New Morocco Photos and Malaga

I just got back from my friend's house in an amazing city called Malaga, which is about 2.5 hours away from Seville and surrounded by mountains and ocean (best of both worlds, though the city itself isn't nearly as beautiful as Sevilla). Now I've seen Semana Santa in 2 cities particularly famous for their Semana Santa riutals. For those wondering what exactly Semana Santa is, it's Holy Week, which, in Sevilla and Málaga is not merely a mark on the religious calendar but a cultural and (if you're of that persuasion) religious event of, literally, monumental proportions. In short, every church in Seville (there are more than 200) has it's own statue of the virgin or of Jesus, and in Seville, all of them are centuries old (some dating back from the 15th century, like the one that belongs to one of the churches where I live, in Triana, and is also one of the most famous). Think of a city more than a thousand years old absolutely filled with people in the streets from noon until 6 in the morning. As I said, these are religious and non-religious people, your old and young, rich and poor. Everyone, except for the people who don't dig Semana Santa. I should clarify, when I say "statue," what I really mean is HUGE, 1000 kilo things of painted wood and solid gold and silver thrones piled with mountains of flowers of white (if it's Mary) and red roses (if it's Jesus). Moving them through the streets requires at least 60 very large and strong men to walk under these monstrosities with special towels wrapped around their heads, all of the weight resting on the backs of their necks and spinal columns. The people dress in what I can't help but describe as colored KKK uniforms, pointy hats, robes, and everything. Really. It's very startling for any American or non-Spanish person familiar with the odious organization. And then, behind all of them, hundreds of people walk: the penitents. Some of them walk barefoot. Some of the paseos, as they are called (tronos [thrones], in Málaga), are with music, and others go without. This music comes up through the ground and down from the sky. It's everywhere and it pierces through your soul. In Málaga, I stood in a plaza with my friends to see two very famous tronos which come out simultaneously (by the way, you can't really understand what a cathedral is unless you've been to Europe). The entire plaza, all of the sudden, filled with singing, something you don't get in Seville (in Seville the music is provided almost entirely by wind instruments). The plaza is a square, and since there were two tronos, there were people involved in the centuries=old procession on all sides. Imagine standing there in a plaza filled with people, surrounded by tall buildings, all of which have balconies filled with people watching from above, erupting in harmonized voices all at once, perfectly, just like they used to to 500 years ago, but without the electric Ben & Jerry's sign behind you. This is a religious experience for those who don't believe as well as for those who do. It is something one must live to believe and understand. I don't presume to understand it, but I'm glad to have lived it. I'll write more later. 'Gotta go to work.