I woke up at 10am having slept for about 9 and a half hours I dedicated the majority of the day to cleaning, getting organized and settling back into Granada.
Heiko woke up around the same time and we shared stories from our trips. He had been in Italy visiting our Italian friend Federica. We went to the store and then Heiko left to go to Malaga to pick up his girlfriend from the airport.
Despite a seemingly lazy day, the night was a lot of fun. At 8:30 I met up with Miranda, Leighanne and Alanna, my friends from Morocco Exchange to see the Semana Santa processions.
This week is Semana Santa in Granada. Throughout Holy Week, all of Andalucía celebrates the story of Jesus with large processions, huge floats and penitents wearing multi-colored robes that look like Ku Klux Klan hoods. It is almost unique to southern Spain and something that I shouldn't miss while living here in Granada.
The city was filled with tourists from all over Europe and Spain. The streets were jam packed. In the plazas by the town hall and cathedral there was stadium seating bleachers and vendors were all over the place selling food and trinkets.
Each night there would be 5 or 6 processions passing through designated routes throughout the city. We actually ended up seeing all of them despite not having a real plan. The processions are slow and showy. Huge, extravagant, ornate floats are carried by a dozen men. The floats, with flowers or gold have a statue of the Virgin or Jesus. Each church has a fraternity that is in charge of carrying the float. The floats were followed by penitents in colored uniforms with large pointy hoods. We had good spots next to the processions by the Cathedral and Puerta Real. We had some ice cream after watching the last procession.
Back home by midnight, I talked with Antonio, Heiko and his girlfriend, Karo. I skyped my friends studying abroad in London and talked to my dad. He and Hunter will be coming out to visit when I finish finals in June. I went to bed around 2am.
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