Hope for Sevilla

Over a million people make an annual pilgrimage in June to the tiny village outside of Seville called El Rocio. They show up in carts pulled by oxen or horses. They walk or come on tractors. Most are there for the week long parties and guilty pleasures found in Rocio. A faithful few are looking for a miracle from the Virgin Mary.

Sean and Shelley had the thrill of being part of a marriage retreat in Ireland. It was a first time visit for both of us to the Republic of Ireland and also Northern Ireland. Here's two picts taken from outside Dublin.

The "April Fair" in Seville is known throughout Europe as being quite an extravaganza. We've never seen so many horses, rides, dancers and festivities.

Here is a view from our street with our garage door open, which shows a good representation of many Seville streets that are lined on both sides with orange trees.  Unfortunately the oranges on these trees are purely ornamental and can't be eaten.  We've heard of people who tried one...but they only did it once because of the bitter taste.  We as a family are up to our necks in learning Spanish and trying to communicate with folks we meet in the best way we can...which is often quite humorous, but we find the Spaniards quite gracious for the most part.  There was recently a very windy day as Sean was downtown on his way to language school.  The oranges on the trees lining all the streets were at their peak of ripeness and some were starting to fall from the trees on their own.  Then all at once a massive gust came and thousands of oranges were falling all around. It was like a hail storm except with oranges. People were taking cover and afterward it was very funny trying to walk down the street without tripping over or kicking the fallen fruit...not something this Texas boy had ever experienced before.