Today was "La procesion de la tarasca" or the parade of the dragon. Everyone came out to see it--we even got the rest of class canceled so that we could go! La Tarasca happens every Corpus Christi on the Wednesday and is a very fun event. It is a traditional event and has the same characters every year--los cabezudos, los gigantes, los reyes catolicos y los reyes musulmanes, y, por supuesto, La Tarasca. La Tarasca (the dragon) is ridden by a manequin woman who wears a designer dress. Each year a new designer makes the dress and the style of the manequin's dress majorly affects the fashion of the women for that summer. Los cabezudos were my favorite. These are people dressed up in costumes with huge plastic heads. They walk around with balloons made out of animal intestines or something and bop people on the head with them. Los gigantes are people on stilts, and los reyes are giant dolls of the last royalty of the Muslim reign and of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Also there were two bands and other people dressed up in fun costumes swordfighting, lighting fireworks, or just dancing around. This is a big event for the people of granada and they take the opportunity to break out some of their more traditional wear--flamenco dresses, torreador outfits, etc. It was so fun to see everyone in the spirit. We used the rest of our free day to get ice cream and enjoy the beautiful day by the fountain, and tonight I'm joining some friends for drinks and tapas and a free concert at a local discoteca! The next few days are just going to be so exciting. I'm going to try and post a few pictures of the parade, and I'll have plenty more to tell you tomorrow, because tomorrow I'm using my day off to see the other traditional parade (more religious) and go to the fair!
Abrazos y besos,
Meredith
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