Semana Santa

Semana Santa is one of the biggest holidays in Latin American countries. Everybody has off of work and school for the whole week leading up to Easter. In most cities they also celebrate by making "rugs" on the streets using colored saw dust. They use cardboard cutouts as to form designs and then stay up all night Thursday night out on the streets making their rugs. The whole street down through Centro looked like one big carpet...you can see in the pictures. It is easier to see than to explain.

Then on Friday night they have a big procession through town on the street where they made the rugs the previous night. The procession includes men from the catholic church carrying represetations of Jesus' life, the saints, and the virgin Mary. They also have a few guys carrying incense and there is also a small marching band. The streets are packed full during this time, so you can hardly move, but it was a really neat experience.