Semana Santa

So let me just start by saying that everything that happened for Semana Santa this week in Sevilla just fascinated me! Sevilla is known for its elaborate celebrations that revolve around Holy Week---it is definitely the most important week of the year for the people here. There is so much tradition involved, the people are so proud, and I have never seen the streets so alive!

It is hard to describe, but I will do my best! Basically starting on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter Sunday there are "processions" or "pasos" that different churches put on that travel throughout the city. It seemed like a parade, each with two floats, and the "floats" were carried by a group of men whose feet you could see underneath. The pasos contain images or statue-like portrayals of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Each church that participates has a unique image that is an old and priceless part of the processions. You can visit the images at any point during the year at their prospective churches.

During the week, the city never sleeps. The pasos can occur at any hour and when they do, the people know where to find them and flood to see them. They have publications and even iPhone aps with maps and the timing of each procession during the week. It was exhausting trying to figure out which paso was going to be out, and the best place to watch them. Unfortunately if it rains the whole thing is called off because the statues are so priceless that they don't want to ruin them. And of course it rained just about every day in Sevilla during Holy Week--¡Qué lástima!--but a good number of processions were still able to go out through the city during the dry hours.

I got back to Sevilla just in time for the most important day of Semana Santa which is Holy Thursday. Unfortunately it rained during the prime procession hours so I had called it a night early. But thanks to a late night call from my friend Martha who had been watching the news all night, I was able to get my butt out of bed and head to the bridge in Triana to stake out a spot for one of the most important processions of the week. Each paso leaves from their "home" church and takes a route that always passes by the cathedral before returning. My neighborhood of Triana has a paso called "La Esperanza de Triana" that leaves at 2 o'clock in the morning of the "madrugada" or dawn of Good Friday. Martha and I got to our spot a little before 1 o'clock and there was only one group of people sitting on folding chairs in front of us! It was so worth it to get there because the whole experiences was like nothing I could ever repeat.

La Esperanza de Triana is a big procession that includes over 2,000 nazarenos. Even though it left the Esperanza church at 2 o'clock it didn't arrive to where we stood until 3---and that was just a short walk down the street! It said that the length of the paseo was 75 minutes which is the time it takes for the entire thing to pass you--this includes the two images and two thousand nazarenos. During this time there was a constant flow of nazarenos which gave me chills! First the image of Jesus is carried past, and next the image of the virgin who is this case is called La Esperanza. There is also a marching band that walks by with each image. This is the same for each procession, but the Esperanza was special to me because it was in my neighborhood and it occurred under the light of a full moon. Wow. We were standing from 1 to 4 in the morning and my body was numb from the cold by the end but it was so worth it!

Now I will let the pictures do the talking:

Erie picture of some of the 2,000 nazarenos that walked by me!
They were men of any age and most were barefoot. 

Mix of emotions! A little freaked out and excited at the same time!

Here is Jesus carrying the cross. You can see how brilliant the images
are with the gold and silver. Keep in mind that they are very heavy
and carried through the city for miles by a group of men!

I felt like a kid waiting for La Esperanza to pass! Everyone watching
gasps and shouts ¡Qué guapa! or "How Beautiful" at la Virgen.
She was truly stunning with the candles and the flowers. 

Here is a little something on the nazarenos: They really are the heart of Sevilla's Holy Week because of the brotherhood. They are centered around doing public acts of service and public penance. There is so much work that goes into preparing for Holy Week, and it centers on the work of the nazarenos. There is no age restriction, you just have to be baptised, and women are now allowed in some brotherhoods. It is a very prestigious thing to be a nazareno in a procession for the sevillanos. I have heard of people who sign their sons up at age one because the longer you have been in the brotherhood, the closer you get to be to the images. It was common to see parents pushing their little nazareno in a stroller during the procession. I am still confused about the outfits, but people in Spain don't associate the hooded men with the same group as Americans do so I just had to roll with it! 

La Esperanza de Triana was by far my favorite experience of Holy Week, but I also saw two more processions---one during the day in Triana on Good Friday, and the other today on Easter while I was sitting by the river. 

Purple nazarenos

Another image of Jesus carrying the cross. This particular one
is known as the Hunchback. 

This procession is called "La O" and leaves from a church in Triana
As soon as she got to us it started to sprinkle and she passed under a
rainbow. It was a surreal way to end the procession. 

I spent Easter sitting by the river with an attempt at Easter Candy.
We were lucky to have the chance to catch another procession
before the week ended. Watching from the river provided a cool view. 

I am so glad that I got to spend a good portion of the week experiencing this really captivating week. Every time I went to a procession I felt like a little kid---just the anticipation for the pasos was so fun! It was also cool to see all the people out and about. Some even wore traditional outfits on Good Friday that were black with intricate veils. For Easter Sunday the clouds finally parted for good and everyone enjoyed the sunshine. It was a special Easter for me experiencing another culture's way of celebrating. I went to mass with my friend Erin to finish off the day. 

I took some videos of the paseo de Esperanza de Triana that are definitely worth watching. Consider it an Easter gift! 

Just a little clip of the nazarenos walking!
These guys took over the town over the past week it was crazy!
Especially with the rain and fewer processions, they just kept on their garb
and casually walked around with their families. 

Here is the first paso that I saw 

Jesus carrying the cross

Can't even describe how it felt to watch La Esperanza go by
Everyone in the crowd was so in awe and had so much energy at 4 am.
Seriously. The silver sparkling under the full moon. Unreal.

Well Easter is about to come to a close in Sevilla and I am celebrating by nibbling on some of the incredible chocolate that I bought in Barcelona. I don't know how it lasted me so long with my sweet tooth but it is soon to be long gone. Tomorrow back to reality. Only three more weeks of classes before exam week. Talk about crazy!