PEO-ple!! (bonus points if you know the reference)

After this week I am going to need at least another week of solitary confinement to recover. I have been elbowed, shoved, pushed, whispered about and crushed by hordes of people. The processions are worth it, and the people watching aspect helps make up for it in part, but man! People! For example, last night Lauren, Danielle and I were standing watching a procession pass Plaza Nueva. Unfortunately, the main way to get to the Gitanos procession (which is way up in the Sacromonte area and is a huge party) is right through Plaza Nueva. This meant that the three of us were pushed and elbowed aside by a never-ending line of people trying to get to the party. It was annoying. Very annoying. Especially since not only were they elbowing and shoving, but also barging right through the procession.

Tonight Lauren and I were again in Plaza Nueva waiting for the Aurora procession and after that the Silencio. We were an hour and a half early and standing in the middle of the street where the processions would come through in order to be pushed aside by the police and thus be in the front to see the processions pass. It was a clever plan, and it worked. While we waited we watched. One girl that we remarked on was wearing the typical Spanish haircut with the bangs and all and the most enormous necklace I’ve ever seen. It was reminiscent of a Viking belt. Anyhow, it was noticeable. She appeared with her group about half an hour after we’d already been there. Eventually the procession starts coming and sure enough we get pushed into place in the front, but also in front of Viking girl and company. They tried to tell us that we have to go to the back (remember, we’ve been there waiting at least half an hour before them) and started poking at me. Lauren was not having any of it and told them in no uncertain terms that we’d been waiting longer than they had and were not moving. We learned to get along more or less after that.

We watched the first procession go by and then stayed in place for the Silencio. This one was really cool. All the lights ahead of the procession are turned off (streetlights, shops, windows etc.) and the procession goes by in silence except for one guy banging on a drum. It’s quite impressive. Behind me there was a group of three tiny old ladies and one tiny old man. The tallest one was almost up to my shoulder, to give you some idea of how very short they were. Obviously, being very short, they were having a hard time seeing. The solution? They stuck their heads through the cracks in the crowd. One of them was between me and Viking girl and used my elbow as a nice spot to rest her chin. It was very cute.

After watching the silent procession go by, Lauren and I wanted to see at least one more before calling it a night (the silent one finished around 1:30) and heading home. However, getting from Plaza Nueva to the Cathedral was ridiculous. One solid mass of people crushed together and taking baby steps through the alleys away from Plaza Nueva towards Gran Via where there is a little more room to breath. Lauren and I held onto each other for dear life and eventually were pushed and pulled out to Gran Via and from there we could make our way to the Catedral and stand in a huge mass of people to watch the Alhambra Virgin go into the Catedral. We were probably 20 feet away from her, but she was gorgeous and the music was very impressive. Plus, our friend the Archbishop gave a brief little homily and then we all said a Hail Mary which was nice. I realized today why I think the Archbishop is cute: he reminds me of Winnie the Pooh. I was struck by this revelation during Mass and had to lean over and tell Lauren. She says I should have waited until afterwards since she couldn’t control her laughter completely. She’s probably right.

Anyhow, after we saw the Virgin go into the Cathedral we fought our way out of the crowd and went to our respective homes. Now it’s three and listening to my Señora snoring, I’m thinking I should probably go to bed. Happy Good Friday!