La granadina It's the spring semester of my junior year, so I am celebrating with un gran viaje filled with classes (unfortunately) and crazy foreign fun.

Just in case you guys thought Holy Week was a religious thing here in Andalusia, I will tell you now that it is really just a crazy, interesting mix of Pagan beliefs, touristy aims, religious propaganda, and, yes, Catholic tradition. Way back in the day, everyone knows how Christian holidays covered up Pagan celebrations, incorporating elements of both sides to make the religious conversions more effective. Easter landed on the first full moon of spring, which explains why it moves around every year. Spring being a big Mother Nature time of year, the Pagans dedicated it to the goddess, Venus or Isis or whatever you want to call her. According to my POE profe, the Christians called her Mary. Fast-forward some hundreds of years to the Baroque period of Spain. The Catholic monarchs have come and gone, the New World’s been discovered, and Spain is quite without money. Martin Luther’s shaking up the Christian world, and Spain is freaking out, having just spent its last gold on the Catholic Inquisition. The Church responds with the Counterreformation, and since most folks are illiterate, the movement takes much of its form in art. Churches are built, paintings commissioned, and ridiculously ornate sculptures created to be paraded around the streets of Spain and teach the wonders of the Catholic religion. The quality of life in these days is low, so people celebrate most everything royal and religious to distract themselves from their so-so lives. Enter now Semana Santa processions. The Baroque folk are fixated on the Passion of Christ, it being the more dramatic side of Holy Week (this is, after all, in direct competition with the Protestants, and the Catholic Chruch wants to emphasize what Jesus suffered for us). So the last week of Lent becomes a richly visual portrayal of the Passion of Christ, finishing grandly with the Crucifiction on Holy Thursday. Fast-forward some 400 years more, and you have today. Franco having driven Spain’s economy into the ground during much of the 20th century, Andalusia’s pretty pleased to realize how popular its Lenten celebrations are with tourists. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is expanded to Easter Sunday, hotels in Sevilla, Málaga, and even Granada fill to the brim, and it becomes the week to spend money in southern Spain. I, however (and luckily, too), was elsewhere (Slovakia Fest 2007!) while it down poured throughout Andalusia, canceling all the old processions. By the time I returned the sun poked out and Saturday and Easter Sunday proceeded per usual. Like I mentioned, though, Easter’s not the big deal that Holy Thursday is, so please accept my apologies for lacking photos of the really cool stuff.