Many of the processions are led by a marching band. After the band passes, the nazarenos march by. Nazarenos are people in long robes and capirotes (hoods), similar in appearance to those worn by the KKK. Different brotherhoods have hoods in different colors. Many of the nazarenos hand candy out to children as they pass. Some carry long, large candles, which are lit when it gets dark. After the nazarenos comes a big float with some sort of Jesus image. The floats are not on wheels, they're carries by men in the brotherhood. The marching lasts for many hours (one which I saw yesterday marched for 13 1/2 hours), so the men carrying the floats trade off every once in awhile. When the new carriers get a hold of the float and all lift it together, it makes a bit of a bouncing motion as it's lifted, and the crowd cheers. When it's not being lifted, the crowd is often silent as the floats pass by, showing their respect. I hear that some people cry, it's a very emotional experience for them.
After the Jesus float come some nazarenos without the hoods sticking up. They're wearing their hoods, but the hoods just fall limp. I'll see if I can post a good picture. These nazarenos carry big wooden crosses. Then come some more people marching, sometimes another band, and then people carrying incense. Finally comes the float with the Virgin Mary. This float has lots and lots of candles, which are lit at night. It is also carried by men from the brotherhood. It's sort of the grand finale for the procession.
Yesterday one of the processions passes right by my apartment. I could see it from my 7th floor balcony, but of course I ran downstairs to get a closer look (and closer pictures). This procession seemed particularly family-oriented. A lot of family members walked alongside the nazarenos. There were quite a few children marching as nazarenos. It's adorable, seeing a little hooded person marching along, holding hands with a parent. Marching in a procession is a huge honor, and the family members have a lot of pride for their loved ones who participate. They blocked off the entire street to have this procession, and I live on a large and major street. Since the street was so wide, I was always able to move easily and find a good spot to stand close to the procession. I took about 100 pictures of that procession alone, and another 100 that afternoon/evening. Later in the day, I met up with Allison, and we walked into the Centro to see more.
I have never seen the Centro so crowded. Since the streets there are very narrow, it was very difficult to navigate. Our strategy was to follow the people weaving through the crowds in the general direction we wanted to move in. We staked out some spots to watch one procession, and felt very claustrophobic surrounded on all sides by people and pressed very closely into the crowd. I can see why it's so easy for pickpockets to steal during Semana Santa. At one point, some very rude women pushed their way through a very tight crowd very forcefully. Shortly after, a girl nearby started crying and was taken away by police. I hope she wasn't hurt. Allison and I had a little bit of difficulty leaving the crowd, since we were surrounded on all sides, but we finally managed to escape with our toes and wallets unharmed. It was fun and interesting, but I'm not eager to jump into a crowd again. I can see why the native Sevillans go on vacation during Semana Santa. It's fun to see a few times, but the processions are all pretty similar, and the crowds are a little intimidating.
On our way home, we ran into the same procession I saw in the morning making it's way back. It was getting dark, so they started lighting their candles. I haven't seen a procession during the darker parts of night yet, but I'm sure I will after leaving one of the Passover seders. There's one procession called "El Silencio" that marches in silence. The crowd is usually pretty noisy, but people are supposedly very quiet when El Silencio passes by. I hear it's quite eerie. I'd like to see it, but they march from 1am to some unpleasant hour early in the morning, and I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy being out that late. We'll see what time the seder finishes that night.
Tonight I go to my first Passover seder. I'm very excited about it, I'm not quite sure what to expect. I wonder if the Hebrew will sound different in Spain. I'll post a blog describing that experience when it happens.
Pictures:
1) nazarenos with different colored hoods
2) nazarenos carrying crosses
3) Jesus float
4) nazarenos of all ages
5) nazarenos handing out candy to children in the street
6) view of procession from my balcony (zoomed in)
7) kids ask nazarenos for candy by holding out their hands insistently
8) child nazareno giving out candy
9) tired little nazareno in stroller
10) even more nazarenos
11) a different Jesus float
12) nazarenos differ in size
13) little nazareno with candy
14) the littlest nazareno I've seen
15) nazarenos leading the procession
No comments:
Post a Comment