Oh no, the goodbyes have started. Thank you again Monica, John, Leo, Julia y Juan Carlos for all you have done during my stay. I am sad to go, but will see you all again soon! Besos y Abrazos!

Gracias Luis, for being the best neighborhood frutero ever. Thanks for, all the samples and tastings along the way, picking out the best avocado or the ripest mangoes, and for turning me on to fresh squeezed juice from valenciana oranges!!

Just a few video snippets from the awesome experience of the Holy Week processions!

 For those of you who have been following the blog you will remember that I had a chance to interview Gonzalo who is one of the costaleros that is involved in carrying this imagen of the Virgin Mary during the Palm Sunday processions. It was an incredible sight to see the procession and an even greater delight to catch him during one of the stops she they switched out the crew. You can see he is wearing the traditional costal that is worn by each man.

Today was the start of the Holy Week processions in Spain. I am thrilled that I got a chance to see these in person. The procession, the floats, the music and the reaction of the crowds are something I will never forget. 

In preparation for Holy Week, many of the churches in Spain had smaller processions today that were artistic representations of the Stations of the Cross. I had never seen a "Via Crucis" before and am so glad that I got the chance to see one today.        

My friend Gonzalo is pictured here with the glasses. He is the costalero that I feel so fortunate to have met and interviewed. He will be walking in the processions on Palm Sunday as well.

This is Mónica. She has played a huge role in my work while I have been here and her contributions to the project are immeasurable. She is smart and funny, she loves to laugh and she can even read my mind! We are at the beginning of what I hope will be a long friendship. Today we showed up to work and discovered we were wearing matching outfits, which included Taylor pink pants!