Apparently, apart from being on time, among my students I am also known for being a huge fan of Carnival. Guilty! A few weeks ago, when to make conversation I asked one student if she liked Carnival, she replied, ¨Not as much as you.¨ And another was surprised when I told her I still hadn't decided on a costume. So to make up for lost time (as I haven't truly celebrated since pre-COVID times), this year I'm joining in on not one but two Entroido festivities. After all, I have a reputation to uphold!
There are so many traditions and special characters throughout Galicia, and since Entroido/Carnival comes but once a year, I've decided no repeats! Every year requires a new Carnival location or else I'll never get to see them all. And on my quest for witnessing first hand all of Galicia's plethora of Carnival celebrations, this year I landed on Os Xenerais de Ulla, the Generals of Ulla. This colorful figure rides horseback in multiple towns and villages surrounding Galicia's capital Santiago de Compostela. On their website they have a calendar of all the places they will be, as they celebrate in different places all throughout the monthslong Carnival season. (You can also see some better pictures than I was able to take.)
After two hours of musical entertainment, the tent area was now packed with a few hundred people. The generals are coming, the generals are coming! First came the dancing band, wearing an array of costumes and playing mostly percussion. Leading the band was a young couple with elegant clothing who I assume to be the King and Queen of Carnival. Behind the band, about a dozen colorfully-clad ¨Generals¨ strode down the hill on their horses. They remained at the front of the tent, behind some metal barriers. It kind of seemed dangerous to us. Imagine one of the horses got freaked out for whatever reason. Stampede, anyone? Luckily that was not the case. Meanwhile the band paraded into the center of the crowd to play their songs. I know they changed the lyrics of some well-known songs to be fun or social commentary, but unfortunately, with all the hubbub I didn't catch much.
Finally, it was time for the Xenerais to do something. When we had arrived to the ten we noticed (and mistook for real) two life-size horses. I thought it was just for decoration. But as the ¨Atrancos¨ got under way, we realized they were being done while on the fake horses. The ¨Atrancos¨ are the closest thing to a rap battle you can find in Galicia. Traditionally they were invented on the spot, but now they are written down and recited with a very marked rhythm, which got in our heads for the rest of the night. The first to participate in the atrancos were kids, not even teenagers. One recites something to the other, brandishing a sword (obviously, they're generals!). The next replies, and they go back and forth for a minute. Again, it was pretty hard to make out what they were saying, but current events in the village seem to be the topic of choice. We heard a few of these pairs having their little spoken duels before we had to go. Like Cinderella, we had to be home by midnight. So I'm not sure if there was more to the revelry or not. Perhaps only the children perform from the fake horses and then the adults perform from their real horses. But I don't know. That's why I would allow myself to repeat and go back one year, to be able to join the party all night long. Maybe I'd even sign up to ¨march¨ with the Xenerais' morning ¨army.¨
This afternoon I'll be headed to a different Entroido experience, so stay tuned!
