark. There were tons of people there, I will be glad when Monday comes and everyone goes home. I thought Granada was crowded before, it is absolutely ridiculous now. It took my ½ an hour longer to get home than normal because of the shear number of people in the streets.
Today a lot of my friends are off to the beach in Nerja. I elected to stay home because I’m still not feeling too well and I don’t think a day on the beach would help too much. Also, I’m glad I didn’t go because I woke up this morning and it is cold and rainy! Hopefully, they get some sun on the beach but usually Nerja has the same weather as Granada. This afternoon I have a Skype date with my best friend Jen, which I am excited about because it feels like I haven’t talked to her in forever. Then a couple friends and I are going to go to a movie, we’re thinking the Aliens & Monsters cartoon looks pretty good. Ooh! I am really excited about the new X-Men movie coming out, it hits Spain May 1st.
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