March 23rd 2008
Written by Geoff Forster
Sunday March 23rd 2008
It's Easter Sunday and it's a glorious sunny day.
We went to see the donkeys. We walked them and sat watching them graze in the sunshine for an hour.
Just as we were thinking of leaving we heard a loud noise from behind us. A male Booted Eagle had been perched (not sure for how long) in a tree just behind us. It took of crashing through the upper branches. It circled the valley a few times before flying higher and away over a ridge.
We came back home changed out of our campo clothes and got ready to go to the plaza to see the Easter Sunday auction.
People donate flowers, vegetables and young animals to be auctioned after the church service and procession. 
We had a coffee in Café Bar Guayácan before walking down to the church. The service was still going so we went to Pub Bar Dami for another coffee. Soon the service finished and the procession began. The women take this statue around the village.
The men take this one. There is another of a statue of a child already in the plaza, which was taken there by the children the previous evening. It used be a tradition that the children went around the village stealing plants and young animals for the auction. This has recently been banned by the priest. The statue was supposed to give them immunity from breaking one of the commandments.
We joined the procession. This is the church and part of Benarrabá looking across the Genal Valley to Jubrique.
We got to the plaza. The three statues meet and take it in turn to run towards each other. It's a fun thing with every one clapping and laughing, I think it's to symbolise their love for each other.
The auction gets underway. There were two goats, lots of hens, a piglet and a large rabbit. Pot plants and vegetables covered part of the plaza.
The three statues.
House Martins have returned to the village this weekend. I love seeing them catching flies above the village. Just the Swifts left to come. The Swallows have been here for a couple of weeks now. This one was on a wire as we walked back home from the plaza. 
Back home we watched Music and Lyrics. Directed by Marc Lawrence. With Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I'm not a huge Hugh Grant fan. This film has it's funny moments and is an easy going romantic comedy. Grant is good as an aging 'has been' 80's pop star. He doesn't seem to act, the same old Hugh, accent and mannerisms like all his previous films. It's worth watching, if you like Mr Grant or this kind of film.
Next we watched 'Charlie Wilson's War'. Directed by Mike Nichols. With Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and Julia Roberts. An insight into American politics and how a unconventional Texas congressman influenced and made the covert war in Afghanistan against the Russian Red Army happen. Good stuff.