Saga of the ladies' room in Semana Santa in Spain (end March, begin. April 2015)

I went out one evening to one of my favorite restaurants...yes, a restaurant, an Italian restaurant in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, where I am currently.  I had a (house-made) pizza, a small salad, two glasses of wine and a glass of water.  I expected to use the ladies' room before returning home.

The restaurant is by that (tiny looking) street light on the left.  This photo
was taken the day after the Semana Santa processions came to an end.

This dinner was during Semana Santa (the week preceding Easter).  Everything here in the center of town was packed.  It was packed the evening/night before, and for the next five evenings/nights.

A Virgin Mary Semana Santa paso as night falls.  This gives you
some idea of the size.  Between 30 and 50 guys are underneath,
carrying it on their shoulders.

A Christ paso looming over me.  Notice the fully-grown, live olive
tree on top.  This is also being carried by scores of men hidden below.

The ladies' room in the restaurant was out of order;  not surprising under the circumstances.  You're not going to get a plumber out at that time of night, during Semana Santa.

You're going to try to get through THAT?

I had to walk home to get to my own bathroom.  On the way, I encountered a procession ... thousands of people in these narrow streets, a paso for the Christ (you don't really walk past a paso in these streets...too narrow);  then hundreds of the faithful following the paso (you don't really walk past the hundreds of the faithful in these streets...too narrow);  then a very large band.  

Part of one of the bands.  The processions start in the
afternoon, go on through the night, and some don't end
until mid-morning the next day.

I managed to squeeze past the band after half of it had passed me.  Went to a nearby place where there is a  reasonably public ladies' room.  There was a line.

I forged on home and made it.

Much excitement and drama in southern Spain.

(NOTE:  I took all but the top photo the day after my harrowing experience;  my camera isn't good enough to take decent photos at night.)


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Eve A. Ma is in Spain where, having completed the revised Afro-Peruvian documentary, she has gotten back to work on a documentary about flamenco that she is co-directing with Antonio de la Malena.