The Convivencia, Rocía and the ocean!

 

What a fun weekend! I am so glad I decided to go to Granada next weekend so that I could go to the convivencia with Mercedes and her cousins. So, I wasn't really sure what the convivencia was exactly but I thought it sounded like a Catholic outdoor mass, Lutheran potluck and hippie drum jam. I was exactly right, that's how it felt! It was so fun though, I'll give you the whole day in detail. It was definitely something that most of my classmates here won't get to experience because it was so unique. I am really thankful to my Señora for taking us.

Sunday morning we woke up pretty early (which was fine since I slept so much on Saturday… until 1:30pm and back in bed at 11pm!) and were ready to leave at 9:30. Merdeces' cousin and her spouse came to pick us up in their car and loaded all of the food, drinks, chairs and the table into the trunk. Mercedes had packed a good amount of food for Bridget and I since we weren't sure what all would be vegetarian-friendly there. So we climbed into the car, nice and cozy with five of us, and drove through the city, toward the west. We were driving pretty much southwest the whole way, and it was great to see the outskirts of Sevilla, and the surrounding suburbs. Some of the houses are pretty huge, especially those on the "mountain" just west of the city. It was a clear morning, and we had a great view of the city from up there.

After driving for about forty minutes we were well out into the country. We had driven into the smaller county of Huelva, which is directly west of Sevilla and the Andalucían county closest to Portugal. Now before we left, Mercedes had given Bridget and I each a juice box and a cookie (I swear we feel like little children again since she feeds us and does our laundry and cleans our room and we say such simple things since we're still learning Spanish). We were a little confused by the lack of real food for breakfast but just went with it. Turns out that normal Spaniards prefer to eat breakfast around 10:30 after they've left home for the day, either on their way to work or on a break from work. So around 10:30 that morning we drove into a small town and found a small café/bar to eat breakfast. We just had coffee with milk and buttered toast (huge pieces) which is a typical breakfast. It was perfect though. Mercedes and her cousins are so funny together, Bridget and I really enjoyed listening to them talk and argue and discuss all sorts of things on our way there.

Back on the road again, Mercedes said we were only about 25km away from the site. The roads started getting smaller and bumpier and we finally turned onto the right one (after a good amount of loud debating and arguing). We pulled into a good sized fenced into plot of land with an olive orchard on one side, flat sandy land in the middle and several large pine trees (the branches were very high off the ground and formed a more circular top instead of a triangle). There were several other cars there already and plenty of people milling about and chatting. We got and walked around a bit, being introduced to everyone as Mercedes' American girls. Everyone was very nice and welcoming, but they were reluctant to talk because I don't think they knew how much Spanish we knew. Everyone is from the same church though, and apparently they do this outdoor mass/potluck thing fairly often. A few people were setting up the altar, which was gorgeous. They had brought beautiful flowers, and were adding all sorts of natural wildflowers and pinecones as well. The Virgin Mary was there too, but she was covered up until the priest came. So we were all ready to start the mass, but the priest wasn't there yet. He was already 40 minutes late, but no one really seemed to mind or be too concerned. I asked someone when it was supposed to start and they said, "Oh well at first we said to start at 11 but then it was 11:30 and I think some people thought it started at noon." It was 12:30. Oh Spaniards.

The priest showed up around 12:45 and we started mass. It was nice to listen along, and I felt that I was able to follow pretty well, thanks to my knowledge of the Catholic mass from the time I spent at Christina's church during my elementary years. We weren't allowed communion of course, but other than that I felt that everyone was very welcoming and kind. After the mass everyone was hungry so we quickly set up all of the tables in one long line and brought out the food. So much food! I couldn't believe it. Bridget and I had to do a lot of asking to discover which foods had meat and which didn't. Unfortunately, it turns out that several things are not considered "meat" to most Spaniards. For example, one mini sandwich that looked meat free was given to me by a nice lady. I asked her, "Does this have meat in it?" "On no, of course not," she replied. But Mercedes stepped in, thankfully and said yes in fact, that sandwich has ham in it. Ham, not a meat? What? I was so confused. Bridget then picked up a croquette, a fried food that is usually just filled with potatoes or cheese. She asked Mercedes' cousin, does this have meat? "No," he replied, "no meat". Just as she took a bite though, he continued and said, "It has chicken in it." She looked at me, mortified, and promptly found a napkin. We laughed about it later, and finally realized that only Mercedes and her cousin's wife really understood our definition of meat. How --strange. We've had that issue before though, someone asking us, "You don't eat meat?" And we reply, "No, no meat." "I suppose you eat fish then." "No, no fish." "How about ham then, you must eat ham, right?" "No, no ham. No fish, no chicken, no ham, NO MEAT." It's very difficult. But it makes me more and more thankful that we have Mercedes who understands completely and even owns an organic foods store to supply our needs. She's wonderful.

Even though most of the food was meat-filled (or whole pieces of fish, head and all) Bridget and I managed to stuff ourselves with bread and cheese and tortillas and oranges and potato chips and lettuce and coke and wine and crackers. It was wonderful. Shortly after the meal, the musicians from the mass brought out their instruments again. During the mass the members of the choir sang songs and played the guitar, drums, flute whistles (I think) and finger clappers. It was very authentically Spanish and I loved it. So after lunch they brought out the instruments again and continued to play. People clapped along, several women got up to dance Sevillanas, and a little one-year-old boy played a mini drum and danced as well. The other children danced along as well, and it was a great sight. The sun was so warm and the air was still slightly cool, it was a perfect beautiful day.

Around 4:00 Mercedes began to gather things together and we packed up the car. She said we were leaving a little early so we could go to the town El Rocío and see the church and Virgin Mary there. She was very excited and said it was her favorite place in most of Andalucía. So we piled back in the car and continued to drive southwest. It was only 30km to El Rocío and it was nice drive since we drove through a small section of the Doñana National Park, which was very pretty. The town of Rocío was absolutely gorgeous. All of the streets were sandy and lined with small shops and there seemed to be horses everywhere so it reminded me of an old fashioned western town except all the building were white stucco. There was a small lake, or wetland area, along the edge of the town, and a beautiful walkway that wound between the lake and the plaza that led up to the church. The church itself was a beautiful white stucco building, not too huge, but fairly crowded with people. The interior was sparsely decorated, except for the altar, which was grandiose and almost completely gold. It was almost impossible to distinguish the Virgin Mary from all of the ornate and complex decorations that surrounded her. It was beautiful though. The altar was surrounded by beautiful flowers that had been given in memory of loved ones or in dedication. What a sight.

After walking around the town a bit and admiring the sights and watching the people and the children all dressed to nines, Mercedes asked if we would like to go to the beach. "The beach??" we asked. Apparently it was only another 15 km away and we could easily drive there to have an afternoon snack of coffee with milk. I was ecstatic. I love the ocean, and I had been super anxious to see it. We were on the side of the peninsula that has its coast on the Atlantic Ocean and we drove to the town of Matalascañas, which is a fairly popular beach since it is the closest to Sevilla. Here is a link to a map of Andalucía, followed by one that zooms in so you can see where we were:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/spain/andalucia/

http://www.malagacar.com/maps/huelva/huelva_complete_map.asp

We got to the beach at the perfect time. The sun was on its way to setting and the sky was beautiful. The coast is fairly rocky and steep all along the ocean, but the beach was very long in one direction and plenty big. The walkway down to the beach is fairly steep and there is a boardwalk type thing that has shops and few restaurants and leads to the larger hotels. The sand was gorgeous and the water was shallow fairly far out. We didn't go swimming, but I could tell just because a lot of waves were breaking farther out. It was beautiful, and so peaceful, because it wasn't too crowded. Even though the weather is warm during the day, it still gets cool at night and it's nothing like the heat that we will have starting around April. Apparently it gets up to 35 degrees Celsius as a norm. I have no idea what that translates to but when 22 Celsius is around 70 Fahrenheit, I don't think I want to know. Anyways, we sat and had a cup of coffee up on the boardwalk and watched the ocean and the few crazy people attempting to swim in 10 degree Celsius water. After we'd finished our coffee, Bridget and I decided to walk down the steps to the beach and go stick our feet in the water. I can't be that close to the ocean and not at least put my feet in. So we rolled up our jeans, left our purses with Mercedes and ran down the water. It was COLD. But we had fun. Again, we kind of felt like little kids, playing the surf, chasing and running from the waves, drawing with our toes in the sand and picking up shells. It was wonderful.

After a little while, the sun was really setting, and we needed to head back. The sky was beautiful though and I'm glad we got to see it. Mercedes said we could come again once it warmed up and spend the whole day swimming and laying the sun. I am super excited! The drive back wasn't as long as I expected, only about an hour and twenty minutes. We drove pretty fast though. I am just glad that we are actually pretty close to the ocean; I can't wait to go back once it warms up. Well I think I should close for now. Overall, it was a perfect day, and I had so much fun. I am excited for next weekend as well since we are going to Granada with CIEE. We are going to be there from Saturday around noon to Sunday night. I will keep you updated though J Hopefully it warms up a little bit there!

Love, love, love,

Maia Jo