Its Holy Week down here and they take it very seriously....for the most part. It has been a real experience for me as well as an opportunity to keep my cynicism/tongue in check. First of all, the schools are shut down for the whole week plus the following Holy Monday. So, that sticks in my craw since the children here get so little educational opportunity anyhow. And, to make matters worse, the Friday before the week of vaca, they have a party at the school to celebrate the start of vaca !!!
So, there are a lot of misas ( masses) all week on various days depending on what day it is in the story of the crucifixcion. There are procesiones ( processions) almost every day or night with Jesus held aloft on a platform which is carried by church people ( special folks who have special shirts with patches on their sleeves indicating their role). If the procession is at night, Jesus is followed by a wheelbarrow with a car battery attached to a long extension cord going to the spot lights on Jesus. Also, the processions are either preceded or followed by a few young people, a band or ensemble of sorts, usually consisting of a trumpet, trombone or tuba, and a couple drums, which plays music or rather short tunes, sometimes somber other times joyful, depending on whether the procession is sad or joyful.
These processions usually follow a misa, so after Jesus is taken down from his place inside the church ( actually our chuch has two Jesuses, one is a black statue of Jesus and is our patron saint, Guisgipulas who was brought here ages ago from Guatemala, so I am told) and the other one is the more traditional chela ( light skinned, i.e. I am chela too) and thats the one they use for the processions. In addittion to Jesus on the platform held aloft on the shoulders of the carriers, the wheelbarrow and the band the townspeople who were at the misa follow, or precede, the procession all thru town. The rest of the townspeople move their plastic chairs out into the streets to watch the procession go by. So, those processions are a very big deal and are looked forward to with great anticipation. Prior to the arrival of the procession, the people who live along the way, throw water in the street to keep down the dust that otherwise would be horrible with so many people walking in the street.
I live on a block which has a corner by which most of the processions proceed. There is a very nice family, extended family as far as I can tell, which lives there and each day they told me when the procession was coming and invited me to sit on their porch with them to watch. I did it twice and it was a good experience both times.
On Thursday night, I went to misa ( because one of the deacons invited me so I felt I had to go) and then sat on the porch to watch for the procession afterwards. I actually left the misa early when the priest came down into the congregtation and started washing people's feet. I was not up for that ( given that my feet have really taken a beating over here with the dirt streets and they were not much to speak of prior) Anyway, I left, walked around town, bought a leche con banano ( like a milkshake but in a plastic bag which you bite of a corner and suck out the milkshake) and then wandered back to my neighbor's to await the procession.
Finally, Jesus came by and I figured out, or was told, that he was on his way to a congregant's house to spend the night from which there would be another procession in the morning that would carry him back to the church for the crucifixcion. When he arrived at that house, all the people in the procession would have cakes and drinks, I guess symbolizing the last supper. Thats what the feet washing was about too.
There was a big procession Friday night but I missed it. I could hear the band in the street and it was very slow and somber as I believe that is the night he supposedly was taken down from the cross and placed in that cave/tomb.
On Saturday the do some things that sort of have me mystified and my Spanish is not good enough to understand what they were trying to explain to me. I think it is related to purging bad spirits. It involves people walking around town in masks, the very scary kind with ragged clothes, sticks, crazy hair, faces usually totally covered or smeared with black mud or paint, very very scary. These people walk in the street and make threatening gestures at passing cars, bikes, pedestrians, etc. No one seems really scared ( except me when they stepped in front of the bus which was going full speed at the time) but it was all a dance and everyone ( except me) knew what to expect and no one was killed.
Then, on Saturday, following the misa, the procesison came by again and I was on the porch waiting with my neighbors. Prior to the procession, townspeople had hung ( as if in effigy) dummies, fully clothed, shoes and all, from ropes in trees along the processions path, stuffed not only with flammable paper or rags, but with fireworks and bombas. As the procession came by ( this time it was obviously statutes from the church of Mary and Jesus ( or maybe it was Joseph held aloft on the platform and lighted ) since Jesus himself was still in his tomb)\with the usual band and large large crowd of townspeople many of whom were young people who were along to watch this procession and likely had not been in the misa prior.
Anyhow, after the platform passed each one of these dummies, ( hoodas) someone lit the dummy and it burst into flames and the fireworks and bombs went off while everyone stood and cheered. It was very very exciting for all. The fireworks often shot out sideways and into the crowd which caused great excitiement and as far as I know, no one was injured and no houses burned down. We are in the last week of the 6 month long dry season so I know , if we were in Colorado, those fire works would have been prohibited. But, here its much more like the old West and it seems to work out , for the most part.
There was also a huge fiesta going on with loud music and dancing and food/drink vendors in the next block but I did not partake of that. Maybe next year. Unfortunately, this week involves a whole lot of drunkedness so its best, for people like me, to steer clear. I might say or do something that gets me killed !!!!
This is going on too long so I 'll stop here. Today, of course is resurrection day so I am sure it will be a very happy procession today or tonight.
I have a plastic bottle collection project scheduled with the young people at 8 am this morning knowing that the fiesta and the procession will have produced a whole lot of trash in the streets. Thats actually good news for us since we plan to sell these bottles and keep them out of the solid waste stream ( which gets burned here).
Happy Easter. There are no Easter Bunnies or eggs or special candy down here, and darn, I sure would like to bite the ear off a solid milk chocolate bunnie. Or those special eggs in Juniata county, boy, I could sure go for one ( or 5) of them right now.
As the world's most famous bunny says.......Thats all folks.....
Pat
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