¡Feliz Semana Santa!
On Sunday, we celebrated Domingo de Ramos
by gathering in Parque Central with our palms and branches before processing to
the church, which was extremely full. I saw my former host mom and we hugged
and chatted a moment before heading into the church, where we listened to the
story of the Passion. Despite the sadness of that reading, this is probably the
happiest holiday I’ve been a part of since el
Día de las Velas in December!
Holy Thursday Mass was beautiful and the church was
decorated with candles and red flowers everywhere. We finished with a
procession around the church, singing the same song in Latin that we sing at
home at my church in the US. We stayed with Him a while after Mass and
continued to pray in anticipation of Good Friday, which is the most
“celebrated” holiday here. The service Friday was beautiful, too, though sad,
of course. People went up to the front one by one to adore the cross and kiss
Jesus’ knees or feet and looked forward to His Resurrection.
Holy Saturday, I went to Easter Vigil, which was beyond
amazing! Everyone had a hard time keeping their candles lit with the wind, but
we listened and sang and clapped and just felt excited for Jesus’ return to
life. Our church bells rang alongside bells from churches all over the city and
must have rung for 5 minutes straight, while we kept singing our hearts out. “¡Qué viva Cristo! ¡Qué viva el Rey!”
- The church was really full this week, so at least for Semana Santa, try to get to church early
if you plan to go to Mass (and even if you’re not religious, I recommend going
to some of the services just for the cultural experience).
- Unlike in the US (for the most part), Latin culture
celebrates both happy and sad holidays. Americans party mostly for happy things
like Jesus’ birth and Resurrection, while here, the focus may be more on Good
Friday. There are other examples like this, too, like days celebrating battles
that were lost, but show the strength of those fighting, or celebrations of the
lives of loved ones who have passed on, and other things like that.
- Peace Corps service is, obviously, a good time to try new
things. You’re having new experiences every day anyway, so why not try personal
stuff you’ve never done, too? This could be something big, like going on a
trip, or just a personal goal. I’m not much into exercise just for the sake of
exercise, but I went on a run by choice for the first time ever this week and
I’m looking forward to seeing how long I can keep it up.
- Being part of a family is wonderful aspect of service here
because you get to experience the culture from within and participate in
whatever is going on in your host family members’ lives. This includes ups,
like births, marriages, and visits from far-away family members, but also
downs, like illnesses and deaths. Please pray for my family – my mom’s brother passed
away this week…que en paz descanse.
- This seems like such an inconsequential story, but even little
things matter so much here, that I thought I’d share it anyway. On the way home
from the grocery store, I saw a man half-kneeling, massaging his dog’s ears.
The dog looked so happy and that made me happy, too, since dogs are usually
considered guard animals here and it’s nice to see one treated with so much
affection.
- During Mass on Holy Thursday, the priest included in his
Homily a quote from teachers that is truly the story of education here. Translated
roughly, it was, “If at the end of the school day, you do not have a backache
and headache, and feel exhausted and mistreated, that day you did nothing.”
- “Si no sabes amar,
no sabes perdonar, tú necesitas amor.”
- I’m not usually one for giving money to people on streets,
but I do give them food sometimes. There’s a young man who always sits outside the
Olímpica, so occasionally, I buy him food while I’m inside. There are so many
people in the street, so I figure this is a good way to make sure someone gets
what they really need, like food.
- For el
Día de las Velas and Easter Vigil, you’ll need a candle and you’ll need to
bring your own, just so you know. Or, you can do what I did and just try to
help everyone else keep theirs lit!
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