Saint Isidro

We got a note home that, once again, we needed to purchase costumes, called chulapos for the boys and chulapas for the girls for the Fiesta of San Isidro.  I had no idea what that was!  Since our, never to be forgotten shepherd costume incident, I've been a bit worried if I'm doing things correctly.

So, I went to Google!  In my Googling, I came across Nieve's blog.   I wish I had found her sooner.  Nieve is a Madrileña (that is the name of people who are from Madrid) with a blog in English (she has blogs in Spanish too).  And she wrote about San Isidro last year.  I asked Nieve if I could post it here for you.  Here is what she explained about this celebration.

Each Spanish city has its own saint patron, to honour which there holidays celebrated, ceremonial masses and festivals are organized. Spanish people still follow this tradition and saint patron days are widely celebrated not only in large cities but also in small villages.

According to the legend, Saint Isidro was born in 1087 in a Christian family that lived in the small Madgerit city, which is now Madrid. When the boy grew old, he started doing peasant work for his landowner Juan de Vargas. At the same time, he revealed an unusual ability to find sources of drinking water, which made him popular all around the neighbourhood and which combined with great devotion and kindness. St. Isidro lived a long life till 90. Little by little he became one of the most esteemed Madrid saints and in XVI century there was a chapel built on the place where St. Isidro revealed the spring. In 1610 he was officially canonized and was named the patron of Madrid.

This celebration starts Sunday before May 15th and lasts a whole week and you can participate in a lot of celebrations organized in many places in the city and you feel as part of one culture, following our (I was born in Madrid) ancestor’s traditions.

Many madrileños wear the traditional dresses “chulapa dress” (for the girls) and “chulapo suit” (for the boys). The word “chulapo” comes from the word “chulo” that in Spanish language is a derogatory term meaning someone is full of oneself….. and so, madrileños are often described as “chulos” by people from other parts of Spain. And although San Isidro and his wife, Santa Maria de la Cabeza were poor people famous for their generosity giving food to the poor, now this celebration is an excuse for big celebrations.

Thank you Nieve for this explanation!

On Friday the kids were to wear their outfits that afternoon.  They would have a little party and then do some dancing.

Here are my little chulos!

 Party!

Dancing! (don't they look excited? Ha!)

 (excuse the fuzziness in the middle, we had to take pictures through some bars)

 Here is a video that Jerry put together of all the pictures and some video (email subscribers can click here)

Stay tuned for our trip to the carnival to celebrate San Isidro!