Sunday, April 12, 2009

He is risen!

Happy Easter to all my followers! I have to say that the Spanish really appreciate the fact that today there is something to celebrate, and they do so in great style. Having looked at the local programmes we decided to take our visitors back to the little Town of Turre, where we were on Good Friday, to watch today's procession, so at 11.00 we were back in the courtyard outside the church. There were more people around today and it was very hot and sunny. I now know a little more about the three brotherhoods in the parade. The white group is Hermandad de la Virgen de los dolores (The Brotherhood of the Madonna; Our Lady of Sorrows). That explains why she has such a sad face. The green group are Hermandad de San Juan (The Brotherhood of St. John), and the purple group are Hermandad del SeƱor, (the Brotherhood of our Lord). Today's parade was led by San Juan's group and they were followed by a much larger band than on Friday, who had exchanged their black suits for elaborate black and red ones with silver frogging. They looked, and sounded, really good. Then the statue of the Madonna was carried out. On Friday her trono was covered with white roses and lilies, but today they were also threaded with pink roses, and the statue was wearing an elaborate black robe. Of course the third trono was not used today as it represented the crucifixion, but a small trono bearing a casket with a cross of red roses on it was carried straight to the town square where it was guarded by two men dressed as centurions. We walked down to the square and waited with the crowd there for the procession to arrive. When it did, there was a lot of the strange running up and down and lifting high the float of San Juan, that we had seen on Friday. I managed to catch it on video so you will see what I mean. This little routine was repeated five or six times, and then once by the white group. It was so hot, and it looked really hard work. One of the young men carrying San Juan couldn't make it. His legs buckled and he fell, but he was quickly replaced and the sequence continued. One of the other lads was struggling to keep control of his knees, and his legs were buckling, but he just made it to the end. After all this, the two tronos were taken up a wide walk-way, and at the top they were greeted by a new trono, (carried by the purple group) which represented the ressurection. The three tronos all faced each others and their carriers started to dance, bouncing the statues up and down and side to side. Then there was a big cheer, rockets full of sparkling paper were launched into the sky and a few fireworks were let off. Then the trono bearers reversed their cloaks so what had been the pale blue lining was now on the outside. They hugged and kissed, and passed bottles of champagne around. Then two people climbed onto the Madonna's throne and removed her black robe to reveal a beautiful pale blue and gold one underneath. As I said, they celebrated in style, and it was exciting to be a part of that happy crowd. Once again I wanted to share it with you so here are a couple of short videos. The second one is poor quality. I was holding the camera in my right hand to take photos and my phone in my left hand for videos, and I had to hold it high above the heads of those in front, so my arms got a bit tired and wobbly, but it will give you some idea of what it was like.

No comments: