sent from: Salamanca, Spain. destination: Culver City, California, USA

Easter is a big holiday in Spain, probably akin to Thanksgiving in the USA; family gatherings, travel across country, lots of national myths and notions of identity wrapped up in the holiday. In the USA it’s generally an intimate affair, no public parades or displays (aside from Macy’s in New York). In Spain the Holy Week processions are massive, major displays ~ lots of costumed figures and people re-enacting the Passion of Christ. Well, that’s what some places do. In our village we got together over a huge (and by huge I mean massive) pot of local stew ~ families come to fill their stockpots and we cram into the school house with our plates of stew, sangria, bread and fruit and noisily celebrate.