23 December ’05, Friday.
We found out about an arrival of “The Three Kings” for tonight, so we decided to stay around camp until later tonight and then go into see the arrival ourselves. That also gave us a chance to do a little laundry. It seems that doing the laundry is almost a daily routine. For the two of us, we do seem to go through a lot of clothes washing, but you know the old saying… ”Cleanliness is closer to Godliness”… The weather has changed a little by the wind calming and the sun coming out off and on. The temperature seems to have increased as well, but I’ll bet it was just the difference in the wind chill. We had a pork roast that I was to barbecue, so at 3 I put that on to grill. Putting that together with some great pasta, we had an early dinner and then dressed for the night in town. We missed the first part of the Three Kings arrival, but made that up by being early for the second. The second part “Benlen Viviente” (The Live Nativity), took place in a courtyard beside the old city walls. We climbed the rock step to the top of the city walls to see the view and watch things get set up below. The crowds arrived slowly, but as we looked down into the valley below, we could see people coming out of their homes and walking toward the walls. The little kids jumping all around in expectation of the evening ahead. Every once in awhile, there was a large firecracker sent into the air for an explosion that would rock you where you stood. At an area of the wall that was used as an entry into the wall, they had a crib set up and a couple of young teenagers had dressed as Mary and Joseph. Just outside of the entry, there was a cow, mule, and about 15 sheep. In a niche above the entry stood an Angel. Further up on the wall a star lit the way to the crib. Out into the grounds beyond the wall there were a “smithy”, woodcarver, potter, and women working a spinning wheel. To keep the people warm, they had built 3 bon-fires scattered around the area (boy, can you see the lawyers handing out their business cards in the states on this one??? Oh yes, the stairs leading to the top, and all along the wall, didn’t have a railing to hold you back from falling either, which was about 30 feet at the highest point). There was a large stage set up for a group that sang and danced Spanish folk and Flamingo songs all night. Along the back of the courtyard they were serving sweet bread that they cooked in a hot oil pot, home made sausages, olives, other meats and cheeses, and 2 different home brewed sweet liquors that tasted wonderful on a cool night around an open bon-fire. When the crowd got to the largest, the arrival of the Three Kings and Papa Noel was just what the kids was looking for. It was wonderful to see the excitement of all those kids, or should I say most of … Just like home, there are some that just don’t want anything to do with “that strange looking person”… Now at last, the kids could pull out their “List” and present it to the Kings in great anticipation that come the 6th of January, every item on it would be delivered to them because they had been “The Best Kids In The Whole World”… All and all, WE ALL had a great time and now have some additional memories we can look back on…Christmas in a small town in Spain…Ronda.
We found out about an arrival of “The Three Kings” for tonight, so we decided to stay around camp until later tonight and then go into see the arrival ourselves. That also gave us a chance to do a little laundry. It seems that doing the laundry is almost a daily routine. For the two of us, we do seem to go through a lot of clothes washing, but you know the old saying… ”Cleanliness is closer to Godliness”… The weather has changed a little by the wind calming and the sun coming out off and on. The temperature seems to have increased as well, but I’ll bet it was just the difference in the wind chill. We had a pork roast that I was to barbecue, so at 3 I put that on to grill. Putting that together with some great pasta, we had an early dinner and then dressed for the night in town. We missed the first part of the Three Kings arrival, but made that up by being early for the second. The second part “Benlen Viviente” (The Live Nativity), took place in a courtyard beside the old city walls. We climbed the rock step to the top of the city walls to see the view and watch things get set up below. The crowds arrived slowly, but as we looked down into the valley below, we could see people coming out of their homes and walking toward the walls. The little kids jumping all around in expectation of the evening ahead. Every once in awhile, there was a large firecracker sent into the air for an explosion that would rock you where you stood. At an area of the wall that was used as an entry into the wall, they had a crib set up and a couple of young teenagers had dressed as Mary and Joseph. Just outside of the entry, there was a cow, mule, and about 15 sheep. In a niche above the entry stood an Angel. Further up on the wall a star lit the way to the crib. Out into the grounds beyond the wall there were a “smithy”, woodcarver, potter, and women working a spinning wheel. To keep the people warm, they had built 3 bon-fires scattered around the area (boy, can you see the lawyers handing out their business cards in the states on this one??? Oh yes, the stairs leading to the top, and all along the wall, didn’t have a railing to hold you back from falling either, which was about 30 feet at the highest point). There was a large stage set up for a group that sang and danced Spanish folk and Flamingo songs all night. Along the back of the courtyard they were serving sweet bread that they cooked in a hot oil pot, home made sausages, olives, other meats and cheeses, and 2 different home brewed sweet liquors that tasted wonderful on a cool night around an open bon-fire. When the crowd got to the largest, the arrival of the Three Kings and Papa Noel was just what the kids was looking for. It was wonderful to see the excitement of all those kids, or should I say most of … Just like home, there are some that just don’t want anything to do with “that strange looking person”… Now at last, the kids could pull out their “List” and present it to the Kings in great anticipation that come the 6th of January, every item on it would be delivered to them because they had been “The Best Kids In The Whole World”… All and all, WE ALL had a great time and now have some additional memories we can look back on…Christmas in a small town in Spain…Ronda.