Semana Santa literally translates to "Holy Week" and is the week of celebrations leading up to Easter. For most college students it's the equivalent of Spring Break.
Before I could even begin to think about enjoying my Semana Santa, I first had to get to the bus stop. The main plaza in Palma is Plaza de España, which in theory should only be a 3 minute walk from my house. Well, not the case on the day I actually had somewhere to go. I'm usually pushing being on time by leaving my house with about 5 minutes before I have to meet anyone in Plaza de España, and that night was not different. Unfortunately, I was not aware that the processions would be going down my street, Calle San Miguel - which is a main street in Palma. For the processions, they block off the entire road and hundreds of people line the streets to watch the pasos (the religious version of a parade float) go by. After about 10 minutes of just fighting my way down the street, I finally get to where I need to turn and I can't because it's on the other side of the street. I'm quite frazzled at this point because 1) I'm already late and I'm making everyone else waiting for me late, 2) I can't figure out how to cross the street, 3) I was smooshed between way too many people for my liking, and 4) I was starting to get hot. These things combined into a great and overwhelming frustration and finally I called one of my friends to tell her why I was running late. After she laughs at me, she then tells me I could have crossed if I went in the complete opposite direction. Just fabulous.
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| Example of a Semana Santa procession |
I was not in the mood to fight through all those people again, so I took a back street parallel to San Miguel. I turned back onto San Miguel, but I was far enough ahead that the processions hadn't made it that far down the street yet. So I scurry across the street and walk back down in the opposite direction. I'm hoping I can find somewhere to turn off before the procession comes, but nope, no such luck. I'm literally walking head on with the processions (drummers, horses, and all) and I feel super terrible. I'm like Oh great, I'm the dumb American ruining a hundreds of years old religious celebration. At one point I felt really bad so I just stopped walking. I can't go anywhere because on one side of me is a couple of horses and the other side is a couple rows of people. But then... there was a voice. She told me Puedes pasar por alla (You can get through over there) and all I saw was a finger pointing to the corner of the building we were standing in front of. I said thank you and was once again fighting my way through people, although it was much easier since I was going away from the procession. I finally made it to Plaza de España and I was only 25 minutes late. A trip that should have taken me 3 minutes ended up taking 25, and my friends only missed 3 buses while they waited. Luckily, the bus to the airport comes frequently and we had plenty of time before our flight left, so all was well. I guess that was just a life lesson: You never know when a sacred procession is coming down your street so always be on time.
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