La Fiesta de San Cecilio

Today was so much fun!! I went with a few girls to the festival of San Cecilio in the barrio (neighborhood) of Sacromonte.  San Cecilio is one of the patron saints of Granada. Tons of people came to celebrate the saint. The festival consists of tons of food and Flamenco dancing.  Upon arriving to Sacromonte (not that long of a walk from the IES center) we headed to the Museo Cuevas de Sacromonte.  It was really interesting to see how people used to live in caves inside the mountain.  Although I couldn't go inside the caves, it was still really cool to see how people lived a long time ago.  While we were in the area of the museum, there were some cooks getting ready to create a huge gigantous pot of paella. There was much going on around the museum at that point so we headed to the actual festival sight.  The first thing I saw as we walked up the hill was a bouncy thing for the kids (must be a universal thing).  Then I saw the masses of people. Right when we got there we got in a huge line to get free food. The free food came in a bad that said festival of San Cecilio (in spanish of course).  In the bag they put really salty fish, which I did not eat, bread, huge green beans, and a bottle of water.  It was a perfect snack.  They also had other food for sale and of course lots of beer and drinks to buy.  Once we got our bag of food we headed up to the abby at the top of the hill. It was absolutely beautiful.  They had a band playing music and there were a ton of people.  We decided to head back to the museum area to check out the paella, but would come back to the abby later.  When we got back to the museum there were a ton of people there. The flamenco dancers were getting ready to dance.  The Flamenco is such a beautiful dance, with clapping and shoe tapping and flowing movements. 

As time passed the weather went from really warm to really cold in a very short time.  I was mad earlier that I had brought my big jacket, but boy was I sure glad I had it when it began to cool down.  After the dancers were done we just sat around and watched the people. Even though I don't think I look like a Spaniard with my bright pink coat, I was asked twice about things happening in the festival. It was so cool cause I really want to blend in with the culture.  Either I look like I know what I am doing or I just look nice and they think I might know. Either way it is exciting.  After passing some time at the museum we headed back up toward the abby. Someone said that the abby is closed all year, except on the day celebrating San Cecilio.  It was really cool to go inside of it, but a little creepy. I touched this rock, which someone also said, I don't know if this is true, that if you touch it you will get married. Lol. The walk through the small corridors of the abby was super short, but it was worth seeing.  The city has so much history in it. The festival was just the start of my learning experience here. I can't wait to see more and learn more!!