Semana Santa

Hola! I am sorry that I have not written in so long, but it has been a really busy week! I will being by telling about our experiences with the pasos last night, then about our trip to Barcelona.
Ok, first the pasos. As you know, it is Semana Santa, and Spain being such a big Catholic country, that means a lot. Actually, to be a Catholic seems to me to mean something different here than we believe in the States. Not that many people go to mass, but there are statues and churches everywhere. During the whole week of Semana Santa, these float type structures, called pasos, leave from various churches and make a procession to the main Cathedral, then back to their church. The pasos are accompanied by bands, incense and hermanos-members of the church group-who wear an outfit similar to the KKK. I know that sounds bad (check out my pictures to see), but that’s what we all think of when we see them. I am still getting used to not being scared when I see one of them walking down the street towards their procession. This whole process is a little hard to explain, but hopefully I will be able to put up my photos and videos soon.
Each paso has a name, like Esperanza de Triana, El Gran Poder (Great Power), El Silencio or El Buen Fin. A paso either consists of a life size statue of Jesus or some scene from Holy Week, or a statue of Mary adorned with a long cape and surrounded by many flowers.
Each paso leaves at a designated time out of the church doors, and makes it’s way slowly to the Cathedral. The band comes first, then the hermanos, the incense and finally the paso. Now here is the real catch-these paso are not on wheels. People CARRY them. All through the street. On their shoulders. About 30-50 people stand hunched over underneath the paso carrying it for about 12 hours. I find this totally incredible and such an amazing feat. They costaleros (carriers of the pasos) are covered up, but sometimes you can see their feet. They have a sort of cheerleader, or guide behind them, giving instructions and encouragement.
The churches are open the week leading up to Semana Santa so people can go in and get a close up view of the pasos. It is amazing to see them close up with the intricate detail with the flowers and candles. I went on a tour with a teacher from school, and she explained that sometimes the paso are so tall and the doors not big enough, that the costaleros must get on the knees and shuffle out of the door before standing up. Conso (our guide), said that usually that part if quiet, but when they costaleros stand up, there is a big round of applause. Amazing.
The hermanos usually carry candles or crosses, depending on the paso. The crosses signify a promise that they made. The also may carry little charms or prayer cards and hand them out to the crowd.
Ok, so we decided to attend one of the Madruga pasos (Thrusday night to Friday morning). It is called La Esperanza de Triana, and is very convenient because it is in our neighborhood. We arrive at the route at 11 pm and staked out our spot. We waited there for 3 hours before the actual paso began-a few streets down from us (where the church of Sant Ana is located). By two hours before the paso, the streets were filled with people, and everyone was very territorial of their spot. Oh-I forgot to mention that with the pasos come hungry and tired people. Good thing there are men walking up and down the route selling ‘sillas sillas sillas’ aka the chairs that you use to watch soccer games or take to track meets. There are also stands of food-like at a fair-selling popcorn, chips, cotton candy, coconut and these bean-lookng things.
Anyways, after waiting, we saw the lights go off and could hear the band playing. First up was the band-this one consisting of younger people. They had white uniforms on and played proud but somber music. Then the hermanos: probably about 1,000 of them, all carrying candles. The crowd was not strictly silent during this part, but listened when the band went by. We then heard some clapping, and knew the paso was on its way. We could see the candles of the paso in the distance. Everyone started ‘shhhhh’-ing one another. The costaleros seemed to carry the paso a little ways, then rest and maybe set down the paso. When they stood back up, the people would clap.
The paso finally reached us, and it was incredible. Just being able to see it sway due to the shift in the costaleros was incredible. They still had a long ways to walk. Actually, it’s about 12:20 p.m., and we can still hear the beat of the drums. Good thing they have costaleros that switch out so they can rest. The Esperanza de Triana depicted Jesus carrying the cross with a Roman soldier showing him the way.
After the paso went by, more hermanos followed, then another paso of Mary. This one had a covering and people were throwing flowers over it from the balconies.
As soon as both pasos went by, the people booked it out of the neighborhood. Thank goodness we were close to home, as it was 4:30 in the morning and I was tired ☺ It was a great experiences though, and just so different from anything I have ever seen. I hope to catch some more in passing today and tomorrow.