El día de los reyes

Now that the holidays are past, and it is back to ¨normal life¨ (...we´re still in Spain, still only working part-time, still spending most of our time studying whatever we want to learn... so it´s not exactly ¨normal life¨ but the fiestas de navidad have come to an end ;) we have been reflecting on some of the delightful experiences we got to share this Christmas.

One difference that I find fascinating is that the Church calendar is so mainstream here: public holidays and festivities coincide with church festivals. And, according to the Church calendar, Christmas starts on Dec.25th and continues until Jan.6th (Epiphany / el día de los reyes). Of course, there are people in Canada who follow this calendar (many of you who are reading this blog, in fact), but there is a different feeling in the air when EVERYONE is on the same page. 

Throughout all 12 days of Christmas (because there literally are 12 days from the 25th to the 6th) there was such a festive atmosphere in the city. And not just people trying to hold on to Christmas a little longer, but the complete understanding that Christmas obviously doesn´t end until the Day of the Kings. No one takes down their decorations, everyone keeps singing villancicos, and no business, school, or university resumes normal hours until after Jan.6th. 

And then on Jan.5th, the final celebrations of Christmas begin to welcome the 3 kings who arrive with presents not only for baby Jesus, but for ALL of the children.

We had the opportunity to go with friends to a celebration at a small convent here in town. Every year a community group prepares a surprise presentation for the nuns, including a play with carols. The play (which many children took part in) was delightful with a very animated retelling of the Christmas story which especially emphasized, of course, the arrival of the 3 kings with their gifts. As the kings entered they showered the crowd with candies and caramels (we were a pretty packed crowd as it is a small space) and then the children (and even some adults) had the chance to sit on a king´s knee and ask for what they wanted for Christmas.

After the kings left (explaining that they needed to go take a siesta before the parade and their very busy night ahead of delivering gifts to all of the children in Spain), everyone squeezed into the dining room to share in a potluck lunch/comida, and then more carols/villancicos. The nuns requested carols in different languages from all of the foreign students, and so Nathan and I sang one or two in English, a friend from Poland sang one of her favorites, and then we all joined in many more in Spanish.

After that celebration we went to a mass, and then to the Cabalgata, which is a massive parade that it seems the whole city turns out for, followed by fireworks, and a dinner among our friends. And then, just as we finished supper, the local neighborhood parade of kings, surrounded by a fairly impressive brass marching band, marched right down our street! So cool! With the crowds at the Cabalgata we had to watch from a distance, but from our third floor balcony we had a perfect view of the local Realejo parade :)

And with that final parade, that finished off our Christmas celebrations :) 

While we certainly missed spending the holidays with our families and friends in Canada and the US along with some of the beautiful traditions that we normally participate in at home, a Spanish Christmas was definitely worth experiencing. :)

We hope you are all keeping well and are refreshed and looking forward to all things to come in this new year!

Love,

Candyce (and Nathan)

Some Holiday Photos:

Advent Wreath :)

City Street Decorations

City Decorations

Nathan´s birthday cake

(Chocolate Black Bean brownie Cake, with Raspberry Filling and Avocado Fudge Icing)

The church where we went to a mass on Jan.5th

La Cabalgata Parade

A better view from higher up...

More fun at the Cabalgata :)

The parade in our street!

View of the snowy Sierra Nevada from the terraza of a friend´s place :)

¡Feliz año nuevo!

Happy New Year! Can you believe it is 2014 already?!? As of Saturday we will have been in Spain for 3 full months - in some ways I feel like we´ve been here much longer and in other ways like we just arrived.

We had a delightful gathering last night to ring in the new year. Several friends came over to have supper at our place (menu including all-the-vegetables-in-the-fridge soup, mexican chili chicken, pomegranate spinach salad, ginger snaps and black bean brownies) and then we joined the crowds downtown to eat 12 grapes, watch the fireworks, and cheer and laugh and take photos.

12 grapes. Have you heard of that tradition? We´ve been told that it originated one year when there was a surplus of grapes in Spain and someone had the brilliant idea to convince everyone that when the clock strikes 12, at each ringing of the bell, you must eat a grape and make a wish. Whenever we ask anyone about their Christmas and New Year´s traditions, they always mention the grapes, and frequently emphasize how stressful it can be to eat them, especially if you have large grapes with seeds... So we diligently were prepared with our 12 grapes, pre-counted and even de-seeded, before we joined the crowds. 

In the end it was fairly chaotic, and we weren´t actually sure if we were eating the grapes during the countdown to 12-midnight, or if the clock had already struck 12... (we couldn´t actually see the clock from our place in the crowd and there was a lot of noise from so many people), but I think that was half the fun. Either way, we have now officially participated in the grape eating tradition, which is obviously very important ;)

After the fireworks we went home for champagne, Dixit, more desserts, chocolate caliente, and much laughter. Although our party didn´t last the whole night (apparently it is very traditional here to stay out or at least awake until after breakfast on Jan.1st), we did stay up until 4am, which is respectable I guess... ;)

And now the second quarter of our year abroad begins!

Some amusing expressions that had us laughing last night were:

Cuatro gatos

Literally: four cats. 

This is one of our favourite expressions, especially as one of our mexican friends uses this all the time (in part I think because Nathan always laughs whenever she says it). If you say there were only 4 cats it means that there was no one there. If you say we were four cats, it means we were the only people there. Or that there was practically nothing happening with no one around.

Nada que ver con la navidad

Literally: that has nothing to do with Christmas. 

It is an expression that can be used when you want to say that something is completely irrelevant, when it has nothing to do with whatever the main focus of the conversation/argument/whatever you are doing. It is similar to the expression ¨And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?¨ If you are familiar with the game Dixit, this is a useful expression to say when someone plays a card that appears to have nothing to do with the story that has been told. :)

Para gustos, colores

Literally: for tastes, colours. 

This expression is more beautiful than comical as it is a lovely way of saying that for the infinite variety of colors/options/combinations that exist in the world for someone somewhere it is perfect. A little bit like ¨to each his own¨, or ¨different strokes for different folks¨ but lovelier.

Wishing you all many blessings and many colours in 2014!

Love,

Candyce