semana santa, and other things

So this week is don't-try-to-go-anywhere-in-the-city-center week, due to about 50 million processions every day (slight exaggeration). I've been mostly avoiding leaving the house at all, except to run by the river. Last night, though, I braved the streets (SO full) to see the gypsy procession. I've been told its really special. So even though I'm not into these things, I thought I'd check it out. After fighting our way through the tiny streets packed with people (drinking, smoking, singing, sitting by fires, etc.) we found a nice place up high by the caves where we could see the road below. Perfect. Except it was really cold. And past my bedtime. :) And we waited a long time and could still not hear the procession approaching. My friend had seen it last year, and I was really excited about the prospect of going home, making some hot chocolate and going to bed... so we decided to give up our prime viewing spot and walk down the street to meet up with the procession where we could, let it pass and then head home. Which is what we did. It was kind of neat to see people singing and clapping as it went by, but there was also a huge population of merely spectators like me, and it was really crowded and not overly impressive. Interesting that they yell "gitano, guapo!!" a lot, though. "gypsy, handsome!" ? I'll let you decide what you will, here's a video. (Pictures didn't come out too well.)

Also, I love the names of the associations responsible for the processions... Like this one for example:HERMANDAD DE NUESTRO PADRE JESUS DE LAS TRES CAIDAS Y NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROSARIO EN SUS MISTERIOS DOLOROSOS DE LA MUY ANTIGUA, PONTIFICIA, REAL E ILUSTRE ARCHICOFRADÍA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL ROSARIO. ("Brotherhood of our Father Jesus of the three fallen ones (?) and our Lady of the Rosary in her painful mysteries of the ancient, pontificial (?), royal and ilustrious arch-brotherhood of our Lady of the Rosary." more or less.)

Anyway, it's Semana Santa, and I'm basically hiding at home, trying to get some class work done, revise my resumé, search for and apply for summer employment (in Spain), and relax a bit after another fun tournament. :) This time in Girona (Catalunya), on the beach. I played with a team from Santander (in the north) and had a blast. Lots of friends there, and good play. My team ended up getting 4th of 24 teams, which is pretty good. Teams came from all over Europe--France, Latvia, England, Germany, Belgium and more. I'm going to miss this.