Semana Santa

What could ten days of vacation life consist of if you lived the Central American lifestyle that I do? Well, I could have chose to go to the Bay Islands with the rest of the entire country and drink myself crazy every night (no thanks) or I could have traveled to another country. Well I opted for the later option.



I traveled from Honduras to Guatemala. We did a nice little trip of different cities all of which I had previously visited during my Guatemala tour when I was here with the Calvin group. Why do it again? It was my only choice, but it still consisted of new experiences and new aspects. I'll give you a little glimpse as to what I did in each city and a little cultural lesson as to what Semana Santa (Easter Week) looks like in Guatemala, not exactly the same for every Central American country.

First we started off at 5am on a 15 hour trip toward Guatemala city where we enjoyed an evening and the next morning of observing Palm Sunday. What was unique to me about this was that I saw my first "alfombra" (carpet) which I will explain more later, but also saw vendors in the streets selling many palm branches uniquely braided and made into bouquets for the celebration.



Next we headed to Lago de Atitlan where we stayed in Panajachel and visited many of the surrounding towns. We hit the streets to be mobbed by all the vendors which is kind of overwhelming when you just want to browse and everyone wants to make a transaction. We also spent a day where we rented bikes, loaded them aboard a boat, and headed to a nearby pueblo where we rode our bikes through more towns to the next big port where we then headed back. It was an enjoyable afternoon with steep hills to walk our bikes up and a pleasant afternoon. It was this day that I began to feel terrible though and ended up in bed with a 101+ temperature. Thankfully I did feel a bit better during the rest of the trip, but I'm still not back to 100%.

Lauren and Beth who I traveled with

Then we headed to Antigua where we spent afternoons walking around getting to check out the cathedrals, ruins, look out point, spending great time with my beloved friend Heather, and most of all checking out the procesiones (parades) and alfombras (carpets). So let me explain this cultural experience with you from what I understand and observed.
Heather:

First: The alfombras are prepared with all sort of natural options: died sawdust, pine needles, vegetables, bread, flowers, plants, etc. The process in Antigua is very precise for most of them involving stencils and boards for straight lines and exact measurements. Also, they are sprayed down to keep the sawdust from flying away. We didn't find these to be as precise and need in Copan Ruinas, Honduras.











Second: People wearing purple robes unless it's Good Friday when they wear black robes parade various statues of Christ and Mary through the streets on heavy platforms carried on their shoulders. At the back of the procession is a band that plays rather sombering music. There are also all sorts of vendors selling the typical parade garb like cotton candy, trinkets, parade food, etc. There are adult and children processionals.








Good Friday was a little different with Jesus being whipped walking through the streets and then lying dead in the evening processional.



Third: During these processions they march right through these carpets. The kids go crazy to collect the saw dust after it all. It's like it turns into a big itchy sand box.



Fourth: The next day it's all cleaned up and as we observed on the Saturday before Easter, the celebration was all over. Actual Easter day isn't focused on at all. The Catholic religion focuses so much on the death and suffering of Christ, not on his resurrection power. A bit obscure to me. So we spent 14 hours coming back to Teguc on Easter Sunday. No big dinner for me. :(



We also stopped in Copan Ruinas on the way back where we enjoyed the Mayan Ruins, a coffee plantation tour, and treated ourselves to one night at an expensive lovely hotel with a pool!





So here I am at the beginning of the home stretch. We're starting the last marking period and I'm wrapping up my first year of teaching with only 2 months left. Where has time gone?

So I encountered this quote during my trip, "When's the last time you did something for the first time?" I love first times. What's something new you've done lately?