Semana Santa!

Semana Santa is one of the biggest celebrations in Guatemala and Antigua is one of the most popular places to watch the religious processions and see alfombras (carpets made in intricate patterns from flowers, pine needles, sawdust and other materials). The beautiful thing about the alfombras is how much work goes into them when they usually only last a few hours and then the procession comes through and they are trampled. I don't really like the huge crowds that come along with big events like this so I didn't want to spend the biggest days in Antigua.
I met up with Tom last Friday and we saw the build up for Semana Santa, the Palm Sunday processions with tons of men in purple robes and the women in simple black and white carrying the icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and various saints. We hung out another day so that he could see some ruins and enjoy the city when it wasn't so full of tourists (well, they were still there but not out in the streets all at the same time like they were for the processions). It was fun to show Antigua to a new person since I usually stick to the same couple restaurants, coffeeshops and bars that I go to with my Peace Corps friends. We spent a lot of time just walking around the city, looking at different neighborhoods and sections of town. Its a real shame that Tom doesn't really like coffee, Antigua coffeeshops are amazing. I dragged him to quite a few anyway and he had hot chocolate while I got lattes or cappuccinos.
We left Tuesday morning to come back to Cunen, and because it is a holiday week all the buses were jam-packed. I managed to find a seat (it pays to be a little person in this country) while Tom had to stand in the isle for about two hours until we reached Los Encuentros where some passengers got off the bus. The whole trip took about six hours. Travelling in this country can be really not fun, its great when you get to where you're going but getting there on public transportation is extremely uncomfortable. There was a man with a chicken in a cardboard box squished up against me the whole ride and I kept worrying the chicken was going to go to the bathroom and leak through the box onto me. It didn't happen but I was concerned.
The rest of the week was spent visiting with different families here in town and a highlight was helping my friend's family make their alfombra for Good Friday. We woke up early and made a fairly amateur alfombra but all in all super fun and then we had breakfast with the family. After breakfast we watched our alfombra get trampled and then followed the procession all over town. Pictures included above.
I'm a little sad that the holiday was over but at least it means no more bread. Apparently Semana Santa also means endless baking and gifting of tons and tons of sweet bread. I have six different loaves on my table right now and have been eating bread with every meal instead of other carbs like rice or tortillas. I'm taking a long break from sweet bread after this. Its back to work tomorrow, but there are more holidays on the horizon. There always are here. The conejos (internationally know marimba band) will be playing in Uspantan in a week or two for their Feria, which means I get to go dancing for my birthday! Yay!