Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 51 - Celebrating apart

I think I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I don't know how we'd be getting through this lockdown without video conferences!!! Especially when there's something to celebrate.

Today is Mothers' Day here in Spain, and my mom is all alone at her place! Due to the quarantine rules she can't come here and I can't go there (other than to take her groceries, but since today is Sunday and shops are closed - if I get stopped by the police on my way over to her house it's a 600€ fine!). And my sisters are in Sweden and the UK!

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 30 - Happy Quarantine Easter!

Well this will definitely be an Easter to remember... Instead of joyful family get-togethers, Easter Mass for the Faithful, joyful Easter Sunday Processions (here in Spain), we get... who knows?! I imagine everyone is doing something different... What I saw among my own friends and family in social media was quite diverse! One friend was "attending" Mass in the Vatican on TV. Others had prepared traditional Easter meals and decorations. Some of my cousins in the US and my sister in Sweden prepared Easter baskets for the kids and hid the eggs in the garden or the house (was raining in Sweden). I saw friends in New Zealand and the U.S. paint printed pictures of Easter eggs with their kids to put up in windows... In my case the only "Easter" thing I did was have "torrijas" for breakfast (French toast with thick bread, and sugar & cinnamon instead of syrup), something typical here in Spain during Holy Week and Easter, and then watch a concert in the evening. It was a grey day here, not very cheerful. But perfect for huddling under the blanket on the sofa with a book and a movie. 😎

(disclaimer: these were from a frozen food company, not from scratch! 😜)

Coronavirus Lockdown Spanish Edition - Day 20 - Canceled festivities

If there's one thing you need to know about Spaniards, it's that they LOVE their traditional holidays! Particularly in small towns, and in certain city neighborhoods that feel like towns. They're bright, colorful, festive... and very noisy! 😂 Marching bands galore, music late into the night, and in this part of Spain (Valencia region) lots of firecrackers and related noise-makers. The big ones around here (Alicante province) are the Hogueras (big ones in Alicante city for June 24th, smaller ones in other towns on different dates) and the Moros y Cristianos (main ones in Alcoi and Villajoyosa, but getting bigger in many other towns like neighboring San Vicente where the university is located).

The thing is... these events bring out massive crowds. Social distancing? Impossible! So one after the other cities and towns have been announcing the postponement of their big holiday. The Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante? Shipped off to the first weekend in September to wrap up the summer instead of launch it. Fallas in Valencia scheduled for mid-March? Just 10 days before (with some of the monuments already half set up!) finally shifted to 2nd half of July. Moros y Cristianos in Alcoi (end of April)? They're considering the first weekend in October. And so on, and so forth. 😥 

Milestone birthdays

Why is it that we seem to mark some birthdays as more special than others? Place more significance on them? Dunno really, not even sure every culture around the world does this... And those that do, don't necessarily have the same milestones!

I guess my own mixed cultural background comes in to play here... 

The first big milestone I remember - yet didn't celebrate - was 15. I was living in Mexico then and the "Quinceañera" was a big deal! But I mostly saw that through a friend's birthday two years after mine, as my family was on holiday in the US Southwest (fabulous summer camping in the "4 Corners" area!), and I was actually in Vegas for my birthday! Perhaps if we'd been in Mexico instead of out of the country there might have been a "Quinceañera" flavoring to the celebrations? Your guess is as good as mine! And it's not like many of my friends would have been in town, they were all off on their own summer holiday (international school).