Ready for the Fiestas?

Here I am in my Fiesta costume. How, you might wonder, did I find myself in such a get-up? Well, it came about in this way. Our massage therapist, David, in a gesture of good will to “the Americans” invited us to join his peña for the Fiesta. All this requires some considerable explanation.

In the first place, what is the fiesta? The Fiesta San Juan de Sahagún is simply put, the biggest party of the year here in Sahagún. As with nearly everything else here, there is a religious impetus. The figure around which this party revolves is San Juan (or Saint John in English). This saint did many miracles and there is a local church dedicated to him. Each day begins with a mass of some sort, but they get that part over with in a hurry so the party can begin. After the mass and official presentations or processions are over the party gets under way. And what a party! There will be the running of the bulls (well, actually, cows), the proclamation of the fiestas (with fireworks) at the Town Hall (that is directly across for our apartment by the way), and a concert by un Orquesta Monumental (whatever that means) here in the plaza. Supposedly, there is also some event in the bull ring that involves the peñas (of which, more in a minute). And that, dear friends, is just the beginning! Every day and every night (until about 4 in the morning) there will be loud music on the Plaza in front of our apartment and drinking and partying nonstop.

Time out for a discussion of the peña system here in Spain. People get together and form a club, which has paid membership, meets together, has a costume, and gathers as a group for the fiesta. There are eleven different peñas in Sahagún, each with distinctive characteristics (one for men only, one or two for women only [the women’s group split into two we are told], one for families, etc. Our peña for the event is El Pozo, which we don’t have the slightest idea about. Pozo refers to one of the miracles of Saint John in which he saved the life of a young boy who fell down a well and drowned. Anyway, our peña will eat and drink together during the fiesta and take part in the festivities as a group. For this we pay a daily fee and can participate as much as we can stand. Frankly, Elyn and I feel like we would if we had been invited to a pow-wow in the US with the requirement that we dress up as Indians! To say that we have cold feet would be an understatement. Nevertheless, we will probably join in for some of the festivities. Stay tuned for all the exciting developments!