social life and fiestas

March 2004
Andalucia day (28th Feb.) was a public holiday and a carnival – around the corner from us in the square we were entertained by traditional Spanish dancing and later that evening we were further entertained by all the local men who were dressed in drag and the children in fancy dress which is the local tradition – it is amazing how good some men can look in fishnet tights! (Steve says ‘especially Spanish men with 9 inch hips’)

Friends of ours were over at their house near Torrevieja and so we took the opportunity to take a break and drove over to spend a couple of days with them. They have a house on a new development. The area reminded Steve and I of Florida – endless beaches and lots of places to eat, drink and shop. The drive over took us nearly 5 hours, however, it was what we call pleasant driving (empty roads).

Luisa from whom we bought the house, invited us to her daughter's 4th birthday party – this was held at a local coffee house and on arrival we discovered that it was a double celebration as it was Luisa’s mother’s birthday. We had tea and cake and more or less managed to communicate. Luisa’s children have taken a liking to us and whenever they are in the neighbourhood, drop in to say hello and practice their English on us.

We continue to make English friends – it seems everywhere we go we bump into someone who has set up over here, although, as yet, there are only six English residents in Rute.

Easter Procession
Tuesday night saw a drum band marching round the whole town beating out a monotonous tattoo in time to their march. All the drummers were dressed in black, hooded masks which made it quite eerie and dark in atmosphere. A strange experience for a religious festival.

We knew that there was another procession planned but we had not really established the details until Eloy, the son of our vendor, Luisa, turned up at the door dressed in a colourful costume somewhat reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, complete with pointed hat, mask and two eye holes.

Eloy wanted us to come to see him carry his candle in the procession so despite both having worked solidly for 8 or 9 hours plastering and building, we washed, changed clothes and went to the church square. Most of Ruté was there as well and when the procession finally got underway (a fashionable and very Spanish 20 minutes late) we were entertained by two marching bands playing different tunes and each followed by huge icons on very ornate floats which were each held on the shoulders of about 30 men. The varying heights of these bearers was accounted for by different length shoulder pads under the float; all very precise and well planned.

The first float was of Jesus carrying the cross and the second was of the patron saint of Ruté, “La Santa Carmen”. Her float was covered in about 100 candles and hundreds of flowers; a breathtaking sight.

The procession moved slowly around the town stopping every so often by a house with a balcony from which a local singer would sing a lament in typical Flamenco style, with much wailing and extended reverberating notes; very moving.

We then met up with Luisa and her sister, Rafi, whose daughter was also in the procession. Rafi then invited all of us to her house for an informal, sit down party and about 15 assorted friends and relatives turned up, mainly it seemed, to play word games on the English couple whose Spanish is hardly past page one of the dictionary. The local people are all very friendly and extremely forthcoming about their problems. They also want to know everything about us and the first thing asked is usually “how old are you?” It isn't considered rude and we respond in kind which makes for some very interesting conversations using a combination of Spanish nouns and hand signals, but we get there in the end and we don’t think that we have mortally offended anyone yet.

During this time the procession caught us up and we all tumbled outside again to watch it go past. It stopped outside a house up the road and as no-one seemed to be singing, we asked why. Apparently, a person who lived in the house was very unwell and the float of La Santa Carmen was set down outside whilst the father made a visit so that the invalid could see the “La Santa” from the window.

No-one is forgotten in their time of need even if it means stopping a procession of several hundred people, all of whom accept it as part of life.

The procession continued and Wendy noticed that one of the bearers had either his wife or girlfriend walking by his side. She was making a song and dance about something with rolling, tearful eyes and an endless barrage of words. The poor chap obviously couldn't escape and she knew this so she really laid it on thick in front of the entire town. They ended up holding hands but whether he ran for the hills when his stint as bearer was over, we shall never know.

Having walked all the way around the town, including up some very steep streets, we finally arrived back outside the church. I had been selected by Luisa’s 4 year old daughter as her escort for the evening and I ended up carrying her for most of the way but as I am used to hefting bags of plaster, it wasn't too much of a burden. She was asleep on my shoulder by the time we reached the church.

We all stood in the square and the two floats were brought into the middle. Rafi kept nudging us to watch the Jesus icon and it suddenly moved it’s arm in benediction. The crowd all sighed in appreciation and another singer started a long and soulful Andalusian song which kept mentioning the name of Ruté. Suddenly at a given moment the whole crowd said “Aiya !!” or something and then the floats moved off into the church.

It was 2.30am and this English couple retired hurt and slept through until 10.00 that morning.

It was very quiet in the town on Thursday so I think that the party probably went on for some time after we left…..

May 2004
We are now recovered from the May fiesta and feria (fair).

This ran from 1st to 11th May and included several processions, events, street parties and a grand fair (la feria) which was set up in the main square just 50 yards from our front door. Now it is said that the Spanish people are noisy but if you try to hold a conversation within 50 yards of a fairground, which is using loudspeakers 10 feet high, you need to shout to be heard. (Incidentally, when you are in a bar or restaurant with two televisions tuned to different stations, it is also necessary to shout to be heard but that is a different story)

We also found out that if you try to sleep in a room with badly fitting, single glazed windows, it is difficult to drift off unless you pretend to be on a cruise ship with the engines running. Most nights, la feria finished at midnight but Friday it went on until 2.00 am and Saturday until 5.30 am. It was very quiet in the town on Sunday morning…..

There is great civic pride in Ruté. Before the fair we had had an election and the town was covered in posters, leaflets and even graffiti. On the day of the fair, the municipal workforce was out in force, cleaning, pruning, painting and the town looked like a new pin. When there is a religious procession, they even have dinky covers to put over the huge wheely bins where we deposit our rubbish.

We were invited on one of Luisa and her sister Rafi’s, religious processions, La Procession de las Flores. I was told that we would be following “la beer can” which of course got my attention. This was not unfortunately the liquid container that I thought but my mishearing of Luisa’s pronunciation of “la Virgen” (“V” is a soft “B” and “G” is “ch” as in a Scottish “loch”, hence “birchen”) The procession consisted of walking all the way around the town holding bunches of flowers which were to be finally deposited at the church. Now, as we had learned to our cost at the April procession, these events can drag on forever and unless you are caught up in the religious or social fervour of it all, can be a bit tiring.

This procession itself was however, fabulous; all the women and children were dressed up in traditional flamenco dress and various groups of players and singers, played and sang their way along the streets. In the longer streets, this had the unfortunate effect of meaning that you could hear a group of flamenco singers at one end and a brass band at the other. In one very long street, we had flamenco singers, flamenco guitarists, a brass band and very helpfully, someone’s hi-fi playing MTV hip-hop from a balcony. All different tunes; all at maximum volume; all very Spanish.

By the time we reached the church, everything came to a halt because the church doors could not take that many people at once. We told our “culture guides” that we would take some photos from up the steps and when we were out of sight, slunk away to the fair and bought some pollo a la brasa, patates y pimientos frito (rotisserie chicken, chips and deep-fried green peppers). Being only 9.30 pm, the restaurant was empty but at 10.00pm, as if on a signal, it suddenly filled up with local people. Such is the routine of eating late in Spain, something our poor, English stomachs find hard to take so we frequently find ourselves eating in empty restaurants. We do get excellent table service, however.

This was not a good year for the fair; it rained most days and on the last night a deluge at about 1.00pm created a gadereen swine rush for home that left the performers on stage playing to themselves. It did mean that we got some blessed sleep rather earlier than usual although we didn't gloat too much.

On Sunday 9th May, there was the best procession on the calendar; Cortijuelos was host to the whole town and la Virgen was paraded up and down our street to flamenco and brass bands. We threw an open house party to some English friends and all of our neighbours and even the sun came out (the local people seem to have a direct line to the weather gods for their processions).

To say that la Virgen was paraded is an understatement. A tonne of her and her float was danced up and down with the 20 bearers all keeping perfect time to the music. They kept it up for six hours here and around the town and as we had been up until 1.00am the previous night with one of them, watching him drink endless fino sherry, I can only assume that they are all drunk or hung over so it can’t hurt that much. Wouldn't have trusted any of them to do a job of work on the Monday though…

July 2004
We went to a party at the home of a couple just the other side of Iznájar– we had a great day, lots of food, booze and good company. We met lots of new people and re-acquainted ourselves with a few others. We cannot wait until we get the farm up and running and can return the compliment. We were invited to join Luisa and half of the street of Cortijuelos to go to Seville for the day – the local Ayuntamiento were running a day out to a place called Magic Island with tickets available from the tourist office. We were going to go but when I had a corn on my toe treated by the local chiropodist she decided to remove part of the toenail from my little toe. Not painful at the time, however, murder to walk with and I did not want to be a wet blanket by not being able to walk anywhere, so we decided to decline.

June 2005
A social whirl might be a bit of an exaggeration, however, it was a hectic summer. Friends came out for 2 weeks at the end of August, the August Feria was so loud that we could not sleep (it goes on until 7 in the morning), so we went and stayed in the house they were renting! We got lots of sightseeing in and generally chilled out. Steve’s brother, his wife, nephew and wife came out in early September – had a great couple of days – there was a free concert in Rute (we think as competition for the feria in nearby Iznájar) that we enjoyed whilst eating a meal one evening and we all had a swim in the pool at the b&b where they were staying. Late September more friends drove across from their villa in Portugal for a couple of days and we also went to visit friends at their house in Marbella, swam in their pool and had lunch with them and their family.

We made the mistake of driving back to the UK in October – driving not only wasted 5 days that we could have otherwise spent visiting more friends, but also cost an absolute fortune – next time we fly!  We visited all of our family but could only manage a couple of friends in the time left.

Christmas day and Boxing day are not really celebrated in Spain, however, the streets are decorated with a fabulous set of Christmas lights and a full size nativity, complete with stable, donkey, sheep and chickens which is built in the lower square of the town. We got invited to a dinner party on Christmas Eve in Priego de Córdoba, where we met some more ex-pats and a drinks party on Boxing Day; we had a great time at both. So, spending Christmas day on our own for the first time since we have been married was a good opportunity to just chill out. The Spanish concentrate more on what they call Kings day (6th January) as this is the day that the ‘wise men’ visited. They have a procession around town with floats carrying the ‘kings’ who, with their helpers throw sweets and toys to the crowds lining the route. A bit painful if any hit you!

New Years Eve all the bars and restaurants are closed until 12:30 as most Spanish see the new year in with their families with a large roast lamb dinner. They then all go out and party all night! We lasted until about 2pm and then slid away.

We have made some really good friends who live in and around Priego and we have also got to meet some of the other Ruté ex-pat residents who we knew about but had never met. This has been a real bonus as we are building some friendships locally as well.

As we have been a bit busy with the house, we have cut back on the time we spend living the wild life. During the winter, this has had the added benefit of reduced laundry costs as we don’t have to keep washing the smoke out of our clothes from the many and various bars hereabouts. Summertime improves the situation as everyone sits outside in the fresh air.

The joke is that the regional government has started a campaign to stop people smoking in public places. We give them full marks for being earnest but minus marks for being stupid enough to think that they will EVER separate the Spanish people from their cigarettes.