misa

I hung out with Merle a lot today. She´s really nice, and at the moment is the only person I know who is a native speaker of both English and Spanish. We had drinks, walked around El Casco looking for La Escuela de Idiomas (so that I could put up a flyer there), and she pointed out some chains on one side of an old mosque where they used to crucify Christians.

Then I went to mass at La Catedral. It was my first time inside what Rick Steves calls ´´the best cathedral in Spain.´´ I didn´t get to see that much of it, as the mass was just in a small side chapel, but saw enough to be impressed. The mass itself was really interesting. I was perhaps the youngest person there, the only other person who looked to be under the age of 25 was the solemn young guy next to me. The majority of the crowd was over 40, and I assume were well dressed, judging from the nice array of dress coats. There were no songs, and the entire service lasted barely 45 minutes. I didn´t understand the priest very well, but gathered that today´s homily was about ´´responsibility, perseverance and conversion,´´ sort of an odd trio. Towards the end he stressed that the church needs our help, that includes financial help, so it can help the poor, and because priests have needs too. Then a man and a woman in a very nice fur coat came around and collected the offerings in a bag. After the mass, there was a woman begging for ayuda at the church exit. Her cup was empty.