La Romería: Parading Back in Time

We had another parade day at school, and it was one for the books! We were celebrating San Isidro, a Spanish saint, and we all dressed up in the traditional clothing of the islands (representing El Hierro, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife) and paraded around town.

Parents and families were invited, so the whole town got dressed up in long skirts, straw hats, head scarves, and frilly aprons on this foggy mountain morning. I was even able to borrow a costume from a teacher, a long brown skirt and white blouse, so I fit in with the crowd! :)

It was a hectic morning, with lots of tying head scarves, adjusting hats, and trying to teach tiny little girls how to walk up and down stairs in floor-length skirts without anyone taking a tumble. A bunch of the kids also had handmade baskets filled with almond pastries, the ever-famous gofio (Canarian cornmeal that you can eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner), quesadillas, and more goodies! It was real-life Little Red Riding Hood, fortunately sans wolf.

We began our long journey from the school to the church plaza, joined by a float covered with vines, palm fronds, a little house, sandbags, and a boombox blasting smooth guitar music. We were joined by parents, relatives, friends, shop owners, police officers, an ambulance, and the radio and TV stations.

When we got to the plaza, we all had a picnic breakfast: chorizo sandwiches and juice. Then the performances began! Each class sang a song or did a dance to celebrate this blast to the past. Some of my 3-year-olds were even interviewed by the local TV station, which was very cute.

The preschoolers and their teachers (including me!) got to ride in the float after the performances, which the little ones loved. One of my teachers was playing the lapas, the limpet shells above, as percussion to accompany the music, a traditional herreño instrument.

After our drive around town, we all gathered together in a giant tent at the top of the hill for lunch, and ate garbanzas, garbanzo beans with chorizo in a yummy broth with bread, along with local pastries from the bakery in town. It was a wild affair, with a guitar band playing in the background, some absolutely massive pots of stew, and lots and lots of plain potatoes being devoured by tiny children.

Despite some general chaos, it was a delightful and successful day for all! :)

¡Hasta la próxima!