Samhaín and All Saints

Samhaín
Samhaín is the original Celtic holiday from which modern Halloween is derived. Since Galicia is a Celtic nation, I have no problem with them bringing back this ancient tradition while the rest of Spain hops on the Halloween train. In Lugo there were some family activities that could easily have been for Halloween--pumpkin carving, costume parade. A key difference is that here the costumes are scary only. Save the funny and clever stuff for Carnival, people! In addition to that, there was a Queimada in the center. Queimada is liquor that they light on fire (thus its name) in a cauldron, after casting a spell on it. Very appropriate for Samhaín then! I went with some English-speaking friends and we were pretty hard to miss. One of the 'sorcerers' told me "It´s better than Coke!" Well, obviously. But man is it strong! We didn't even finish the cups they gave us. Then we went out and had a gay old time, where very few people were dressed up.

All Saints Day
Since I missed the train for a day trip, I figured it was as good a day as any to visit the cemetery. Unfortunately, none of my roommates had relatives I could go "visit." Anyways, my friend and I walked an hour, mostly uphill, to get there. Spanish cemeteries are a bit different than American ones in that they don´t have much grass, it's mostly marble tombs above ground, or mausoleums, or a wall with the tombstones. Took a picture of the wall, where it looks eerie, perhaps one of the souls broke out the night before on All Hallow's Eve? The cemetery was packed, with tons of fresh flowers, probably because of the holiday. In fact they had a special bus going from the cemetery to the city center. The night was finished off with a movie filmed in a place I´ve visited in Basque Country: Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi.

Cena de Gala

For the past few years, my adopted group of Spanish friends has had a yearly dinner where just the six of them (no significant others and no other friends) get together dressed to the nines to enjoy a fancy dinner and each others' company. Precious! So obviously I felt honored when this year they invited me to come along! Sure, I threw off the 3:3 male:female ratio. But no matter; being invited to this to me signified total assimilation. I can confidently say I am part of a cuadrilla/pandilla/friend group.

Los Internacionales + the real international ;)

My first claw

At the restaurant we were led to a private room for just the seven of us. To start there was toast with some toppings, a paste supposedly made of fish, but that's not what it tasted like to me. I tried to avoid this part anyways, saving room for the seafood! Then they brought out four big trays of razor clams, prawn, and scallops. I ate enough, but again didn't want to fill up on this. I thought the entire meal was going to be seafood but nay. At that point we each ordered whatever we wanted for another course--a very small steak for me. I assumed that would be our next course, but before that we were each brought a giant lobster. My eyes must have been like saucers because I definitely did not see that one coming! Had fun using the tools they gave us though. Afterwards was the personalized course, followed by dessert. Ice cream for everyone, mostly because nobody could fit anything solid down their throats.

After a delightful meal, we hit the town. It must be the only time all of them actually go out together, and nobody went home early! I think we all went home around 4, which was actually more like 5 due to the time change. T'was a wonderful evening with quality friends and food. Only my wallet is thankful it's a once-a-year event.

Las chicas (worth noting of my outfit only the tights were mine)

San Froilán

Lugo's patron saint festivities happened the first week of October, but I'm behind. As my third San Froilán, I felt integrated. Colleagues, friends, and aquaintances seemed to be around every corner. That's what I love about San Froilán: everyone's out on the street, so walking around you really get a sense of camaraderie. This year I wasn't impressed with the concert selections. In fact, the only major one I went to was M-Clan, an older Spanish pop-rock band. Galicia's own Siniestro Total also played, but due to a super late dinner we were unable to attend. Heard there was great atmosphere though, since it's a punk band with now-middle aged ¨original¨ fans, plus new teenage fans. One of the best days was Sunday, domingo das mozas. The weather was great, and we got to see lots of people dressed in traditional Galician clothing, not to mention observe them dancing and singing with tambourines. And there was an outrageous roaming band, Festicultores, livening up the pre-lunch hour. Had a blast dancing along and trying to catch the Galician lyrics.

A highlight was my best friend Lauren´s visit. Hooray! Her weekend was filled with Galician cuisine, which she probably misses over there in Cantabria (Galicians are known for eating good food and lots of it). The first occasion was for lunch at Diego´s parents' home. Instead of going down to the caseta (temporary restaurants set up only for the month of October, specializing in pulpo!), the caseta came to them. Yes, a professional octopus chef came and set up a little tent in their backyard. Too legit to quit! It was awesome to be included in this meal of an extended Galician family. Later that night for dinner we went out with a group of about 18 friends. The place was packed, because everyone goes out for dinner for San Froilán! Surprisingly we went out for churrasco (ribs, basically) and not pulpo, but I assume everyone had had their fill of octopus already. This dinner started at 10 and ended close to 2. And not because we were having a gay old time, but because the service was painfully slow. Sigh. At least we were in good company.