Sunday, February 28, 2010

February 28

Today marks the end of our first four weeks in Guatemala. So far it's been a wonderful experience and we're looking forward to our remaining nine weeks. It's Sunday and since we enjoyed our experience at the 1534 original Guatemalan cathedral in Ciudad Vieja, we decided to go back. Unfortunately, time got away from us and we almost were forced to arrive late.

As we walked out the front door of our apartment, we noticed that Volcan Fuego was looking good.

Rather than walk, we decided to take a chicken bus to the intersection just down from the church. Unfortunately, no one had alerted the chicken bus drivers, so we began walking into Ciudad Vieja, where we would increase our chance of finding a bus once we passed the intersection in front of the cemetery.

We were just on the edge of Ciudad Vieja when a bus appeared and stopped to pick us up. We didn't need to go far, but it was just too far to walk and be on time. As it was, we arrived only about five minutes prior to the start of Mass and had to sit about two-thirds back from the front of the church.

A children's choir sung this morning...loud...with a clavinova pretending to be an organ...loud also. Occasionally they were even on-key. They were spirited, however, and the congregation sang along with them.

After Mass, I did the tourist thing and took a photo of the sacristy.

I have to admit that the congregation, at least those members sitting near us, were most welcoming. At the sign of peace, we had to shake hands with everyone in our pew and in the two pews in front of us and also in back of us.

After Mass, we walked down to the corner and took the next bus heading for La Antigua. It was about 12:30 p.m. when we arrived, so we headed over to Pollo Campero for lunch. We made a mistake when we ordered. We decided to order the shrimp plate and asked for a Caesar salad with it instead of the fries. Linda then decided that she wanted some fries also, as it seemed to help with her altitude sickness. We thought that we had asked for two orders, but only one arrived. We called the waiter over and asked for the second order, but only got a second soda. Finally trying again, we got another order, with salad and with an extra order of fries. We wondered how they were going to figure out the bill on this one. I decided what I thought we should be charged at the maximum and if they got anywhere in the ballpark, I wasn't going to make a fuss. As it was, they charged us about Q10 less than I expected. All in all, it was a good laugh and a good lesson. We should never try to make changes to set orders. Change isn't something that folks here seem to handle well.

Following lunch, we headed over to Parque Central where the pan pipe bank was playing once again. They had played on Valentine's day also.

While sitting in Parque Central and fending off the wandering vendors, we saw an information kiosk for the Lenten processions and picked up maps and other information.

You may have seen photos or read about these Lenten processions. If so, I doubt if you really realize the seriousness with which they are approached. They start at a church just outside of La Antigua, where the platforms with the sacred images are stored, at 1:00 p.m. They walk a defined route through the city and return to their starting point at 11 p.m.

Along the route, various families prepared alfombras (rugs) in the street on the path the procession will take.

One little girl even decided to make her own alfombra using the leftover material from her parents efforts.


Soon the street vendors appeared, a sure sign that something was going to happen.


The first true indication that the procession was coming was the arrival of the Roman soldiers.


Soon a procession of purple robed attendants appeared. Many of the older ones take turns carrying the large platforms through the streets.


Not long after the attendants appear, the processional platform comes around the corner.


While this is a large platform, it only had thirty attendants carrying it at one time.


The statue of Jesus on the platform is very similar to the one above the altar in the old cathedral in Ciudad Vieja.

We're told that the larger platforms, which will be used during Semana Santa (Holy Week) will require fifty attendants.

In addition to the main platform, two smaller platforms are also carried in this procession.


After the procession has passed, the city cleaning crew arrives to pick up everything that doesn't belong in the street, i.e. trash, alfombras that have been walked on, etc.


We walked several blocks to once again view the procession. I took a short video that gives a good view of what we saw.



After leaving the procession, it was past 4:00 p.m., so we decided to have dinner before returning to the apartment. After eating, we headed over to the outdoor part of the mercado to pick up some fruit. We then went looking for a chicken bus heading towards Alotenango. We soon found one, boarded it and were soon exiting right at the road to our apartment. It had been a good day.