Easter in Spain

As we've just celebrated Easter, it thought I'd tell you all about how it is celebrated in Spain. Easter is literally translated as Pascua in Spanish, but a more common name for the whole Easter Holidays is Semana Santa, even though the meaning of this is Holy Week. The biggest difference between Easter in the UK and Easter in Spain is that the main focus in Spain is the religious aspect, even though bakeries and chocolate shops do sell chocolate eggs and other chocolate goodies. A part from buying chocolate in shops, one can also buy and eat torrijas, which are  slices of bread soaked in milk or wine with honey, that are then dipped in egg and fried. They are more typically eaten for Lent as well as Easter than chocolate is. In fact, some check-out operator was actually trying to sell me some torrijas to make at home when I went shopping at the Mercadona during Semana Santa.

A picture of some Easter chocolate goodies I saw when I was in Barcelona.

Torrijas

This year Semana Santa was from Sunday 29th March til Sunday 5th April, with the school break being from 27th March until 6th April. However, in some cities such as Toledo Semana Santa celebrations are even longer, starting on the Thursday or Friday before normal beginning of Holy Week.  As the focus on the christian aspect of Easter is a lot greater in Spain, the main attraction are the processions which feature men with pointy hoods. There are also floats used in the processions called tronos which are carried through the street by people. Each float is beautifully decorated with important Easter figures representing the Easter story on it. For example, there are floats with Jesus being crucified. They are so extravagant that they are normally covered with gold, silver, fine cloths and fresh flowers.

A float I saw in Granada

 A part from being extravagant, these tronos weigh so much that forty or fifty  people carry each of them on their shoulders. The people who carry the floats are called costaleros and it is said that the pain that they feel after carrying the heavy floats reminds them of the pain that Jesus suffered. The processions that I saw didn't last too long and I don't think the tronos were that big, but I heard that some can last for five hours, or maybe even more! The most famous and biggest processions are in Sevilla, and each one is organised by a Cofradía which is basically a brotherhood. In fact, processions all over Spain are organised by these brotherhoods, but each cofradía  in Sevilla tries to put on the biggest and best procession during Semana Santa so there's a lot of competition. Because the processions in Sevilla are the most famous in Spain during Holy Week, it tends to be extremely crowded around this time.

If you look closely you see the feet of the

My friend who was in Sevilla during Semana Santa said that if she had one word to describe it she'd describe it as 'overcrowded'. What's worse is that the roads are blocked to pave the way for the floats, and tourists are sometimes not allowed to visit certain religious places of interest. This not only happens in Sevilla, but in other Andalusian cities too. I went to Granada for Semana Santa and I can say and a lot of the tourist places weren't open for tourists because of the Easter events. Also, bus services were modified or unavailable on certain days, so I'd say Semana Santa may not be a great time to visit Andalusian cities if you want to see a lot of the touristy places without any hassle, but only if you just want to see the processions and what Easter is like in the south of Spain.

Now let's talk a little bit more about Semana Santa itself. The first day of Holy Week is called Domingo de Ramos and the final day is called  Domingo de Resurreción.  The rest of the days in between just have santo at the end of the days of the week. For example, Maundy Thursday would be Jueves Santo and Good Friday would be Viernes Santo. The mass on Easter Sunday, the last day of Semana Santa, is also important. The pointy hoods, called capirotes, that have been worn throughout the week by the penitentes (the people who lead and follow the floats) to signify mourning of the death of Jesus Christ, are taken off to celebrate the resurrection. When I first saw these capirotes, I was instantly reminded of the KKK, but apparently, KKK members adopted the idea of these hoods when they saw the Holy Week celebrations, as they were impressed by the effect the design had on onlookers.

Penitentes wearing blue capirotes

If the slightest drop of rain falls then the processions are cancelled straight away because the floats are old and can be damaged easily, so if you see it's raining on one day during Semana Santa, the odds are that the processions will be cancelled for that day. My flatmate told me that one of the teachers at the language school she works at said that if it rains and the processions are cancelled then people are so disappointed that some of them even break down crying.

So Easter in Spain is entirely different to how it is in England. The focus really isn't on chocolate  but on religion, which left me gutted when I found out because I love chocolate. However, Easter in Spain was quite interesting to witness, but I do miss the chocolate you get at Easter in the UK, such as Creme Eggs!

Shops in Spain

Supermarkets

Mercadona

The most popular supermarket in Spain, I'd have to say, is the Mercadona. When I was staying in Torrevieja I lived right opposite a Mercadona , and when the family I stayed with went shopping they would always go shopping there. Likewise, when we went back to Guadalajara, the Mercadona was still the place they went to go shopping, even though it was further away then other supermarkets, like Lidl. I do most of my shopping at here because things are decently priced and I like what they sell. I've come across 4 or 5 Mercadonas so far and haven't even explored all the city, so it's definitely the most popular supermarket.

Eroski

Eroski is less popular, but there are a wider range of items here. I also live about 10 mins away from it, whereas I live about 15 mins away from the nearest Mercadona,  Eroski's more expensive than Mercadona and other supermarkets, though. You can find good baking ingredients here, kitchen stuff, living room stuff, clothes, baking stuff - almost everything. The Eroski supermarket is also in an Eroski shopping centre that has clothes shops, restaurants, sweet shops and more.

Día

Recently I found out that there's a Día supermarket less than 10 minutes away from where I live, so this is the closest supermarket to me. I previously thought that the nearest Dia to me was about 10 minutes away, and thought that both Eroski and this Día supermarket were both the closest supermarkets to me. This is less popular than Mercadona but more popular than Eroski, as I've only seen one Eroski supermarkeet whereas there are several Días. It's cheaper than both Mercadona and Eroski.

Other supermarkets

Carrefour

I found out a Carrefour existed in Ciudad Real about a couple of months ago. It's just over 15 minutes away from me and is as expensive as Eroski, so I don't really shop here.

Aldi

Apparently there's an Aldi here. The only evidence I have for this is seeing my flatmate's receipt from Aldi and then googling it to find out where it is. It's not too far away from where I live, but there are closer supermarkets so I've never paid it a visit. I must visit it before I leave though!

Lidl

There's also a lidl here, but it's more than half an hour away so I doubt I'd be visiting it.

Los Chinos

No, these aren't shoes. They're not even Chinese people in this context. If you here a Spanish person say "Voy al chino", what they're saying is that they're going to a shop owned by a Chinese person, that are famous for selling  a wide range of products that are cheap. Need a needle and thread? Go to el chino. Need cheap earphones? Go to el chino. Need a cheap frying pan? Go to el chino.  They've come in handy and there are several of them in every neighbourhood, so there's always one that's near. There are even two on the same street here in Ciudad Real.

Places to eat

Acuario

This is the first tapas bar I went to. At the time I didn't know what tapas were and thought that you
had to pay for them so declined free food when I was starving, haha. You can get a lot of traditional tapas here, such as patatas bravas al aliolli, which are potato wedges with this kinda of mayonnaise sauce, tortilla española, and other dishes. I remember one tapa I had were these chicken balls on a kebab stick, which was delicious.

El Portalon

This tapas bar is quite big - there are two floors and an outside seating area. The size of this tapas bar isn't the only large thing about it, because the tapas are also huge. Tapas are meant to be small appetisers you get with your drink. For example, you could get some tortilla española between two slices of bread as a tapa, but at el Portalon you get hamburgers, pizzas, chicken wings, and typical Spanish dishes (which I have yet to try). They're not proper big dishes, but they're big compared to other portions you get at other bars. You could easily have a cheap dinner here.

Come y Calla

This tapas restaurant serves some really good tortilla española! I used to go here a lot with the other language assistants as well. I think it's a little more expensive than other tapas restaurants, like Acuario and El Portalon though, and there's not a lot of room inside, which sucks on cold days (which actually exist in Spain).

Magestic Zahora

I've been to this tapas bar/restaurant (this is a tapas bar and a restaurant) a lot of times with the other language assistants. It's quite posh, the tapas are well presented on the dish in extravagant way and they're quite tasty, but the drinks are the same price as in other bars, so I really like this place.

Telepizza

In England, we have places like Pizzhut and Domino's, but in Spain Telepizza's where it's at. You will probably find several in every city and on Thursday's there are lines so long that they go past other shops, because of the special offers. These queues even exist in bad weather. For example, one of my friends said that one night it was freezing and raining, but the line was still extremely long. One of the pizza flavours that Spanish people love most from here is the barbacoa flavour, which is basically a barbecue flavoured pizza.

Other places to eat

Llaollao

It's pronounced yowyow and it looks like a very cool yogurt shop. I haven't been, but would like to go because it looks like they sell good yoghurt, and I see a lot of the students at the school I teach at hang out there quite often, so it must be great.

Heladarías

These are ice cream shops. I know cities in England have Ben & Jerry's shops, but I really don't believe we really have a lot of ice cream shops, given the weather. There are many of them scattered around Spanish cities and you can get all kinds of interesting flavours. I've had a bubblegum flavour, a black forest flavour,  a leche merengada flavour (which is to die for!) and more. You can also have half of one flavour and half of another, get sweets, chocolate and many more things put in some of them.

Clothes

H&M

Spain has a lot of clothes shops that we have in England (even though there's no H&M in Wolverhampton or Durham) and H&M is one of them. I mainly do my clothes shopping here because the clothes are so nice and it's one of the first clothes shops I encounter when I walk into the city centre. It's not as cheap as Primark though, which probably can only be found in big or touristy Spanish cities.

Bershka 

I don't think we have many Bershka shops in England. I've seen one in the Mertrocentre, but that's about it. I like this shop because you can get some nice decently priced clothes. It's  right next to the H&M, so is another one of the first clothes shops I come across when I go to the city centre, buy it's a little cheaper than H&M, I think.

Mary Paz 

Shoes! If you want a lovely pair of shoes at a decent price, Mary Paz is the place to go! When I need shoes I head to Mary Paz. Some of the other language assistants I know are obsessed with this shop and told me that they always felt compelled to buy shoes whenever they walked past a Mary Paz shop.

Shana 

I wanted to add this shop to list, even though I don't really shop here because it's almost my name. I visit it just be reminded of this fact haha. I haven't really been in the one in Ciudad Real though, but have visited Shanas in Guadalajara and Torrevieja. I prefer Bershka and H&M to Shana, though!

There are other shops that I could have mentioned here, but I don't really shop at them and they're not the most important ones. As you see, life in Spain is quite different, especially when going to buy food. In Spain, there are no Tescos, Asdas, Sainsbury's or even Pizza Huts or Domino's - well not in most Spanish cities anyway. It's been very interesting to adapt to this new way of shopping, and when I get back to England it's going to be equally interesting to get used to English shops again!

My weekly routine

My weekly routine varies from week to week, but here's a timetable showing what I generally do throughout the week:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Morning	Work -the earliest I start is at 9:40 and the latest I finish is at 14:35.	Work -the earliest I start is at 9:40 and the latest I finish is at 13:50.	Work - again, the earliest I start is at 9:40 and the latest I finish is at 13:50.	Work -The earliest I start is at 8:45 and the latest I finish is at 13:50.	TRAVEL!!! I normally travel to some place for the weekend, or I go on a day trip somewhere. I plan my lessons during the weekends too.	I'm always in a different city on a Saturday so there's no alternative I could put here. If I do a day trip, I'm most likely to do it on this day, and on the rare days that I am in Ciudad Real I'd probably be relaxing, meeting friends or studying.	If I've travelled somewhere, then this is the day I return on. If not, then this day is a day of rest. Well, not really because I do cleaning and tidying on Sunday's. I'd normally start off by washing my clothes in the late morning.*
Afternoon	I have lunch while watching 'The Good Wife', then I'll have a siesta* if I'm feeling tired afterwards. If not then I'll study a bit of Spanish or French.	Lunch again, while watching 'Aquí No Hay Quien Viva'*, and then maybe a siesta (haha).	Lunch while watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine - I really like to watch TV shows, and the only way to fit them all into my schedule is to watch them when I'm eating :) I also give private classes on Wednesday afternoons, one at 4pm and another at 5.	Lunch again while watching another TV show, like 'Broad City' then SIESTA!!!	If I don't travel I'd be having lunch while watching 'Grey's Anatomy', another TV show :D		Then I'd move onto cleaning the bathroom and my bedroom. I'd then have lunch while watching House of Cards - yes, I am a TV addict.
Evening	I usually have dinner while watching 'The Walking Dead' in the evening, and this is a time when I'd Skype one of my housemates from University.	I'd normally Skype my brother and then have dinner in the evening.	Dinner while watching 'Aquí no hay quien viva'. I normally Skype my mom and little sister on Wednesday evenings too.	I've arranged some language exchanges to practice my Spanish more, and I normally do them on a Thursday. One of them starts at 5pm, and then the other at 6:30.			I normally skype my twin sister in the evening, or maybe even watch a TV show with her - yes, another TV show!
Night	If I'm feeling up for it, I may go out for tapas with my friends, and if not then I'd watch a movie.	This is my favourite part of the day because I get to go to cinema with my friends for only 3,50 euros (about £2.60)!!!!*	If there are any live band concerts, then they'd normally be on a Wednesday and if I'm feeling up to it, then I'd go to them. For example, there was a live band Mardi Gras concert* a couple of weeks ago I went to, and my friend is singing at a jam session tomorrow. There aren't concerts every week, though so I mainly stay in on Wednesdays to relax, or study some French or Spanish, or maybe even do some of my Year Abroad project.	If I'm travelling, I'd be packing now, or maybe Skying another one of my housemates. Sometimes I go out for tapas too on Thursdays, or out to a bar or club because Thursday is a party night.	Friday is also a party night, but I'm rarely in Ciudad Real on Fridays.	Saturday is the last party night, but if I'm here on Saturday I'd normally meet up with my friends and go out for tapas.	I'd usually relax a little and then prepare for the week ahead on Sunday night :)

*Siestas are extremely common in Spain and I take full advantage of them when I haven't had enough sleep, because of my night owl tendencies. You have a siesta after lunch. I used to think that every Spanish person took one everyday, but you don't need to if you're not feeling tired. They're more common in the summer though because the heat makes you more sleepy.

*'Aquí No Hay Quien Viva' (No one Could Live here) is a really good Spanish comedy that follows the lives of a community of people living in the same block of flats in Madrid. It's quite funny and I enjoy watching it. Plus, it has really helped my Spanish. I've heard that other good Spanish TV shows are 'La que se avecina' (What's Yet to Come), 'Siete Vidas' (Seven Lives) 'Los Serrano' (The Serranos), Aída (a spin off from Siete Vidas) and Motivos Personales, but I have yet to watch these as American TV shows dominate my life, unfortunately.

The cast of Aquí No Hay Quien Viva.

*Here's a picture I took at the Mardi Gras concert I went to. We all had to dress up, but the saxophone player let us see his costume at the last moment, when he started undressing and revealed his onesie!

*A lot of Spanish houses and flats don't have dryers, because the climate is so much hotter than England's, so most people just hang their clothes up on their balcony, and if they don't have one they hang up their clothes on washing lines on the rooftops or even outside their windows!

Some washing I stumbled across while I was in Ávila.

My rooftop :) On hot days my clothes dry in less than 2 hours!

I hope you didn't find my weekly routine too boring, and too full of American TV shows!