April 14, 2012
Let's catch up on Semana Santa. That's
Easter week here, and most people (Catholics, that is) go to church
multiple times throughout the week, including Friday, Saturday, and
Easter Sunday. I'm not a church-going person, but I like to go
sometimes here so I can experience it and see what goes on. So on
Saturday I walked to a nearby community with local family friends and
walked in a procession of the Virgin Mary to the cathedral. It was
over an hour walk from my house to the house in the nearby community
where about 30 people had gathered to start the procession. Along
the way the procession grew as we passed by all the houses on the
dusty rocky road towards the church. The statue of the Virgin Mary
was placed on a platform with handles so she could be carried. A
mariachi-like band (which included various guitars and an accordion)
came along and played various songs as we walked to the church.
Everyone sang along, except for me of course because I don't know the
words. During the procession the Padre came up to me after he
noticed I was taking pictures and asked if I could send some to his
Facebook page. People love getting pictures here!
Once we got to the church they started
a small bonfire with some logs that had been stacked for the purpose.
I don't exactly understand what the meaning of that was, I didn't
ask enough questions regarding that part of the activity, but the
Padre took a branch and dipped it in water and seemed to bless the
fire by throwing the water over the fire and over the whole crowd.
Then a candle was lit from the bonfire and passed along through the
crowd by passing each lit candle to the people around you. It was
dark by this time so it all looked really pretty. The crowd took
their lit candles and started cramming their way into the church like
a big sea of orange light, and at one point the candle from a guy in
front of me lit the ponytail of the girl in front of him. Luckily it
fizzled out in a few seconds, but it just made me think that this
type of thing in the states would require tons of safety release
paperwork, or wouldn't happen at all due to the potential fire
hazard.
Once in the church Mass started, but it
was longer than the normal hour I thought it would be. We were there
for about 2 ½ hours, and I got really tired of all the standing up
and sitting down and standing up and sitting down and kneeling down
and standing up then sitting down again. And again I couldn't sing
along to any of the songs because I don't know them (but then again,
I don't even know them in English anyway so it's not like it would
have been any different in the States). So I get kinda bored in
church here, but I go during the big holidays so I can at least
experience it. Afterwards we started the hour walk back in the dark,
and I took a well needed bucket bath with cold water (which felt
great!) to clean all the dirt and dust off my sandaled feet. I never
go to bed dirty and dusty if I can help it, even if it's midnight.
Baking is a big deal during Semana
Santa, and I was bummed to not have done the ovens before that week
so the women could use their new ovens. But getting some of the
materials took longer than I'd hoped, so they had to use their old
ovens. I baked banana bread with two women, and it was a big hit. I
hope to do some baking classes with the women who receive the
improved ovens so they can get some good use out of them. Women like
to bake various things, but it's always the same with each family.
They bake a variety of corn flour and wheat flour breads. I think I
like the corn flour varieties the best. I was gifted so much bread
during the week that I was going to re-gift some of it out to the
neighbors, but I forgot the bag of bread out on the table one day
when I was gone and the ants that are pestering my kitchen stormed in
and ravaged the bag. So it got fed to some dogs instead. Such a
loss!
The other big food item tradition are
tamales pisques, which are corn masa tamales cooked in leaves. They
use a different type of leaf than the banana leaves that are used for
nacatamales. They cook two types, one that's just the masa (which is
bland and not my favorite) and the other that they fill with refried
beans (which is so good!). I helped make the bean-filled ones with
my former host mom, and it was a learning experience. It's hard to
roll the masa over the beans without having the beans spill out all
over the place. But I got the hang of it and had a good time
learning how to make another traditional dish.
 |
| Making banana bread |
 |
| Tamale pisque, filled with refried beans |
A big activity that almost everyone
does during Semana Santa is going to the nearest river to swim. So a
couple days that week I hiked to a nearby community swimming hole
with some local kids and we went swimming for the day. This
particular swimming hole is like a local tourist attraction. There's
a bar (which means there's always some drunks wandering around), a
small store that sells snacks, and during busy times, like Semana
Santa, they hire a DJ to play some tunes for dancing. I didn't want
to dance at that particular place because it would have felt weird in
my swimming outfit and sandals in the dirt with all these drunk
people watching, so I just watched a bit. By swimming outfit I mean
my bathing suit underneath the clothes I hiked there in. Everyone
just swims in their clothes here, so stripping down to my white
skinned bathing suit body was not an option here. I get stared at
enough as it is, so that was not going to happen! So the clothes
stayed on, which is best for sunburn purposes anyway. The water
there was actually pretty cold, and the place is almost completely
covered in shade, so it wasn't as refreshing as I'd hoped after a
long hot hike to get there. I was hoping to be able to relax in the
water all day, but it was a little too cold for me, so I only went in
to swim once and then spent the rest of the time sitting around
waiting to dry off so I could rid myself of the goosebumps.
This past week I was invited to go
plant malanga with one of the kids in my garden project. He has some
land that he's leasing in a nearby community and wanted help
planting, so I met him at 5am to start the 45 minute trek over there.
On the way there I lost my hat (the floppy-brimmed type that cover
the sides of my face and neck), which had been tucked in an open
pocket in my bag, and I didn't realize until I was all the way there.
I was so pissed at myself for not securing it better, because it's a
hat that I've been wearing pretty much daily to protect my face from
getting more freckled in this hot Central American sun. I traced my
steps for a bit but knew that if it had fallen on a main pathway that
someone would have taken it. So I regretfully spent the day working
in the hot sun without a hat. I luckily had brought sunscreen and
re-applied about every hour, and didn't end up burning my face that
day, but it doesn't help the freckling issue I'm having with my face.
Luckily there are a ton of used clothing stores that consist purely
of American clothing, so this last week I was able to buy another
hat.
April 22, 2012
Happy Earth Day everyone! Here's a few quick updates from the activities I've been doing lately:
 | ||||||
| Making an oven, the first stages |
 | ||
| 5th oven, done! |
Thanks for reading my blog! Please keep in touch and let me know how you're all doing.
Love Sarah
