Semana Santa

Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is a major holiday in Mexico, maybe the major holiday, as many people take the entire week or two off from work and school to celebrate with family. And given that over 80% of Mexicans are Catholic, this time is taken very seriously. We were warned to get gas in the car and cash out of the bank before the week started as they often run out of both in our “resort” area.

Sorting out the timing of the various pieces of the whole religious story is a bit confusing, and shockingly, even Mark’s inundation in church for 18 years did not make it a lot clearer. There is Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. And Lent is 40 days (and then there is Noah and the Ark and rain for 40 days and 40 nights…gets confusing). All to say this report is to tell you about what we saw and experienced, without trying to ensure the concatenation of events is completely accurate.

You may recall Mark’s floury experience back in February at Carnaval in Ajijic (if not, you can find it on the blog). That was February 13. Fast forward through Lent (the best part of which was the capirotada bread pudding,) to March 25, Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), which we called “Jesus on a Burro.” In Ajijic, they celebrate with a brief parade through town of the man selected to play Jesus for the rest of the week, on…. a real burro!

The streets are strewn not with palm branches, but with lovely green alfalfa. We were told it is readily available, cheap, and recyclable. Indeed, within minutes of the parade passing, pickups pulled in and were rapidly filled with the alfalfa, which was taken to feed livestock.

We were walking along the parade route looking for a good spot to watch and saw some other gringos on a rooftop in a prime position. Linda jokingly asked, “how much is a ticket?” and the reply was “cold beer.” We bought a few at Oxxo, came back, and indeed they invited us up. Turns out one of the fellows was from Holdenville in Oklahoma, so he and Mark had a nice visit. And Linda got great pictures.

Ajijic square on Palm Sunday

AND MORE confetti eggs!!

The Stage (curtain in front of the church)

On the following Thursday, there was a re-enactment of the Last Supper and arrest of Jesus, which we didn’t attend. The next day, Viernes Santo (Good Friday), we spent over two hours in the hot sun in the plaza area of the church, watching Ajijic’s version of the Passion Play, featuring Jesus facing judgement with first Pontius Pilate, then Herod, then back to Pilate.

OMG...actually starting on time???

Pontius Pilate, guards, and the crowd of actors

The drone was pretty annoying

As was the gringo actually SITTING in the middle of the actors in the play!! 

There were scene changes between these 3 main trials, and each took almost as long to change as the subsequent scene took to act out.

A lot of press coverage (at least they blend in!)

At the end of this part of the play, Jesus is whipped and then.....

....picks up a real cross and carries it out the gate and through town (followed by a crowd,) the up the neighboring hills (maybe 500 feet of elevation gain?) to Golgatha. Have to say the sheer brutality of what was being represented took us aback.  

Yes, it's really long....and hot...

  

One stunning piece of this event were the people painted in gold who were statues in the scenery. There must have been 7-8 people, and which recalled 007’s Goldfinger.

Following Jesus to Golgotha

The "3 Judases" awaiting their fate

Mark decided to go out late on Saturday to see the Quema de Judas, and old Spanish tradition that is alive and well in some parts of Mexico. The version here involved several large paper mache people, each with a name on a sign around their neck, and which appeared to be local people, like say -- the Mayor. 

They were strung up one at a time in the plaza, and fireworks were set off, spinning wheels kind of like the castillos we saw at Christmas, whistling loudly, with sparks everywhere. Near the end for each figure, another set of fireworks were lit, spinning the entire figure in circles, culminating in an incredibly loud BANG, which left nothing of the figure except the frame. What a sight! The locals were laughing at how much Mark enjoyed this. (You can hear him hooting during the video)

 

And on Easter Sunday there were big celebrations everywhere. Not as many cohetes as we expected, though!

Now the “hot / dusty” season is upon us. We hear that things quiet down for a while with just the town patron saint celebrations. Our town’s is in June, which should be fun!

(abril 1, 2018)