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Oh yes, I had also forgotten to mention the superabundant crowds that you will find in La Antigua Guatemala during the Holy Week.

The normal peaceful and tranquil ambience of Antigua Guatemala completely disappears during the Semana Santa and instead, a noisy, crowded, chaotic, and stressful atmosphere can be perceived.

The crowds arrive from all over the world and somehow everyone finds lodging; although some make their reservation at least one year in advance. Keep that in mind if you want to come next year for the Holy Week; make your reservations right now.

Well, with these set of photos of people, we wave goodbye to the Semana Santa 2009 in La Antigua Guatemala. I do hope you have enjoyed the photos of the Holy Week as much as I have enjoyed taking them.

Tomorrow, we will board a time tunnel ride in La Antigua Guatemala; please make sure you have your pasaje en mano.

It doesn’t matter if the processions in the villages and communities around La Antigua Guatemala are more authentic, more kitsch and with less finances behind them; at least once in your lifetime you must come to Antigua Guatemala to see the massive and numerous processions during the Holy Week or Semana Santa as it’s known in Spanish.

The processions in Antigua Guatemala are just breath-taking, awe and faith inspiring, and a must-see show. The processions in La Antigua Guatemala are so monumental and long that they are unique and I don’t believer there is another place in the entire world where the processions are as colossal as in Antigua Guatemala, do you? Well, perhaps, in Guatemala City (copycats).

By the way, in the picture above we are only seeing the main segment of a procession which seemed to be about 8 blocks long.

click, click, click, click click click, clicks, click.

See, if it does NOT matter how much effort I put into documenting the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala for you, I always miss something important. Can you believe this the third year I am covering the Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala and I have not mentioned once that among the millions of people, quite possibly, half of them are photographers or carrying a camera.

Well, just now it occurred to me, I should at least show you a couple of shots with photographers and their vantage points.

Now, who can tell me where were these photos taken? I will send you via regualr mail a 4×6 post card photograph taken from this vantage point if you can tell me the name of the place. Local residents are not allow to participate.

Interestingly enough, Erick was commenting yesterday how impressive was to see the massive float make a U-turn as he was watching the 5-minute video of the following of a Semana Santa procession. Well, I said interesting enough because I had planned to publish a photo of the huge float’s pilot, the cucurucho you see wearing the purple robes, is pushing either right or left to control the direction of the Holy Week Anda (float).

Oh what a difficult position to be in, to be responsible for the behavior and direction of a monumental float being carry by 60 to 90 people. Would you volunteer to be the float’s pilot?

The Holy Week in Guatemala is a full five senses overwhelming experience. As you follow the processions all five senses are bombarded with maximum stimuli and you are carried into a mystical experience.

It is so difficult to convey these feelings when I am only presenting you with static photographs. But you are going to have to imagine the loud beating of the drums, the funerary processional music; the scents of corozo palms, flowers, and Pom incense and a million other aromas; obviously you eye sight gets a full exposure to all the bright colors in the spectrum as well as images from Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala, like carpets, floats, purple, red, black and white robes from cucuruchos, musical bands, people, incense smoke and the such; so far that’s only three of the senses, but how can you forget the tastes of traditional foods like chupetes, the helados (ice cream), the freshly cut fruits in bags, the brightly-colored algodones (translation please), candied fruits, semillas de marañón (cashew nuts) and manias (peanuts), beets salad, bacalou a la viscaina (dried fish in Viscaina tomato sauce), boy oh boy, there are so many delicious treats to be tasted; finally, we come to touch which is underrated, nevertheless is quite possibly of the most important sense because all personal and private spaces get blurred as you carry the heavy anda, you touch and get touched by people as you walk from side to the other of procession, don’t forget the hand shakes and hugs as you come across friends and family, the touching makes the whole thing “Real”.

Each special touch, each sensuous sight, sound, smell, taste, form unforgettable memories of the season, of Semana Santa in Guatemala, declares Ken Veronda in his wonderful article, Sensuous Guatemala: Semana Santa.

If you have the time, go read the article Sensuous Guatemala: Semana Santa by Ken Veronda in the Revue Magazine web site. He does a wonderful job explaining how during “Semana Santa, Holy Week, all five senses are overwhelmed in every Guatemalan city and village, but nowhere more than in La Antigua Guatemala with its colonial traditions and frequent processions.”

If for any reason, you can not experience the Semana Santa in La Antigua Guatemala with your five senses, I share with you a consolable 5-minute video of the following of a procession in a colonia (neighborhood) in San Pedro Las Huertas, La Antigua Guatemala. Enjoy and please, leave your comments and feedback!

Last year, on March 15th, I first introduced you the Broom-head Romans soldiers; I believe it was Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday as it is known in English. Below you can find my introductory text:

… it’s impossible not to publish photos like today’s. Talk about the idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, have you ever seen a more convincing set of Roman Soldiers in your life?

Obviously, I tried to make a smart remark about how kitschy these Guatemalan Roman soldiers dress up with the insinuated idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, but I believe I failed to convey the message.

So, I come out of the closet now and tell you I really find delightful the excessive garishness of the costumes of Guatemalan Roman soldiers, the clothes of the Holy Week figures, the golden-painted floats, in short, everything about the Holy Week celebrations in the villages and municipalities around La Antigua Guatemala. You may have to click on the photo above to see the fine or kitschy details of the Guatemalan-Roman soldier costumes.

Now guys, if given the opportunity, would you find an exhilarating experience to go out in public wearing a broom-head helmet, a bright-red cloak and a kitschy-looking Roman costume, wouldn’t you? Come on, live a little!

You normally see men carrying the big heavy processional floats or andas as they are known in Guatemalan Spanish. You can browse the Processions category to see the huge Holy Week floats for which La Antigua Guatemala is famous for. However, behind the massive floats there are, almost always, smaller floats carried by women. Today’s entry shows you such women’s float; and quite small to be honest.

Hah, and you thought men were the only who were penitent during Semana Santa in Guatemala.

If you were in La Antigua Guatemala for Lent or the Holy Week, would you buy a turn to carry the float?

Some people have traveled the world over just to be present for the world-famous Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. Some people just have to open their front doorway and go outside to be part of Semana Santa in Guatemala.

One very important aspect or distinction of what makes the celebrations of the Holy Week or Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala so special and unique is the colorful processional carpet elaboration process, which, quite often, involves the whole family, close friends, the neighborhood and the entire community. It does not matter if it’s just grandma throwing some corozo (corozo palms) and dried purple flowers to elaborate a humble alfombra in front of her home or it is a team of members of the cuadra (the block), or if a son lends a hand to a dad to put the final touches on the brightly-colored sawdust carpet, the devotion and the do-good spirit are present everywhere you look. This is the week of the year when Guatemalans stand as one people!

Holy Week processional carpets can be made from colorful sawdust, richly-scented pine needles and corozo palms, sweet-smelling flowers and tropical fruits and vegetables. Alfombras procesionales de Samana Santa (Holy Week processional carpets) can be delightful to see with their intricate design and patterns before every procession throughout the Lent and the Holy Week. However, it is a richer experience to be present through the elaboration process and to be part of it by lending a hand and talking to the creators who are more than happy to include you as part of the family, friends and community. To some people from other parts of the world it might be a weird and pleasant experience to realize that people here “know” their neighbors and the entire community.

If you are right now in La Antigua Guatemala, don’t miss this unique opportunity to be part of the elaboration of the world-famous Holy Week processional carpets!

Well, it looks like 2009 will be the year of the new paint jobs on all the major churches around Antigua Guatemala prior to the Holy Week celebrations, which, by the way will begin one week from today.

In the photo above, you can see new colors for La Antigua Guatemala’s Cathedral. This is the first time I have seen the Cathedral wearing different colors other than white. As I have stated before, during the Lent season, you see many houses, buildings and churches undergo façade makeover.

This photo was taken early last week and I believe they should be done with the new paint job of the façade of the Catedral de La Antigua Guatemala. I will do a follow up photo to show you the finished new look. Stay tune!

Comments and Feedback Whining Aside: The only way for me know if you like or hate the new photos and captions is through your comments. Please, do not underestimate the power of your comments. Even though sometimes I don’t respond right away, I DO READ every single comment and feedback. Please, leave your comments as often as possible; they are the fuel for new ideas and encouragement to continue with just one more daily page.

One of the benefits of having a Holy Week every year is the fact that La Antigua Guatemala gets a new facelift every year and thus even though the colonial town is over 500 years old, it looks brand new; newer than most places in Guatemala at least.

The vista above is quite common during Lent season. Stay tune for the upcoming new look of La Antigua Guatemala’s Cathedral.

This old man and the band are the tail of the procession. There goes Semana Santa 2008… we are at end of the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. Just one more day!

To answer Sara’s question about where the money collected through the sale of the turns at carrying the float go? Almost one third goes to the band. I heard that the San Felipe Church brocessional Band charges Q150,000 (close to US$20,000) per procession and La Merced Church processional band about Q125,000. I imagine some of the money goes to the church who lends the saint figures for the processions. Some money goes to the organization, the creation of the scenes above the floats which are never the same and lastly for maintenance.

If you would like to see a video clip of a processional band playing, check out last year entry Weekend Procession in the Lent Season. Processional musician play sorrowful tunes is another entry where you can also see a processional band.

Literary Introspection Side Note: Much of what I am today and the decisions I made that took me to La Antigua Guatemala were inspired or influenced in part by Milan Kundera’s writings. Through the reading of several of Milan Kundera’s novels, especially Life is Elsewhere, Laughable Loves, The Farewell Party, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Immortality and Identity, I begun to question myself about life, lifestyles and what I wanted out of the day. Life is a jigsaw puzzle made up from moments (days) and where and with whom you spend those moments shapes the picture you see at the end. Honestly, I do not know if it is better to live in the ‘first world’ with a first-world salary, first-world commodities and such or to live here in the south or third world with all the complications and dangers that decision entails. I don’t know about the first/third world euphemisms either. However, I do know that a different life or lifestyle is possible outside the safety net. There are other ways to be human and to experience unusual traditions and celebrations. There is a huge difference between Spring Break, Easter, Holy Week and Semana Santa as we live it in La Antigua Guatemala for sure. To each its own. For the moment, I’m just happy to be able to take ordinary snapshots from my daily comings-and-goings and to be able to share them with YOU! I hope you enjoy them too!?

The side note is dedicated to my dear epistolary friend Carmen.

That is right, Semana Santa in Guatemala is an equal opportunity celebration. Sure, cucuruchos take the majority of the clicks of cameras and most of the video recorded, but children, women and dogs have a place in the Holy Week celebrations. Women’s float or andas are a bit smaller and carry virgins or angels most of the time.

Right about now, you may be asking yourself, what are processions anyway and what do they represent? Well processions are representations of the the last days of Jesus Christ. Processions represent the funeral march of Jesus Christ. Processions in Guatemala also represent a penitent act.

Here is the background information about La Dolorosa Procession, taken from last year entry:

La Dolorosa or The Sorrowful Mother is the biblical figure of the sorrowful mother Mary which follows Jesus in his way to his crucifixion. This act is represented by a smaller anda (long carved wooden flatbed image-carrying float [*]) —carrying the effigy of sorrowful Mother Mary and other female biblical representations— which is hauled exclusively by women who mostly dress in black or white as this is the appropriate dress code for a funeral. Jesus’ funeral.

Gringos are now an integral part of La Antigua Guatemala and therefore many of them participate of the preparations of the world famous alfombras de Semana Santa (Holy Week carpets) made from colorful sawdust, flowers, fruits, and anything the imagination allows.

From this shot, I particularly like the framing of the tourist with his backpack before he pulled his camera to shoot the making of the carpet. The background is the San Francisco El Grande Church, home to the remains of Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt (Guatemala’s only ‘Oficial’ Saint).

I hope you are enjoying the behind the scenes series of the Semana Santa in La Antigua Guatemala. Remember that you can visit my friends Nelo’s web site EnAntigua.com for an overview of huge processions.

Just like the Christmas Season comes with its own set of smells, flavors and color palette, so does the Holy Week celebrations. I can bring to you still photos, slide shows, video clips and sounds. But I can not bring you the smells. Like I said back in the Virgin of Guadalupe Day, … the incredible power of the sense of smell can detonate nostalgic memories… if only the smells could be seized like Patrick Süskind suggested in his masterpiece Das Parfum (Perfume). How could one go about imprisoning the mixture of the smells of copal incense, corozo palms, fireworks, pine needles, moisten saw dust, fresh tropical fruits, palm flower arrangements and sweat into a digital format readily available to download onto your own computer?

Only in Star Trek that is possible… we must wait for the future to arrive. In the mean time, we wave good bye to Arthur C. Clarke as we thank him for allowing us to dream of the future. Until the future arrives, you must pack your bags and head down south where you can be free!

I did want to say a thing about it; just show the pictures and don’t even mention it; that was my plan. But no, Jerry T gave me away; sort of a behind the scenes of the Holy Week, he said. See the problem with showing pictures of Semana Santa year after year is that you tend to repeat yourself. I do not want to do that, not if I can help it. So if last year I presented the normal approach to the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala, this year it has to be different.

Find a new angle always; that is my goal for this site. This was my goal since day 1. What good would it be if I just take the same shots that everybody else is doing. Because of how I earn my living, I get to see thousands of images of La Antigua Guatemala. Furthermore, I follow several photo groups and La Antigua Guatemala is among the most often photographed places in Guatemala. It is virtually impossible not to take the same shot that somebody else already did. And that’s the challenge!

So much mumble jumble to present the underneath view of a Holy Week float in one of the villages of La Antigua Guatemala. Andas (floats) are not only the affair of cucuruchos, women also participate; and sometimes even chuchos (street dogs) get involved in the penitent act of carrying the heavy float!