After Morocco I returned to Granada to see the holy week processions. My dorm was closed for the whole week so I had to stay in a hostel. It was a little difficult trying to figure out the city from a new location, but I ended up discovering a lot of places I never knew existed. The day I got back from Granada I checked into my hostel and went over to Encarnita's apartment (the woman who I tutor in English) to get my extra luggage that I had left with her. Encarnita's son who goes to university in Madrid was home from the break. They invited me over for lunch and afterward I joined her son, Antonio, his cousins, and one of his uncles (a law professor at the University of Granada) to see a procession. One of the cousins was an expert in semana santa processions. He knew everything - the symbolism, traditions, the best places to watch from, etc. He taught me a lot.
Before we left to see the procession I talked with Antonio's aunt. She explained to me why she doesn't like the processions. She said they involve a lot of folklore and tradition and every year seem to have less to do with religion and more to do with show. Still, she said they are a very important part of the culture and the images evoke a lot of emotion from the people. José, the expert in everything semana santa, told me that the origin of the pointy hats isn't entirely known and there are many theories. However, they have absolutely nothing to do with the KKK. The people who walk in the processions wearing the hats are penitents. Each procession has at least two images (floats) - one of Jesus and one of the Virgin Mary.
That night I went out with Antonio and one of his cousins, Mar. It was great to finally go out with Spaniards my age and to see the places where they like to go with friends. Also, I was happy that none of them spoke English. It was a really good night, full of lots of Spanish and lots of new people.
I had quite a few free days in Granada without classes so my friends and I did a lot of walking around the city. This is a picture of a plaza in the Albaicín that has lots of cute stores and tea shops.
This is the Queen Isabel/Columbus statue that is very centrally located and often serves as a meeting point for friends.
This is a restaurant/bar that my friends and I discovered when we first got here in January. It has the best sangria in all of Granada. We know because we've tried almost all of them. The ceiling is lined with ham legs. The little cone cups on the bottom are for catching the grease. One day we counted all of the legs. There were more than 250. That's a lot of pig. We've really come to love this place. We go there a lot...pretty much every chance we get.
Courtney's family came to visit during spreak break. They rented a house in the Albaicín. I took these pictures as Courtney and I were walking up to their house to have dinner. This is a view of the cathedral.
These pictures were taken from the terrace. In the second picture you can see the Alhambra in the background.
Before dinner we all dyed Easter eggs. This is one of Courtney's little brothers, Jonathan. Here Jonathan is roasting a marshmallow over a candle.
As we were eating dinner we heard the drumming of a procession. We all jumped up from the table and went to the balconies. The procession passed right underneath us! It was an incredible view. We couldn't believe how lucky we were to see it so close up.
Here's a link to more pictures:
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