Friday, May 10, 2013

Titirimundi Begins! (Day 10)


Friday May 10th marks the beginning of the theater festival known as Titirimundi. People come from all over the world to show their special theater performances to those who live in and visit Segovia! In the following 5 days, the street will be filled with traveling puppet shows, actors, and other performers!

On our walk to school today, many of us saw different groups setting up for Titirimundi on various streets! Then, today in class, we learned about the Spanish Civil War and the Franco Dictatorship in Spain afterward. Both were very difficult and violent eras in Spain. It was interesting to learn about the events that occurred during this time with the different political groups and the economic situation. However, it is also sad to learn of all of the atrocities that occurred, resulting in thousands of deaths. Either way, it is crucial to be aware of the Spanish Civil War (ending in 1939) and the Franco Dictatorship (ending in 1975) while staying in Spain, since these two periods still effect politics and the lives of many in the country today.

After class, we walked to the main street near the aqueduct to see a small Titirimundi show in the “Teatro de Autúmatas,” a traveling theater of electronic, moving puppets. This small theater was created in 1947, and is the only traveling automatic theater that still exists today. Inside of the theater, there are various different scenes with small moving puppets that depict different commonalities during the mid 20th century. Many of the puppets looked very realistic with an abundance of detail and color. This theater was a great introduction to the festival of Titirimundi. We are all excited to experience more entertaining shows like this one!

After spending some time at this theater, we all were allowed free time for shopping, lunch, or relaxing at Cafés for the rest of the day! We always make good use of this time since there is so much to do and see in Segovia! A few of us spent the beginning of our free time at a tent called “Tierra de Sabor” (Land of Flavor, in English) which offers samples of a wide variety of Spanish foods including cheese, ham, honey, and wine! It was fun to test-taste some of these foods (the cheese here is so good!).


Here are some photos from Teatro de Autúmatas:







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