I have finally finished my week at school and now yo hablo como un native! Well, not really, but I do feel that I am better than I was a week ago!
I had a good weekend, although I didn't really do all that much. Robin and I changed hotels, and I am pleased to report that no new flea bites have appeared! On Sunday we watched one of the processions in Antigua.
In the lead up to Easter each church will have a procession and this week it was the turn of Santa. Ana.
The procession started at 1pm and was still going strong at 11pm when we last saw it! The procession consisted of many boys and men dressed in purple robes swinging incense, followed by some people dressed as roman soliders guarding the main 'float' which was a big, very heavy looking wooden platform with many statues and banners on. The float was carried by about 25 men on each side and swayed hypnotically through the streets. Each house had set out a picture or pattern using flower petals and grass infront of their houses, and the procession trundled through. When it go too dark to see properly, the generators were switched on. These generators were pushed behind the main float and provided the lighting for the statues on the float and the floodlights for the band playing behind the float. The main float was followed by a smaller float carried exclusively by the women, all dressed in white or black lace shawls. We think this was to signify whether they were married or not - but that´s just a theory!
Today I have left Antigua, heading to the north for the quiet shores of lake Atilan.
I hope that tomorrow I will travel across to one of the towns on the other side of the lake (San Pedro) and on Thursday will go to the market town of Chichicastenango - or chichi as the locals call it!
I travel back to Guatemala city on Friday in anticipation for a long day of flying to get to Barbados on Saturday - such a hard life!
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