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Bunnies and Crosses 1. Watch the two video clips and make notes in your notebook about what you see, hear, feel, etc. Clip 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0P662dIpdA Clip 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSzIzNTgP6s#t=35 2. Look at these words. Work with a partner and decide if the words are related to Holy Week, Easter or both. Look up any words that you do not know. \

3. Looking at what you already know about Holy Week and Easter consider these questions. a. How do we mark the end of lent here in Seville? b. How do you think people in the US will celebrate the end of lent? c. Look at the photos below, compare them with what you have seen in the video and say what some similarities and differences between the celebrations in US and in Spain might be.

Holy Week Easter

BOTH

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C  

4. Read the post from a Sevillano blogger living in Chicago and say if the statements are true or false. a. Students in Seville and students in Chicago both have the week before Easter off of school. TRUE FALSE b. Americans are Catholic. TRUE FALSE c. You can eat the eggs that have been dyed. TRUE FALSE d. The Easter bunny helps the kids to find the eggs. TRUE FALSE e. Easter is a day to spend with friends. TRUE FALSE f. People in Seville spend more time planning for their celebration than people in the US. TRUE FALSE

Welcome to the Windy City My blog about my time in Chicago

Hey readers! Here's my latest entry all about Easter here in US! So for the last week while all of you have been

enjoying a week of processions, music, incense and crowds of people lining the streets to see religious statues, I’ve been going to school all week long! Yeah, that's right there is no Holy Week here, just Easter.

“What is Easter?” I’m sure you’re asking, well Easter is only one day, it’s the last Sunday of Holy Week and the celebrations here are really different too. Not everyone is Catholic, or even Christian, so Easter is mostly a family event. Some people go to church, but that’s not really the focus. A day or two before families dip hard-boiled eggs in bowls of dye to stain the eggshells. These are put on display and sometimes eaten!

Then they also have these things called Easter baskets. At night, the kids go to sleep and when they wake up they find that the Easter Bunny has come and left them plastic eggs filled with chocolates and sweets. But that’s not all!!!! The Easter Bunny has hidden all the eggs that the family painted! Now the kids grab their baskets and go on an Easter egg hunt looking for the eggs. In the afternoon most people have a family lunch.

Back in Seville we celebrate this in a much more literal way, here the symbols are more figurative and the environment is fun! In Seville we also have brotherhoods, bands and a whole culture surrounding Holy Week. Here Easter is just one day and before or after people don’t think much about it; no bands practicing for weeks, no visiting statues in the weeks before.

In general, it’s been a very different experience but I’ve enjoyed it a lot! Next year, though, I’ll be back in Seville, listening to saetas and eating torrjas! Until next time, Rafa [word count: 317]

Easter Basket and Easter egg

hunt Easter eggs

drying

Dying the eggs

Easter Sunday in

Seville

Kids in Seville ask for wax,

kids in the States look for

eggs

Candles, incense, and

religious images

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5. Think about what you have read, read these questions and talk about what you think with a partner. -What do you like about each event? -Would you like to participate in Easter in the US? Why/Why not? -What are some possible reasons for why there are so many differences in the way each culture celebrates the same holiday?