Valentines & Sardines

Really, what is Valentine's Day without a march around the school carrying a giant foil sardine? Okay so it may have been a coincidence that two holidays (one Spanish, one American) fell practically on the same day-but combining the sardine burial with the romantic American holiday is pretty comical.

Just before Valentine's Day weekend, the school (along with the rest of Madrid) celebrated Carnival, a holiday celebrated just before the Lent season which usually consists of parades, festive activities and costumes of all kinds (almost similiar to Halloween). How they celebrate Carnival is where it gets interesting: the students bury a sardine...I asked a teacher where this tradition comes from, and she honestly had no clue. So I asked another, and this is pretty much what I got from it:

There are a few theories as to the origin of the sardine burial. One of these dates back to the XVII century, when Charles III, King of Spain, wanted to celebrate the end of Carnival with the commoners. So he ordered sardines and wine to be served at a countryside picnic. The weather that day was very hot, so the sardines began to smell. Of course, with such a horrible smell in the air, everyone wanted it gone and realized the only way to do this was to bury the sardines deep in the ground. After this was accomplished, the crowd wept at the thought of no longer getting free grub and having to begin their pre-Easter period of abstinence.

Therefore, I found myself dressed as a black widow, helping the students carry a giant foil sardine around the perimeter of the school. Happy Valentine's Day!

Math teacher Carmen, Rebeca and I dressed as black widows to mourn the sardine...

Funeral procession for the sardine.

Aaw, how cute are they?

The Real Valentine's

Okay obviously I wasn't going to let the students let Valentine's Day slip away with thoughts of sardines in their heads. I persuaded my teachers to sneak in a little American Valentine's traditions in the classroom and the students loved it, of course.

For 6th grade, I created a PowerPoint called "Valentine's Day Through the Years," which explained how the "mushy gushy" holiday wasn't always this way. It actually started in the 3rd century with Valentinus (St. Valentine) and slowly evolved into the romantic holiday we know of today. Spain actually does celebrate Valentine's Day, but in no way near how we celebrate in the United States (and other places around the world). They didn't even know what Sweethearts are!

After the PowerPoint, we handed out magazines and told everyone to find a big pair of shoes and cut them out. Then, after pasting the shoes onto paper, they would draw the kind of person they believed would wear the shoes. The challenging part came when they had to actually write a description of the person: name, age, hobbies, jobs, personality, etc. So where does Valentine's come in? After everyone finished, we paired the characters together based on their looks and descriptions. How cute! :)

This is a very unfinished version, but you get the gist.

For 4th grade, I kept to the classic classroom activity: making Valentine's Day cards. I explained to the students how a Valentine can be anyone you love, from a friend to a family member. Surprise! Most of them wrote to their mom or dad. It was pretty endearing.

This was on many of the Valentine's cards...hey, points for honesty. And look at him using "well" instead of "good!" Go Hector!

A proud Paula.

While the sardine burial and card making were all fun, it wasn't my official Valentine's Day celebration. My Valentine's would be celebrated on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

#holiday #teaching #culture