Carnaval and Art February 25, 2014
Most everywhere in the Roman Catholic world, this is the season of Carnaval, that period of festivities preceding Lent. We had hopes for a colorful, memorable spectacle here in Alozaina. Well, the 2014 Carnaval de la Harina in Alozaina didn't amount to much for these old folk outsiders.
The three day event began with Friday afternoon's tradition of kids throwing white flour (harina) at anyone within their range. We had been warned about this and went for a walk in the countryside instead. When we made our breathless return up the steep incline toward our house, we did see some wild-eyed boys clutching bags of white flour. They looked right past us, either intimidated by the prospects of "flouring" strangers or preoccupied with other more interesting victims. In any case, we were grateful to emerge unscathed, though it looked pretty innocent. We later learned that this part of the Carnaval tradition began during the austere Franco era, when festivals were not allowed. Instead, a boy would surreptitiously put a gentle pat of flour on a girl's face to show his fondness for her.
The next day, as we walked up the main street, we encountered a small dinosaur and princess. They were apparently in dress rehearsal for a children's costume parade on Sunday, and their mom let me take a photo of them.
Getting ready for the kids' costume competition
Saturday evening's event was the highlight of the weekend, billed as a "fancy dress competition" to take place in the massive tent erected in the middle of the main street. That description was a bit vague, but we were open to dropping by, having a beer, and seeing what was going on. The problem was that things didn't really get going until 11pm or later. We wandered by at 9:30, already perilously close to our bedtimes, and found not much happening, except that all the bars were open along the main strip, with the Parti Communista bar especially busy - with men only! Down the street, the chef in the tiny little pizzeria was flying, serving an overflow crowd of teenagers.
Reports the next day were that the "fashion" party, when it got going, went on until 4 am, complete with men dressed in women's clothing, women dressed in outlandish outfits, music, and dancing. Sounds pretty fun - and perhaps similar, but on a much smaller scale, to the Carnaval parade we had seen in Nice in 2003, where floats were raunchy and outrageous - all part of the far-out partying meant to get one through the sober period of Lent. Since we had an early date on Sunday morning, late partying just couldn't happen for us.
More on our Sunday outing soon. But, for now, we missed anything that took place during the day in Alozaina, returning in time for the event listed as the burial of the sardine. It was a curious title, so I had done some googling and found that Spanish Carnaval tradition calls for ending the weekend with a sardine being buried, symbolizing the end of the debauchery and wild celebrations. In Andalucia, especially, sardines are very prominent menu items, either fried or marinated in vinegar. The sardine in this case was a big fish, fashioned out of cardboard and covered with tin-foil. It was set on fire in the middle of the street - and presumably buried after that.
Burning & burial of the sardine, the end of Carnaval
We think that was the end of Carnaval. However, the big white tent is still set up in the middle of the street, blocking all traffic in that direction. And just today, we learned that there is another festival happening on Friday, the 28th. It is the Andalusian Festival, honoring the date in 1980, when citizens voted to have Andalucia become an autonomous region of Spain.
Our Sunday event was spectacular! Our friend, Rod, the stained-glass and pastels artist, was participating in a show taking place at a posh hotel in a posh village behind the posh city of Marbella. Sounded intriguing all around. Since hanging stained glass is time-consuming, I offered to join his small crew of helpers early on Sunday morning. The whole day was fascinating, beginning with the ride down through the mountains to the sea on a route that was new to me. Rod knows the various villages and their individual stories - the nearby town of Guaro's Festival of the Moorish Moon when no electric lights are used for a whole week, just candles (muy romantico!!); Monda, an attractive bedroom town for Marbella; Franco's woodsy hunting lodge which is now a hotel for hikers; Marbella, sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, crowded with high-end apartments; and finally, Benahavis, our destination, tucked away in a gorge and famous for its many good restaurants.
Pool at the Gran Hotel, looking toward Benahavis village
We pulled up to a luxury four-star hotel complex where the art show would take place and spent the morning hanging Rod's art work.
Alvaro, Sky, and Rod - the hangers of Rod's art work
The three day event began with Friday afternoon's tradition of kids throwing white flour (harina) at anyone within their range. We had been warned about this and went for a walk in the countryside instead. When we made our breathless return up the steep incline toward our house, we did see some wild-eyed boys clutching bags of white flour. They looked right past us, either intimidated by the prospects of "flouring" strangers or preoccupied with other more interesting victims. In any case, we were grateful to emerge unscathed, though it looked pretty innocent. We later learned that this part of the Carnaval tradition began during the austere Franco era, when festivals were not allowed. Instead, a boy would surreptitiously put a gentle pat of flour on a girl's face to show his fondness for her.
The next day, as we walked up the main street, we encountered a small dinosaur and princess. They were apparently in dress rehearsal for a children's costume parade on Sunday, and their mom let me take a photo of them.
Saturday evening's event was the highlight of the weekend, billed as a "fancy dress competition" to take place in the massive tent erected in the middle of the main street. That description was a bit vague, but we were open to dropping by, having a beer, and seeing what was going on. The problem was that things didn't really get going until 11pm or later. We wandered by at 9:30, already perilously close to our bedtimes, and found not much happening, except that all the bars were open along the main strip, with the Parti Communista bar especially busy - with men only! Down the street, the chef in the tiny little pizzeria was flying, serving an overflow crowd of teenagers.
Reports the next day were that the "fashion" party, when it got going, went on until 4 am, complete with men dressed in women's clothing, women dressed in outlandish outfits, music, and dancing. Sounds pretty fun - and perhaps similar, but on a much smaller scale, to the Carnaval parade we had seen in Nice in 2003, where floats were raunchy and outrageous - all part of the far-out partying meant to get one through the sober period of Lent. Since we had an early date on Sunday morning, late partying just couldn't happen for us.
More on our Sunday outing soon. But, for now, we missed anything that took place during the day in Alozaina, returning in time for the event listed as the burial of the sardine. It was a curious title, so I had done some googling and found that Spanish Carnaval tradition calls for ending the weekend with a sardine being buried, symbolizing the end of the debauchery and wild celebrations. In Andalucia, especially, sardines are very prominent menu items, either fried or marinated in vinegar. The sardine in this case was a big fish, fashioned out of cardboard and covered with tin-foil. It was set on fire in the middle of the street - and presumably buried after that.
We think that was the end of Carnaval. However, the big white tent is still set up in the middle of the street, blocking all traffic in that direction. And just today, we learned that there is another festival happening on Friday, the 28th. It is the Andalusian Festival, honoring the date in 1980, when citizens voted to have Andalucia become an autonomous region of Spain.
Our Sunday event was spectacular! Our friend, Rod, the stained-glass and pastels artist, was participating in a show taking place at a posh hotel in a posh village behind the posh city of Marbella. Sounded intriguing all around. Since hanging stained glass is time-consuming, I offered to join his small crew of helpers early on Sunday morning. The whole day was fascinating, beginning with the ride down through the mountains to the sea on a route that was new to me. Rod knows the various villages and their individual stories - the nearby town of Guaro's Festival of the Moorish Moon when no electric lights are used for a whole week, just candles (muy romantico!!); Monda, an attractive bedroom town for Marbella; Franco's woodsy hunting lodge which is now a hotel for hikers; Marbella, sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, crowded with high-end apartments; and finally, Benahavis, our destination, tucked away in a gorge and famous for its many good restaurants.
We pulled up to a luxury four-star hotel complex where the art show would take place and spent the morning hanging Rod's art work.
We finished hanging the work just in time for the noon opening. Around us, other talented artists with a variety of mediums were doing the same. It all came together beautifully. Bruce and Rod's wife, Alice, and other folks from Alozaina arrived to see the show and offer support to Rod. A few events were scheduled, including a drawing exercise, which I took part in. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. We ate our bag lunches that we had brought, sat around the pool, took a stroll into the village, watched the young spray painter and the sculptor on the patio, and looked over the work of Rod's fellow artists. He sold a couple of pieces and seemed pleased with that. At the end of the day, five of us piled into a car and retraced our route through the Andalusian hills in time to get that sardine burned back in Alozaina!
BTW, if you go to Youtube and search Rod Friend, you can see a delightful video of his work, accompanied by his piano playing.
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