So Here I Am?

Arrived in Seville in the afternoon and wandered around a bit with my backpack on trying to get my bearings. I finally figured out how to get to the metro station and then followed the directions to the Triana Backpackers hostel. Seville looks different than it did last year, everyone is walking around in their Sunday best. Oh yeah, it is Semana Santa (Easter Week.) in Spain it is not Spring Break, but a week of religious pageantry. Even though only about ten per cent of the country are practicing Catholics. I suppose Italy be like like in the US where a lot of folks fill the churches on Christmas and Easter.  Except in Spain, as far as I can tell, the only church is the Catholic Church.  I'm not going to go onto the history of how that happened, but if you are curious, the history of the Iberion Pennisula is a good read. 

I had heard that Semana Santa in Seville is incredible. Apparently a lot of other people heard that too, because the place is packed. Of course I arrived on the Thursday before Easter, which I think is the day of the Crucifictiion. Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate the Crucifiction. In Seville this is done with processions happening all night Thursday and a holiday on Good Friday. Almost everything except restaurants and bars is shut down. I suppose it's like that in most of Spain, a country where stores and businesses are still closed on Sundays and other Christian holidays. 

This morning I went out in search of café con leche and was blocked from getting back to my hostel because the Children's procession was queuing up in Triana. So I stood and watched for two hours  it had been my favorite procession in Salamanca two years ago. It was a little different here. Big and little kids and adults walked in this procession. and the kids walking had candies to hand out to the smaller kids watching the procession. It reminded me of trick or treating except the recipients stayed in one place and the givers moved along. 

After, I was done I went back and went to sleep. I haven't been able to stay awake much since I arrived in Spain. I was wondering how I managed in the last two years, then I remembered that the first year My daughter, Leea, and I traveled to Morocco, Istanbul, and Barcelona for three weeks before I started the Camino. Last year I worked in the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago for two weeks before I went to Saint Jean to start the Camino. So I'm just going to rest until it is time for me to start walking on Monday or Tuesday. 

One of my roommates here at the hostel is Ana. She is from Uruguay and dances flamenco. She is leaving tomorrow for Barcelona she is about 5'8", thin with shoulder length shining black hair and a sweet warm smile. There are also two Asian girls in our room but they don't talk much, even to each other. Another person is Lynn from Colorado. She goes to school at Colorado State in Fort Lewis. She is in her last year and has finished all of her course work so she is traveling for two months. From here she is going to Granada, lucky girl. I gave her some suggestions of things to see and do. 

I walked around the city today. I have been here in the summer and in the fall, but I have never seen it as packed as it is now. I'll be curious to see if the crowds thin on Monday, but I think there is a large feria that begins on Monday. Oh well, I'll have lots of alone time once O start walking.