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THE HOLIDAY BONUS: SAN AGUSTÍN
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This guy! Amirite?!
Welcome back to The Holiday Bonus. As you know, The Holiday Bonus focuses on the best tangible benefit of hiring a Spaniard: additional holidays (and, ergo, holiday office parties). Last time we focused on Wizard Kings Day. This time we're going local. In Avilés, where Dídima comes from, it's a big day today. August 28th commemorates their patron saint, St. Augustine, and caps off a week of festival-ing.
So why a festival based around St. Augustine? Well, we can thank America for this one. See, in 1565 Pedro Menéndez was vacationing in the Caribbean and accidentally crashed into Florida. So he decided to start a city, which is now the oldest surviving European-founded city in the US. There were actually some French people there already, but he was on strict orders from the king to murder them (seriously). He royally effed up their settlement, took it over, and then killed off the Frenchies, which led to the inlet that area being named Matanzas. Which is Spanish for "slaughter" (seriously).
Menéndez needed a name for his new city though, and didn't know what to call it. Then he realized, "oh, wait, I'm super Catholic, I know." He looked up the date on his Saint Calendar (standard issue) and saw it was the feast day of San Agustín. Since he was in future-America now he used English though, and boom, St. Augustine was born. (Naming it for a saint atones for murdering 300-plus people, right? ...Right? Guys?) His exploits made Pedro Menéndez the coolest bro to come out of Avilés, so the city's patron saint accordingly became Augustine.
How do Avilesinos (peeps from Avilés) celebrate nowadays? They do everything they can think of. The holiday is built around going out with your friends to the various events all week leading up to Aug. 28, like a beer festival, a livestock competition, a medieval market, concerts, sports tourneys, and kids' activities. It all ends with a sweet fireworks display (St. Augustine was a known pyro).
All this begs the question, how can we turn it into an office party?
The Costumes
None required. St. Augustine just wants the people to have a good time. If you want to pay respect to the city though (and why wouldn't you, since they're hooking you up with another way to do less work in the summer), you should try for the traditional costume of the region Avilés is in, Asturias:
The Libations
Did we mention there was a beer fest? Also recommended is Asturias's regional specialty, sidra (which is hard apple cider). When in comes to sidra, it's not just what you're drinking, but how you're drinking it. Proper pouring is a must. Like so:
The Food
Nothing specifically, but on basically any occasion in Asturias/Spain you're going to eat some sort of dried pork sausage. The Spanish have more cured meat than Magic Johnson's head. Most of it is hard to find in the US, so nobody will be mad if you get a platter from the neighborhood Italian deli. At the beer fest in Avilés they make these sorta sub sandwiches with a bunch of exotic meats like wild boar and deer too. (Again, nobody will will discount you for putting some salami on a roll.)
The Activities
Just have a good time. In Avilés they go do fun stuff all week. So have a live performance in the office. Bring out a cured meat smorgasbord. Organize a basketball tournament against the AEs. Try to find some Mahou or San Miguel or Estrella Damm cervezas, and chill some cider. Find those leftover bottle rockets from the 4th and take them to the roof. Whatever you do, make sure it's in the name of St. Augustine. It's what he would have wanted.
(...But please, no killing French people. It's simply gone out of fashion.)
(seriously.)
How do Avilesinos (peeps from Avilés) celebrate nowadays? They do everything they can think of. The holiday is built around going out with your friends to the various events all week leading up to Aug. 28, like a beer festival, a livestock competition, a medieval market, concerts, sports tourneys, and kids' activities. It all ends with a sweet fireworks display (St. Augustine was a known pyro).
Avilés: the only place with fireworks and rainbows. At night.
All this begs the question, how can we turn it into an office party?
The Costumes
None required. St. Augustine just wants the people to have a good time. If you want to pay respect to the city though (and why wouldn't you, since they're hooking you up with another way to do less work in the summer), you should try for the traditional costume of the region Avilés is in, Asturias:
The pony: status symbol.
The Libations
Did we mention there was a beer fest? Also recommended is Asturias's regional specialty, sidra (which is hard apple cider). When in comes to sidra, it's not just what you're drinking, but how you're drinking it. Proper pouring is a must. Like so:
'90s long-sleeve shirt optional.
The Food
Nothing specifically, but on basically any occasion in Asturias/Spain you're going to eat some sort of dried pork sausage. The Spanish have more cured meat than Magic Johnson's head. Most of it is hard to find in the US, so nobody will be mad if you get a platter from the neighborhood Italian deli. At the beer fest in Avilés they make these sorta sub sandwiches with a bunch of exotic meats like wild boar and deer too. (Again, nobody will will discount you for putting some salami on a roll.)
The Activities
Just have a good time. In Avilés they go do fun stuff all week. So have a live performance in the office. Bring out a cured meat smorgasbord. Organize a basketball tournament against the AEs. Try to find some Mahou or San Miguel or Estrella Damm cervezas, and chill some cider. Find those leftover bottle rockets from the 4th and take them to the roof. Whatever you do, make sure it's in the name of St. Augustine. It's what he would have wanted.
(...But please, no killing French people. It's simply gone out of fashion.)
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