Semana Santa 2008 - Easter Sunday

My sister got up early for her bus back home. I woke up later and packed my things. The woman we were staying with told me things in Andalucian Spanish, and I eventually made out that despues de mi desayunos, I should be a la Mezquita a las doce. Translated, that means that after I have breakfast, I should go to la Mezquita at noon.

And that is what I did. I had my desayunos at a little cafe, then meandered to la Mezquita. It turned out that you could get in for free if you were going to Easter Sunday Mass, so I decided to go. I stood in the back, and found that photos were not allowed during Mass.

But I totally got this one. That guy on the bottom dared me. It's all his fault, I swear.

This was the second time I'd been to a Catholic Mass in another language. The first was a Palm Sunday Mass in the Langa Township in Cape Town, where the Passion Play was done in Xhosa. All of the standard elements were there - the songs in the right places, the sermon, the sign of the peace, and then Communion. I deliberated going for Communion, and decided to go for the whole experience, and to get up close to the front for a little while.

After Mass, I looked around a little, including having another good look at my saint's capilla, then I walked around some more and got some last minute souvenirs before heading to the train station.

I was a little confused with my train ticket, and after a slightly testy exchange - in Spanish - with some train station employees - who complimented my Spanish - I was on the train back to Madrid.

I checked into my hostel for the one night, chatted with a Polish woman, and then took a shower. I apparently showered in the men's bathrooms, which I only realized after I had finished showering and left the room. It's possible that I used the computers to connect to the internets, then I went to bed and set my alarm for my early morning flight. Before bed, I did read a bit of my Chinese History text book, as I recall.