Cloistered Nuns in Spain
My friend in Spain sent me an interersting e-mail about her first shopping visit to the cloistered nuns who live in convents in Spain. I found it very interesting and got her permission to share it with you. I hope that you found it as interesting as I did.
Cloistered nuns in Spain sell things - normally baked goods - in order to make some money to live on aside from donations. I have been pointing out these convents to my visitors for years and finally got the nerve to actually experience it.
I first went to one in Alcalá de Henares (a beautiful town very near Madrd, where Cervantes was born). We went in and rang the bell. We were greated with a voice behind a wooden window box thing that said, "Ave María Purísima." We had been instructed to respond, "sin pecado concebida."
I guess the first statement is what a priest says when one goes to confession and we answered what the person confessing must say. The nun opened the window, and she had just a peephole, through a thick wooden door, where I could see her eye. She asked what we wanted, and I ordered. In this case, almendras garrapiñadas, candy-covered almonds, very yummy and typical of the Madrid area. She told me the total price, and I put the money on a lazy susan type thing that was in the wooden window/box. She spun it around and returned it with the almonds. (Or maybe we got the almonds first and then were told the total). All we could see through this was her eye.
Having enjoyed the experience, I spotted a convent in Toledo last week where they sold jewelry. These were Carmelitas Descalzas - Barefoot Carmelites, though "our" nun was not barefoot. In fact, she was wearing a down coat because it is so freezing where they live. This started out the same way, with the "Ave María Purísima..." After passing us a couple of bracelets one by one on the lazy susan thing, she gave me a key, so I could open a door and come in to this other little room. There, my friend and I were on one side and she was on another, behind bars. When we left I had to lock the poor lady back in, then pass her the key back through the peep hole!
Quite an experience and we got some cute jewelry.
Traditional Spain can be fun.
Status:
Open Mar 23, 2011 - 04:45 AM