Palm Sunday and Easter

I haven’t written much on this blog because not much new is going on. I have settled into a routine of going to the gym, taking care of business, working on my consulting project, riding my bike, working on my Spanish and hanging out with friends. Last week however was Palm Sunday. I started seeing these palm fauns in the stores. At first I did not recognize what they were. They aren’t green, but rather an ivory color. I think they are put in some kind of preservative. They take the leaves and weave designs into them. Sometimes they weave flowers into them. So when the fauns are complete, they look more like a vertical flower arrangement. The people in Spain buy them and put them in their homes. I was talking to someone about their significants and he told me that often the family will keep the fauns up all year. It is a sign of devotion and you get blessings from it. I guess you better choose one you really like.

For Easter, a friend brought over to the boat a traditional Spanish dish to share with me. It was similar to french toast. The bread is soaked in an egg batter and then deep-fried. Then you are supposed to sprinkle brown sugar on it and dip it in a very creamy vanilla sauce. The bread was a little oily for me and very sweet, but I did like the sauce. I asked him to send the recipe. I have to learn a little Catalonian cooking while I am here.

The Friday before Easter was a holiday, of course Easter, and the Monday after. A lot of the people left the city and took the whole week off. When there is a holiday here, everything is closed. You would starve to death looking for even a grocery store to be open. It is so different from the states where most stores would use it as an opportunity for a big blowout sale. Since it is actually illegal to have a sale this time of year, nothing special takes place. Something about sales causing unfair competition between businesses. Sales are only allowed in January and July. I think more than any other difference I see over here in Spain and Europe in general is how the economy is run. The government also makes it extremely difficult to open your own business. There are huge licensing fees to pay before you can begin which are out of reach for most people in Spain. A lot of the fees have to do with prepaying for the national health insurance and just the government red tape. You also are required to take government sponsored courses related to the kind of business you want to establish which you are required to pay for. The courses are only offered during certain times of year. So in the end, most people just take the easy way out and end up working for some company.