Two
events marked the cultural high points during our stay at the Finca Los Tres
Alcornoques in San Vicente, region of Extremadura, Spain: the city wide celebrations
of Corpus Cristi and the victory of España’s fútbol team against Italia in the
2012 Euro Cup (the disco lights, smoke machines and synthesized flamenco was
the cultural low point but that’s a whole other story).
 |
| Corpus Cristi Procession |
The
day of Corpus Cristi celebrates the confirmation and first communion of the
pueblo’s eligible children. Spain being
a very Catholic country, this day is a momentous event in the lives of both the
children and their families. Dressed in
their bridal white and fine suits, the children emerge from the church in a
grand procession of musicians and ornate alters and slowly and reverently march
through the colorfully decorated streets.
Crowds of people from San Vicente and beyond gather on the sidewalks to
watch this breathtakingly emotional procession.
After the children and their entourage complete their city block long
circular march, they return to their homes or the homes of their friends for a
feast and further celebration. Unfortunately,
as we did not have a friend or family member confirmed into the church that
day, I am unable to elaborate on the feasting.
I can, however, elaborate on what constitutes “colorfully decorated
streets”.
Months
prior to the actual event, the planning begins.
A leader is assigned to each section of the street to be decorated. The leader collaborates with their fellow
decorators to devise a design concept. Common
themes are flowers, the crucifixion of Jesus, doves, variations of INRI, the marriage of wheat aqsn grapes as the body and blood of Christ, etc. The leader is responsible for ensuring that
their team has enough materials in order to complete the whole design. The day before the event, the design is
sketched onto the street with chalk covering the street from sidewalk to
sidewalk. The actual decoration and
completion of the artwork starts as early as daybreak on the day of the event. This is where we came in. |
| Brin & Elli |
Apparently
Brin and her daughter, Elli had been volunteering to help with this event for
years, and trust me when I say, these folks need all the willing volunteers
they can get in order to finish before the 1:00 p.m. procession start time. Why, you ask?
Well, because those colorful bits lining the streets are large salt crystals, sand, sawdust and wood
shavings, dyed and painstakingly placed within the lines of the chalk outline
in order to create these amazingly beautiful designs!
We
arrived early that Sunday morning, were given a cup of coffee and a pastry and handed
a pair of latex gloves to protect our hands from the dye. Each section was labeled with chalk as to
which color went where. The idea was to
make the layer of shavings thick enough to fully cover each section but not so
thick as we did not want to run out of any colors. Oh, and
I hope everyone seasoned their celebration feasts ahead of time because
in order to fill all the pure white sections, neighbors hauled out bags and
bags of table salt! It was hard work bending
over and kneeling for hours; some ladies even brought pillows or strapped pads
to their knees!
After
finally finishing our section of the street, we ventured out along the rest of
the circular pathway to check out what the other blocks had done. The intricate shapes and color grading that
could be done with salt and wood shavings were truly amazing! The patters seemed to go on and on, all that
meticulous work for hours and hours to honor the confirmation and first communion
of these Catholic children; you could feel the pride radiating through the
pueblo. What an experience!
Really, these were all made of salt, sand, wood shavings and tedious work!
Speaking
of pride, I must say that the greatest display of Spanish national pride occur
when Spain wins their fútbol (soccer)
matches. I experienced this years ago
when I lived in Barcelona. Every time FC Barca (Fútbol Club Barcelona) played,
the bars were packed, and I mean packed like sardine tins, from wall to wall
with zealous fans, jumping and shouting at every play. To the left is the bottom of the pool at out friend's beach house: the symbol of FC Barcelona. I'm telling you, these people are obsessed!
Our
last week on the Finca Los Tres Alcornoques, Spain played Italy in the final
match of the Euro Cup. Of course we had
to go! Every time Spain scored, the
whole bar erupted in shouts of “¡Yo soy Español! ¡Yo soy Español! (I am Spanish! I am Spanish!)” The energy was contagious, especially since
Spain ended up winning 4-0! After the
match we walked through the streets, drinking beer (it’s legal to drink on the
streets in Spain) and cheering along with the Spaniards. Cars full of half-naked people painted the red
and yellow of Spain, zoomed around honking.
Others cheered with their bull horns and megaphones. Even the old abuelas hung over their balconies with their Spanish flags flying
high. High on victory, marijuana and or beer,
die-hard fans even jumped in and out of the fountains whooping and splashing
with joy. What a night!
To
walk the relatively quiet, very plain and unadorned streets of San Vicente
during an average day, one would never expect the vibrancy and beauty that the
pueblo exuded on these two momentous occasions and we were most grateful to be
a part of it all!
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