Easter in Antigua

I just finished walking a few blocks behind the "anda" or float, carried by humans, of Jesus Resurrected, in one of the processions bringing Holy Week in Antigua to an end. I have hundreds of photographs to edit and post, but for now, two links you can check out to see what happens here:

First, for a little essay on Holy Week in Antigua, click here.

For images of the city, the floats, and the alfombras or carpets made of flowers or sawdust, click here.

It has been a busy week. Thursday, I signed up for my next Spanish School and watched two processions, featuring Peter denying Christ and other events following the Last Supper. On Good Friday, I got up at 4:00 am with my host Tomas to witness the Roman soldiers arriving on horseback and Christ going to his crucifixion. And I stayed up until 1:45 am cuz one of the processions of Christ in his tomb was going to pass my hosts' home, and we started building our alfombra at about 10:00 pm, then rested until we heard the music, and got up again to watch the procession pass over and ruin our alfombra.

On Saturday I skipped the processions to climb the Volcano Pacaya with a busload of young adventure travelers. Wandering across lava beds with a staff, having my sweaty shirt dried by heat from the lava, and descending the mountain without a flashlight turned out to be a pretty good way to celebrate Holy Saturday. Arriving in Antigua about 10:00 pm, the streets were blocked once again for the procession of the Virgin, which I watched before I walked home to bed.

And today, I watched the float of Christ resurrected leave the church and offices of Obras Sociales de Hermano Pedro, greeted by shouting, gigantic fireworks, bells, and confetti tossed off the bell tower. I asked for a plastic flag and joined the folks walking and waving flags and flowers behind the float as it made its way toward the plaza.

In Mexico and Central America, everyone has Holy Week off. Today they are driving or taking buses home and back to work. Also departing are the thousands of European and North American tourists who have been here. Tomorrow, my hosts say, I will see what a sleepy town this really is. Except I have to be at school at 8:00 am!