Episode 7, 5/17/09 – La Festival Medieval, Religión y Sangría para todos!

I woke up very….VERY late. As in around 15:30. I had promised to meet Zhenya and help her with the 18^th century. Zhenya was time-traveling that day to the 18^th century and wanted my advice on whether petticoats or frocks were “in” during that time……..No, not really. Rather, I helped her study for a test about colonial relations between Spain and Latin America in the 18^th century, a subject that, believe it or not, I am somewhat well-versed on.

I went back to La Plaza de España, which I was exuberant about being able to spend more time in, and bought a traditional Spain-ish lemonade (can't remember the name). The weather was just hot enough that it was uncomfortable, but comically enough, just hot enough too that a good drink and a cool breeze would make it all better. I walked further into el parque Maria Luisa and sat with Zhenya and some of her folks and helped them study. Which when I mean study, I mean intersperse conversations about how indigenous people got pwned by the Spaniards with discussions about the Office and whether LOST’s Des+Penny are cuter than Jim+Pam. Very thought-provoking, no?

I ran into David and Nick walking in the park and via text from Holli, we decided to go again to la Festiva Medieval again, since this was closing night. I suppose we should have realized that it would be a little sub-par this time, since we got there at 20:00ish (and I later due to a delayed dinner). Everything was shutting down, so Rachael and Katie bought some stuff while David, Nick, Bobby and I “chilled”, watching the goofy Spaniards, dressed in medieval garb and still using their mobiles. Muy irónico. Everybody realized, oh well, the festival had pretty much shut down; the night was yet young, so we decided to continue with our excellent fun.

It’s always more fun to be together. Even if one isn’t doing anything special. Case in point: in la jardín Catalina de Ribera we found a really neat playground, but nothing like what is common in America. The “swings” were spiral, moving around and backandforth. Justin, Holli, and I tried it and we spun ‘till we dizzied ourselves sick. There was also a zipline, which I HAD to try, of course. It was so much fun! We amused ourselves like zany 4 year-olds for 20 minutes or so. Then we regrouped and initiated a quest to find a bar open at 00:00ish on a Sunday evening (which let me tell ya, is a quest indeed).

A brief interlude that I’m reminded of: one of the reasons why NOTHING is open on Sundays is thanks to the immense Catholic influence on Spain. The Catholic presence isn’t just something that exists, next to a diverse collection of other religions. It’s essentially the national religion, which has IMMENSE socio-political implications. First, it is absolutely engrained in Sevillan society. It is engrained in the streets; every street is the name of a saint or an incarnation of a holy figure. It is engrained in the daily activities; streets close dozens of times per month for holy festivals and holy days the streets are absolutely empty and the churches full. It is engrained in the semantics of the language (“gracias a los santos que…,” “ojala que… [etc.]”). It is engrained in the news; as every major event in the Catholic Church receives absolute top billing, almost to the sense that there is a “Pope Watch” trailing the activities of his Holiness. It’s not to say that the commentary about the church is positive. The church has taken quite a lot of heat in the news (perhaps unsurprisingly) about their (as I heard one person say) “antiquated” views of premarital sex, contraception, same-sex relationships, and fiscal policy (yes, I did say fiscal policy). This is especially interesting to me for several reasons. First, there is barely a separation of church and state. Second, nobody really cares. Religion is inextricably tied to Spanish politics. Criticism of Catholic influence of political events isn’t directed against the fact that the Church shouldn’t be involved in politics - it’s directed against the fact that the Church hasn’t updated its politics for the modern age. Third, the Spanish media culture is absolutely 100% opposite that of American media as it relates to religion. The American media consider religion quite taboo and purposely treat religion as “something that those people do” that we can’t talk about on the show. Political correctness has evolved in our immensely heterogeneously religious country and has, quite frankly in my opinion, silenced a lot of extremely important religious-political dialogue that is necessary not only for “believers” but also for the general functioning of the morality upon which we build American society. At the same time (and fourth on my list), since Roman Catholicism is so incredibly written into the underlying code of Spanish society, other religions and practices tend to be either marginalized, or ignored completely. I’m unsure as to whether this “laissez-faire to non-Catholics” approach means that non-Catholic religion is stronger in Spain than in America. I would intuitively guess so, since “alternative” religion is under less “attack”…But I have by this point, created a tangent that is longer than my actual report of what I’m doing in Sevilla. Back to the story, yah?

I left you in suspense in our epic quest to find a bar open on Sunday nights. Well, we wandered on Menendez y Pelayo to the touristier places and found a bar, right next to a GREAT gelato place where we sat outdoors. Haha so funny story (dramatized for your pleasure).

Justin: Quiero sangría.

Colin, Stephanie, Rachael, et. all: Me too!

Stephanie (to waiter): 3 jarras de sangría!!

(Pause).

Rachael: You know, we really can’t drink that much.

Stephanie (to waiter): 2 jarras de sangría….

We were glad we took the lighter amount of sangria. I got gelato (Spanish gelato is very different from Italian gelato, but I’ve already spent too much time on random tangents) and sat down with the group, enjoying, as always, good conversation and good friends. We drank the sangria, which wasn’t as good as the stuff that we had on Calle Betis but still served to satisfy Steph, Justin, and my cravings. The hour we spent there passed all-too-quickly. Sarah G. and I walked back to “Pull & Bear” (the most awesomely named clothing store of all time) and I went to bed.