Life as we knew it.

Well, my parents are gone, I'm half way through my first week back at school, and the sun has come back out in Andalucía (but only until Friday!!).

I had a great time with my parents while they were here, but we were moving moving moving the whole time!  It was exhausting!  In the 12 days they were here, we went to Madrid, Sevilla, Guadix, Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, Córdoba and they took a day trip to Nerja while I was at school on Monday.  Phew.  We saw the famous Semana Santa Easter processions in Sevilla, Granada and even in little Guadix.  All of them were surprisingly different, but I enjoyed everything more because of that.

I think I should mention the Nazarenos de Semana Santa (also often referred to as Penitentes) for a second.  In case you're not sure what I'm talking about, refer to this picture:

The Nazarenos de Sevilla.

Seeing these processions as an American, you can't help but feel....unsettled about the costumes.  When I took this picture was the first time that I had seen them myself, so I was quick to realize that I'm in Spain and these people are marching to represent a church.  Plus the longer you watch the procession, you see them carrying golden/bejeweled crosses, statues of Jesus and Mary, and a lot of them are even handing out candy to kids watching them walk by, lol.  So the feel of the whole event is significantly different than if you were to turn the corner in NYC and see the above picture.  This costume has been used for hundreds of years here in Spain, and should be more well known than its American counterparts.  I’m doing my part to spread the word.

Here are some more pictures I took of the processions.  These are in my old neighborhood of Triana, just across the river from Sevilla.  They actually turned off the lights of the famous Puente de Triana (Puente Isabel II) so that the procession would be more evocative.  I think it worked.

I’ll get some more of my parents’ pictures up in a little while.  I forgot to download them before they left, but I’ll get them somehow.

The procession crossing the Puente de Triana (you can only really see the candles they're holding).

In the crowd.

Cathedral in the background.

Possibly one of the best pictures I've ever taken.

Jesus, the Meditation.

 That's all for now!