Lent and more

Lent ... several weeks ago this holiday began. People started giving up things that they felt attached with, or powerless over. Examples - chocolate, beer, meat, sugar, etc. I don´t celebrate this holiday, but good for those that do! You are super strong!

Since living in Antigua, mostly Catholic religion, I have learned a lot about holidays and I have seen my fair share of toys, drums, candy, masks, dances, and more - celebrating someone´s birthday or day of ..... (something)!

This time, lent started it all. Ever since this day, every Sunday- EVERY SUNDAY Antigua is flooded with people from the city and the outskirts marching together with matching outfits and holding Jesus. =procession It is actually a sight to see if you have never seen anything like it before. There are about 40-50 people carrying this huge platform with a fake Jesus on it, filled with flowers and other decorations that they clearly have made by hand. There are lights, and music (a band walks behind playing music), movements and people just standing around staring - it is beautiful. The interesting thing about this is Jesus sways back and forth while walking around town. I am not sure why yet, but it looks cool. So there are 40 or so children (usually) carrying this thing on their shoulders, while 10-15 are underneath moving the thing back and forth in a swaying motion. They also line the kids tallest to shortest, so it looks as though Jesus is on a slant, standing up!

*Side note...Eveyone from the city comes to Antigua every weekend beginning on Friday anyway and stays until Sunday night. So every weekend Antigua is PACKED with people. So this whole Lent holiday leading up to Semana Santa has been hell. I like people, but there are soooo many people every weekend. And every Sunday night you don´t leave your house or try to walk across town because you get stuck in the procession and it takes you an extra 20 min to walk anywhere. Sundays suck! :)

The week before Semana Santa (holy week) has been crazy here. People are everywhere, bands are marching through town, people following the bands. So if you are walking and see a group of people together - you do your best to avoid it with all costs. Usually you get stuck somehow though. Antigua is not that big, and the groups of people with instruments are HUGE.

I even heard a band marching until 3am in the morning last week. If this is what it is going to be like during Holy Week, I am not looking forward to this...

pictures to come