Reyes

Christmas is a big holiday here in Spain. However, they don't usually do gifts on Christmas. They do gifts on Epiphany, January 6. They call it "Dia de los Reyes"/"Day of the Kings". It is when the "3 kings" brought gifts to Jesus. (More Biblical than Santa...woohoo!!!) Instead of Santa, kids here write letters to Balshazar (a king???) and they sit on his lap at the malls. They also put out shoese with hay in them to feed the camels on the night that the kings come. (Similar to cookies for Santa, no?) He is black and dresses like an Arabian king. (I am not sure why.)
As I was sitting here this afternoon, I heard a band coming down my street. I opened the balcony doors to find a band dressed as kings and a woman in a carriage (not sure who she represents...probably Mary) coming down my street.
The funny part is that the king is black and there are no black Spanairds. So what do they do? Well, they paint themselves black! What else? And I just laugh thinking, "How would that go over in America????" (Check out the black face in the lower right corner of photo below.)

As I leaned out and watched I started to get pelted in the head with something. They were throwing candy at me! Those kings clobbered me and laughed their little heads off. They got the candy not only in my balcony window, but some of it when all the way across the room. And it was hard candy...not chocolate! Darn those kings with their painted on black faces!

ps Look! My flowers are still alive!!!!