Boxing Day fiesta
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 @ 9:45 PM
What a great day we had yesterday...our small village really burst into life for a few hours...another unique moment... We started with a walk at 11am, around the valley and then returned to the plaza with firewood, food and booze, to find the local bar also open and people beginning to drift into view. By 3pm we had the bonfire ablaze and 2 local and excellent drummers had got the tom-toms started. Everyone brought a plate of food and a bottle, so there was no shortage of sustenance.
A 5-a-side football match followed, played around and over the bonfire but with a decent leather ball. The children, dogs, cats and onlookers kept to the sides of the plaza more or less! For the first half our team (the Village/honorary Spaniards) consisted of 4 men and 1 woman (me) and the Visitors (a similar gender balance and Dutch, American, also some out-of-town Spaniards). The second half (with a long break for refreshments) saw us 2-4 down, but Steve went off and changed his flip-flops for boots, I substituted with Francisco and we finally won through to 7-5. Everyone was hot and exhausted by the end but it was great fun. Next year we might go for an oval ball and some touch rugby!
As dusk drew near, 2 guitarists and a violinists struck up alongside the drummers and around 50 people listened or danced to music that ranged from Santana to French country dances to the Last of the Mohicans track. At some point we tried to dance a bouree (a minuet I believe), we managed a bit of tango and of course everyone can jig from one foot to the other...the ages ranged from a babe-in-arms to 70+ and as is so common in Spain, everyone mixed regardless. The teenagers mingle very well here and once we had all had a glass or two of wine, a snatch of tequila and various other beverages, we were set to party until the early hours. The fire kept us warm and was still just alive at 10am when I went out to check and clear up the empties.
Another splendid Christmas in the Alpujarras!