Are you enjoying your holidays? I hope you are, but also that you don't forget to practise your English!
This new season that recently started, spring, is the season of joy and happiness, of renewance after a long cold winter. Therefore, many people have special celebrations in this time of the year. In Andalucia (Spain), people celebrate the Holy Week and several festivals (ferias), and, in the English-speaking countries, they also have their own festivals. These are the most famous ones:
- Easter: Originally, this is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and that's the main reason why it's celebrated in other countries, like Spain. However, in Anglo-Saxon countries, like the UK and the USA, Easter has become less religious and it's celebrated by both Christian and non-Christian people. In these countries, Easter is one of children's favourite holidays, because of symbols like Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, and the special games they do on this day. On Easter Sunday morning, American and British children wake up and find baskets filled with presents and candy for them, left by Easter Bunny. Later, in the afternoon, the whole family get together and have an Easter dinner, a big meal with a lot of delicious food. After that, they decorate hard-boiled eggs altogether. First, they dye them in coloured water, and then they paint them using brushes. After having coloured them, it's time for fun! Easter Bunny comes (without being seen by the children) and hides the eggs in the family's garden. Then, the children have to do an egg hunt, which means they have to find the hidden eggs. If they find the special golden egg, they'll get a prize!
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/easter/traditions/easter-in-usa.html
- Spring Break: Right now, here in Spain, we're having a holiday, in which people commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the UK and the USA, they also have a holiday around this date, but for less religious reasons. They call it Spring Break, and students have no school during about a week or so. Unlike our holidays, Spring Break might not coincide with Easter, it's merely a celebration of springtime. Many people decide to go on vacation for Spring Break, since the weather is starting to get nicer. This is the case of many American university students, whose Spring Break parties have become internationally famous. These beach parties are full of fun, dancing, drinking, and craziness! Students are celebrating they just finished their first semester and won't have to think of exams for a while!
- Parades: Other springtime celebrations include street parades, some of them done during Easter time, and some others before. This is the case of Mardi Gras, the famous parade they do in New Orleans, USA, on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is a carnival, so people traditionally wear costumes and masks. Everyone watches the street parades, full of colour and jazz music, a music style originated in New Orleans area. It's also a lucky day for getting married, so many couples decide to tie the knot on this day!
If you'd like to know about the origins of Mardi Gras, click on this link:
http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras
Enjoy the rest of your holidays and see you next week in class!
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