Procesión

Last week on Sunday, I ran into another student from my school who was going to a procession with her host family. Neither of us were really sure what that meant, but I decided to go along. It turned out to be a large procession for the first Sunday of Lent (Cuaresma), complete with a platform/float (I'm not sure what to call it in English. Your thoughts are welcome), banners, lots of people, and lots and lots of incense. I thought processions like this only happened during Holy Week, so it was a treat to see one so early.

Here is the front of the procession. Everyone was wearing purple or black, the colors of Lent.

There was a big group of girls in what looked like First Communion dresses. I've always been a bit uncomfortable with how bridal these outfits look on girls six or seven years old. It was also much too cold that day for such lacy dresses.

Here comes the platform/float (again, your suggestions for what to call it in English are welcome), called "un anda" in Spanish, which literally means, "it walks." It looked pretty incredible coming around the corner towards us cloaked in all that smoke. All that weekend, they were celebrating or commemorating the three times Jesus fell while carrying the cross, and this anda was a mix of that and the story of the Good Samaritan.

I count 28 men on this side, so it took a little less than 60 grown men to carry it. The people lining the street in robes took turns carrying the anda according to height, and when a group of pretty little women carried it, I counted almost 40 on a side.

This is during the first change of carriers (these hats were my favorite. they look a bit like something from Dr. Seuss or Munchkinland). They supported the platform while changing with those metal poles you can see in the picture before. We noticed about halfway through the procession that the groups of people wearing each type of robe were around the same height, so that when they carried the platform, it fell at about the same point on their shoulders. Clever, yeah?

A band brought up the rear.

From the back.

The platform was pretty tall, and the power lines in Xela hang low, so this man followed alongside and lifted them over Jesus and the cross.

As I said, LOTS of incense.

Each of these banners seemed to represent a certain religious society or brotherhood. There were maybe fifteen of them in front of the platform. You can see paper pinned on these men's robes with a number to let them know where they fell in line to carry the platform.

Here's the front of the float. The low banner in the center says "The Good Samaritan" with the Scripture reference. On the left side it says: "Maestro: ¿Que debe hacer para conseguir la vida eterna? (Teacher, what must I do to attain eternal life?)" On the right: "Jesus le dijo: ¿Que dice la Biblia, que lees en ella? (Jesus said to him, What does the Bible say, what do you read in it?)" Along the other sides, it gave man's answer, and Jesus' final response.

Some little boys from the Children's Brotherhood of the Buried Lord of San Bartolome.

The procession ended in the Central Park. There was a large crowd and the obligatory market selling the tackiest religious paraphenalia you will ever find.

There will be more processions like this throughout Lent, and then even bigger ones during Semana Santa (Holy Week).