Semana Santa

Spain has been known for years to celebrate Semana Santa which means Holy Week. I traveled to Antigua to witness the processions which occur one week prior to Easter in which hundreds of people flock to the area. Antigua is known for its baroque style buildings and is considered a UNESCO site. It is frequently visited by Americans and Europeans due to its third world experience while having many modern conveniences like internet, fast food, and giant supermarkets.

The streets are blocked off for the processions and you could see many Catholic priests in the streets, bars, and restaurants. The festivities reminded me of a mardi gras festival that was religious in nature. Many community members participated in the festivities as some created murals from colored sand. The locals would intensely work on them for days and once the festivities were over in the end of the week they were washed away.

I can still remember the smell of an incense called Copal. It is a resin type of incense and is held in large metal containers with air holes on the side. The containers would be swung as the priests walked. Many people would carry large hand carved scenes that showed depictions of the life of Jesus. Having not been an extremely religious person I could still admire the amount of teamwork that it took for people to undertake this festival.

As said, people from all walks of life attended and I could even spot people drinking in the crowd. Although this would have seemed odd in America, it didn't seem to bother the priests, students, and worshippers. The people depicted in the pictures had an interesting story in which they spoke of traveling from Mexico to Antigua on dirt bikes. The carefree attitude definitely made me feel at ease as I met numerous people and had very good conversations with the adherents.