Last weekend was San Jorge, which is a huge holiday here in Spain, and especially in my city Caceres. There is a legend that says that a long time ago, there was a dragon that lived in the lake by a city. In order for the people to be able to get the water, they had to make human sacrifices every day. One day, it came up as the princess’ turn to be sacrificed. The king tried to stop it, but couldn’t. So just as the princess is at the lake ready to be eaten, San Jorge comes riding in on a horse and slays the dragon. He brings it back to the city, and the people all convert from paganism and become Christians.
Thursday night was the main part of the celebration. We all went to the old part of the town, by the plaza. We got good spots along the street, which was hard because of all the people. So we had a really good view of the parade.
The parade was amazing. San Jorge was in the beginning of it, dressed up as a knight and riding on a horse. There were other knights, and Christian soldiers. There were also a lot of people all painted up on stilts, and there was a woman wearing a “skirt” on wheels that was almost 2 stories high. There were people dressed in lion cloths with different drums and instruments, and men who lit off sparklers in the street as they walked. At the very end of the parade was the dragon. The dragon was HUGE. It took about 10 men to push it on its wheels. Very cool.
After the parade, everyone started pushing toward the plaza. It was hard to stay together with all the other students, we could barely walk. I have never ever seen that many people in one place. It was soo crowded!
We finally made it to the plaza. By then, we were pretty far away, so it was hard to see. The entire open plaza was just packed with thousands of people. Pretty soon they started the show. Every year they reenact the San Jorge legend. So it was kind of like a play. But the stage was the entire plaza. We would be watching gypsy belly dancers in the front of the plaza by the clock tower lit up by green lights, then have to turn around and see the princess in the tower behind us with purple spotlights and smoke. San Jorge came down from the hill by the church and entered into the plaza, and the dragon came from a street on the other side. There was a commentator telling the story as it went on big speakers, and there were smoke machines and dramatic music playing loudly in intense scenes. It was so neat!
The whole play lasted about 45 minutes. At the very end, San Jorge defeated the dragon and they lit it on fire. At that point, I was very happy we didn’t get a closer spot. That dragon was HOT. I was standing far from it, but I could feel the heat from it. I don’t really understand how it’s not dangerous; I mean they just light this dragon on fire that’s 2-3 stories high and huge, in the middle of an immense crowd of people…
Right after that were the fireworks. The fireworks lasted a long time! Longer than most 4th of July displays I’ve seen. The fireworks were really cool too; there were some different ones that I’ve never seen before in the states. The fireworks started to become dangerous though, because they kind of tend to fall on the people standing in the plaza. Fiery balls were raining down on us. Thankfully the wind was just right so it was hitting the people to the left of where we were standing, so we were ok. But later we heard stories from other students who had to run and take cover because they were getting burnt. Again, how is this not dangerous?
After that, the people all mingled in the plaza. All the restaurants and bars were packed, and there were so many people in the streets. We went out dancing that night at a discoteca that was the most crowded I’ve ever seen. It was a very fun holiday. Kind of like the 4th of July + New Year’s Eve.
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