Semana Santa

Slowly moving from side to side, their sombre sway moves the massive, ornate float down the road.
Semana Santa has been an incredible experience. The colour, atmosphere, the number of people have all been something so different for anything that I have been a part of here in Antigua. Semana Santa here in Antigua is said to be the second largest Easter week celebration in the world, next only to the Vatican City. Thousands of people, Central Americans and tourists alike all decend on the city for the week long celebration consisting of many different processions though the cobble stone streets of the colonial city. The city has been famous for this for many years and this one was not going to be any different in that regard. The idea behind the processions is that the people pay handsomely (500Q or about $65) for a chance to carry one of the floats for one city block, in the hopes of cutting some time off their stay in Purgatory.
The floats they carry are incredible, both in size and beauty. Many of them require over a hundred people to slowly carry the solid oak float through the streets. Once they have finished their turn the next group stands in beside them and they systematically change out and continue on down the road.
The processions started on the previous Sunday and continue all through out the week, until they come to the climax on Friday. It is incredible to see how many people have fit into this relativly small city as people dressed in purple tunics occupy the streets. Friday, which is arguably the biggest day of the week, start the celebration on Thrusday night. At this point hundreds of people take to the streets to create these ¨alfombras¨ or carpets of sawdust, pine needles, produce, flowers, or a combination of them all. The ones of sawdust are arguably the most beautiful and the most intricate. The streets are packed all night with people walking around and taking in the celebration. The carpets are to signify how people placed palms before Christ as he entered the city and do the same for the representations carried on the floats. People will start them in the early evening and work through the night for the procession that starts a 5 the following morning, on carpets 10m or more in length. Working 8 to 10 hours, making some of the most beautiful and detailed pieces I have ever seen, you can see that it is an incredible source of pride for the artists as thousands of people file past their work and take pictures all enamoured by the work . The incredible thing is that folling the hours of work, they are all trambled and distroyed in a matter of minutes as the procession makes its way over them. After the procession passes there is nothing left that resembles the previous beauty, rather all that remains is a pile of colourful dust that is then hurridly swept up and taken of to the trash by the cleanup crews that follow.
There is a weird feels to it all though. Quite dark feeling and at times it lacks the spirituality that one may assume surronding an event like this. Many people seem to be doing this as their one good deed for the year, and hope to keep themselves in the good books. They chat on cell phones, and listen to music during this time that is to signify the great suffering and life of Christ.
Each of the different floats signify something different, with one carried by men and then followed by another carried by the women. There is even one for the children to carry as not to be left out of the event. They make their way on a marked path through the city streets and then eventually make their way back to whatever chruch they began at.
Also during this week I did a bit more Spanish school in order to get myself a place to stay and finish off the course that I had started before. I lived with the family that I did back in January and it was nice to see them and catch up on what has happened in between. This week I have had some pretty good people to live with, a girl from the States, a guy from England and then a fellow Canadian from Quebec. It has been good to get to know them over the week and take in the processions and celebrations that have happened.
It is strange though that during the week there are so many procession and a really festive attitude about the place, and then on Sunday there is nothing much to be said. It is different because many places around the work this is the day of greatest celebration and here it is almost a non-event.
The week here has been incredible to see all that goes on and the magnitude of the celebration and ceremony that the people take part in. Im sorry if there are some things that are a bit unclear, but there was so much to take in and getting that altogether to post here is a bit of a chore. However, if you have any questions about the celebration or about anything surrounding my trip please let me know.
As well as a side note...I have now changed my ticket and will be returning home on the 6th of May instead of the 13th of April. I felt as though I needed more time for me to complete what I wanted to here and not be rushed in the process. I suppose to you could also say that I have been bit by the travel bug and don´t want it to end. Take your pick.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Bye for now

Mike