I can’t say
if it is because of the smaller number of days or because it is one of the last
remaining months of my EVS, but February just ran away really fast and left
some more nice memories and some sun-tan from the sunny afternoons on the
balcony.
Indeed, the
spring here already came, and as I love to say it came before the winter. While
all Europe was covered by snow, it seems to me I will have to wait till next
year to see some. In this distant part of the continent (Finisterra – a town in
Galicia, doesn’t bear this name with no purpose) the days only kept on getting
longer and warmer. The first days of this sunny month brought here one of my
closest friends from Bulgaria who stayed in Ribalandia for two weeks, carrying
a part of the distant home closer and enjoying some time here. Together with
the joy of having Petra as a part of my year in Spain and share my experience here,
I was able to see in practice how much I have adapted to as a resident of
Galicia and how convenient I feel in our
sweet volunteer apartment, home. I could show her all my favorite places with the
daily walks we had, introduce her to my sweet local friends, and show her the
beauty of the ocean … and of course the local gastronomy J Galicia Calidade forever!
The time
passed just as fast, Petra went away and the moment has come for the
long-expected first big fiesta of the new fiesta year – the Carnivals! For me
this type of celebration was something completely new, the only carnival I have
been to is the one annually organized in my hometown in Bulgaria – Gabrovo.
Well, I was introduced to the catholic tradition of dressing up for celebrating
the 40 days before Easter. Actually, in the Hispanic world the fiesta doesn’t
go only one or two days, but at some places it is a week, at others – almost the
whole month. Well, at least two weekends were guaranteed. In the province of
Ourense the Carnival went on from Thursday, starting with a big dinner only for
women from town, till Tuesday, an official holiday, including defiles, concerts
and crazy costumes… The most impressing part of the festivities was the day we
went to Xinzo de Limia, a little town not far from here, famous for its carnival.
In Xinzo, Verin and Ourense the carnival has an old and respected tradition and
is being celebrated the longest and the hardest. We visited the town in midday,
when usually is impossible to see a living person on the street, but during all
the week there was a movement of incredibly well dressed-up people of all ages
having fun, dancing on the streets, having a drink, taking photos and laughing
together. The atmosphere was amazing, totally different world. A curious fact
is also that if someone dares not to dress up, but walk around in their daily
appearance, one of the so-called Pantallas, running around and making noise
with their belts of bells and shouts would take him to the closest bar to be
invited for a drink and the brave one will simply need to buy drinks all the
day J Besides
it is a funny tradition, the Pantallas reminded me a lot of a Bulgarian costume
of dressing up in scary costumes and masks called “Kukeri” which also takes
place in the early spring in the villages to chase away the bad spirits with
the loud noise of the bells. Sometimes I am left amazed with some cultural
similarities between places so far away from each other.
So, back to
the theme… As we couldn’t stay aside from the big carnival craze, me and Santa
joined with costumes four evenings of the celebrations, she – with a little bit
more enthusiasm, but above all, with a lot of fun. From the Indian inspirations
to a false big bottom, and Santa’s almost professional disguises of policeman,
devil and Arabic princess – all types of roles were played, and not only from
us. May be what impressed me the most was really the willing of everyone to be
part of the carnivals with a more original costume… than the previous year. And
the closing party was organized by our boss and the association Arteficial,
that organizes the festival. It was an event called Musical Purgatory and
everyone should be dressed as a dead music star. So in the bar, with our
hand-made decoration of flames, was everyone – from John Lennon and Janis
Joplin to Edit Piaf and Amy Winehouse. No doubt, changing identities is a brilliant
exercise in the beginning of a new year.
This is how
time is slipping away and already the first yellow, pink and white blossoms
fill up the air with aroma of spring.
