As of today, I have been in Spain for 2 months! My host mother reminded me yesterday, and I couldn't believe it. Time is passing so quickly, and yet, I feel like I've been here forever. I recognize the streets, finally know my class schedule, and feel much more comfortable speaking Spanish.
I have, however, fallen very behind in updating this blog. The problem is that catching up with old posts is a lot harder to do than writing about something that just happened, but I also don't want to leave anything out.
I wrote the following post about Carnaval this last week and didn't finish it until now...so I'm even more behind than I originally said! But the weather is beautiful, and I have a plan to go to a cafe, sit outside, and catch up with the rest of the posts in the sun!
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Well, the inevitable has happened and I am weeks behind updating this blog! First I blamed it on midterms, and then on all the travelling, but now I am back in Toledo for the next two weeks and have no excuse! (That is not strictly true... I have a play that I am supposed to be reading open in front of me, and a couple of papers I could be writing... but at least this feels a little more justifiable than checking my email for the umpteenth time or daydreaming)
It is strange that we have been in Toledo for about a month and a half now, and even stranger that there is so little time left. So far I have been to Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Cordoba, and Grenada in Spain, and also Portugal. The rest of the time here is a little bit less hectic, but we still have plans to go to Morroco, Italy, and possibly a couple more cities in Spain.
So to catch up on the weeks that I missed: three weeks ago was the week before midterms, so almost everyone stayed in Toledo. It also happened to be Carnaval, a huge celebration before Cuaresma (Lent). The religious connections with Carnaval have pretty much disappeared, at least as far as I can tell, and it in Toledo it is now basically a huge party on the street that lasts for the entire weekend. There are tons of costumes, music, and parades. I missed the parades on Saturday afternoon, but that evening we met up in Plaza Zocodover (the main plaza in the casco) where there were musicians performing on a large stage and tons of people milling about in their costumes. There were people dressed as toilets, air-fresheners, M&Ms, chickens with capes-- pretty much the most creative Halloween costumes you could think of. There were a considerable amount of men dressed up as women. The Fund had a few props that we could borrow for costumes (fairy wings, hats, sparkly shirts), and some people borrowed costumes from their host families or improvised with clothes they already had and cheap props from the supermercado. I didn't dress up Friday, but on Saturday I went as Pippi Longstocking (mismatched clothes and braided pigtails).
Because drinks are more expensive in the bars, a lot of people "botellón" in the parks before actually going out. Botellón (which literally means "bottle") refers to the cheaper bottles (or, if you're feeling especially cheap, boxes) of wine that can be purchased at the supermercados. Usually, botellón is not allowed in the casco, within the city walls, but there was a clear exception for Carnaval. People stood on the edge of the square drinking pop and wine. It was really surprising how many people can fit in one small square!
The strangest custom of Carnaval, however, was the burning of the sardine. I still don't know the significance of this event, and my host mother couldn't explain it to me. Basically, there is a big procession on Sunday evening with a large sardine (made of paper and wire) down to the river. My host mother told me that the sardine would be burned, thrown in the river, and then buried, but it was actually a little different. Unfortunately, the sardine wasn't burned or buried or even thrown in the river. Instead, it was sent out onto the river in a boat. Everyone crowded by the edge of the river to watch a huge firework show. Afterwards, there was free sardines and bread for everyone. I had tried sardines before at my host family, and they are actually quite good. First, you pull the spine out, and then you eat the entire fish whole. It sounds a little strange, but trust me, they are delicious.
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So that was Carnaval! Hopefully in the next few days I'll finish the posts for Lisbon and Andalucia, and be able to write a bit about Toledo again.
