Lent Processions

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big deal in Catholic countries. Unfortuately February is not the right time of year to catch the Semana Santa festivities. However, I think we got second best, which is the Lent processions that happen around Antigua. The processions happen every Sunday during the Lent season, which culminate with Semana Santa. The major surrounding churches have processions (parades) that go all through Antigua. Two things make these processions unlike anything you will see in the U.S.

First, the floats are CARRIED(!) by about 20 men throughout the streets, although we think they switch off. The carriers are the guys dressed in the purple robes (don't ask about the oddly KKK look to them, I have no idea).

Here is the main float, which was about 15 feet long. The men seemed to be struggling to keep it going and were grimacing. Every 20 feet or so they would stop walking and sway the float back and forth a couple of times. I'm not sure but the grimacing and swaying might have been to replicate JC's experience.

The air is not smoky, it's incense.

Not to be outdone, the ladies also had their own float (although smaller). They did the grimacing and rocking as well.

The parade was also joined by a band.

The other things that you will never see in an U.S. parade were the alfombras (al-foam-bras) which is translated as rugs. So, when my mom kept telling me that they lay these rugs down, I literally pictured the streets lined with wool rugs! Not quite the case, but the reality was cooler then a bunch of rugs. Alfombras in this case are pine needles in the shape of a rug, that are decorated with flowers, fruit, vegetables, and other organic materials which are decorating the procession route. Apparently the people who live on the route do the decorations. The sad thing is that the decorations are destroyed when the parade goes by.