Midnight Pilgrimage

Tomorrow is the nativity of the Virgin. I'm sure you all knew that, but just in case... ;)

Most virgins have a day dedicated to them. The 12th of December is the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (patrona of Mexico), for example; and Our Lady of Pain's day is Good Friday. But there are a number of virgins that are "day-less" (for lack of better words) and they celebrate their day on the 8th of September since it is the Virgin Mary's birthday.

The patrona of La Roda is the Virgin of the Plains (La Virgen de los Llanos). Legend has it that a farmer stumbled upon the carved image of this virgin one day as he was plowing his field just a few miles from the pueblo. Being a day-less virgin, our fiestas patronales are on September 8th. Today there was a small procession of people and representatives from the different brotherhoods of town to present flowers to Our Lady of the Plains. Tomorrow evening she comes out of the church in a procession and during the day there are different festive events. One of them is a bicycle race through La Roda's municipalities (tiny towns that fall under the juristiction of La Roda's city hall: Los Perez and Los Perenos); I will be participating. :)

Angelines has decided to take advantage of the day's festivities, too. She'll open at midday and we'll have paella and porra (a thick gazpacho) for 2 euros a plate--just enough to cover costs--and hope that people stay and drink for most of the afternoon. I've made a HUGE tupperware full of porra and tomorrow I'll to go to Mercadona to buy the shrimp, etc. for the paella. I hope this is a success; Angelines is more depressed by the day with the way business is going. There are a lot of factors, but the bottom line is we're breaking even (if we're lucky). It's been that way for the past 5 months and she assures me that things will get a lot worse before they improve. I hope she's wrong...

But I didn't start this post with the intention of whining about our financial situation! I wanted to tell you about the Virgen de la Fuensanta. Do you remember one of my bike trips earlier in the year when I visited a hermitage next to some caves where the famous bandito Jose Maria el Tempranillo used to hide out? That hermitage is La ermita de la Fuensanta. The Virgin Fuensanta is another virgin who's day is celebrated tomorrow. There are a lot of devotees in the surrounding area and traditionally in the week before September 8th they make a pilgrimage to her hometown, Corcoya. Corcoya is 11 kilometers from La Roda.

Last night I got a call from a few friends that they were planning to go to see the Fuensanta. Of course, I signed up! So at 9:30pm, with reflective vests and the darkness of a new moon, we headed out of town. You can see in the picture that we were well hydrated before heading out. ;) We stopped at the last bar in town for a cervecita and tapa before really hitting the road...you've got to love Spain!

And this is the little Virgin Fuensanta. The statue isn't much more than 2ft. tall--very little. Today was her flower offering (just like here in La Roda) and tomorrow is a procession that takes the Fuensanta out of the church and up to her hermitage. Apparently the little town of Corcoya doubles or triples in size for this particular fiesta. I won't be attending since it all coincides with our own festivities, but maybe some year. It sounds like something worth seeing.

After a friend drove us back to town last night, I met Angelines at the ice cream place-- side note: being called an heladeria doesn't exclude the prevalence of alcoholic beverages. So as I began sipping my gin tonic, the bar tender asked me very earnestly, "Do your holidays in the U.S. have to do with virgins and saints, too?"

I had to laugh.