Rattled Windows But a Happy Virgen

Este es Aaron. I finally decided to jump on here to post as spanish-versions of Offspring play above me in the Internet Cafe.

Who knew that a day for a virgin would involve so much bass, fireworks and fried food? Sunday was the day for the Virgen de Guadelupe (essentially, the Virgin Mary). It´s a Catholic holiday started in Mexico in the 1600s and is mainly celebrated in Central and some Southern American countries.

"Mary´s Stage"

Well, just our luck, the house we´re staying in happens to be on the same street as the"Casa de la Virgen de Guadalupe". So, on Saturday the community built a huge stage in the street with a wall dedicated to Mary, and in front of that stage was a gigantic stage with top-of-the-line audio and video equipment. Quite an interesting contrast and no different than setting up a Rolling Stones-style concert in front of a church.

  You´ll see them soon on "America´s Best Dance Crew"

That night the music began at 6 and didn´t end until well past 12 or 1am, transitioning from a smorgasbord of American pop hits (Justin Beiber anyone) to more traditional Guatemalan style music later on. The scene included everything from break-dancing 5 year olds (who were very impressive) to a group of 30 or so kids in santa claus suits with halloween masks  doing choreographed dances. The masks are a continuation from a holiday the week prior that is related to the devil (who acts similar to Santa, only instead of being on a naughty or nice list, you´re sent up to heaven or you´re taken with him to hell).

We fell asleep to the sound of rattling windows, moved by the beat of some strong bass with an occassional boom from the miriad of illegal chinese fireworks getting shot off through-out the city.

Emerging from our house the next morning, we heard that a big ¨procesion¨ for the Virgen was going to happen around 4 that afternoon at the La Merced church. So off we wandered, in search of who knows what.
For the procession, it´s common for families to dress their young kids (under 5) in traditional clothing and paint mustaches on the boys while munching on a variety of street-vended food in the square.

I know how I would want to spend my Sunday if I were one years old

There were some delicious options from fried corn/egg dough pastries to pupusas (cheese-filled tortillas with toppings), but with this being the age of globalization, there was a little Domino´s stand selling pizza, which many of the kids of course preferred.

  Un pequenito heart-attack for under a buck

After an hour or so of waiting for the procession, "it" finally came through, consisting of a large table with Mary on top being carried along the street with families following behind. We´ve learned to expect to be surprised everyday we´re here.

Walking back to our house, we found an even larger stage being constructed a few houses down, and much later that night, (to the familiar tune of fireworks with a Lady Gaga musical backdrop) we fell asleep exhausted but content that the Virgen de Guadalupe was being shown quite the night on the town.

El Volcan Fuego does its part to honor Mary