Easter Celebration

One of the traditions for Easter in Guatemala is making sawdust rugs called alfombras to blanket the streets for a procession after an Easter mass.  We have a Catholic girls school across the street and we have never seen inside.  Last Thursday we were able to watch as they had a special mass before the students left for their Easter vacation. 

We walked over during the mass and I got a few pictures.  Our neighbor, Larry Jenson, got some good ones before and John Norman had some good ones on his blog that I "borrowed". 

Eash class makes their own design and alfombra.

Some of the older girls getting ready for the parade. 

We were there as the men of the band, all dressed in black, gathered across the street from us.  The closest description of the initial sound would be that of tune-up times for a junior high band.  My they were awful.  By the time the procession ended they seemed to be much better but I still wouldn't have paid much to obtain that sound.

The procession begins!

It was a very interesting experience that I am glad that we were able to see and hear.  There were several parts of the mass that were interspersed with lovely vocal solos.  We were providing lunch for the young missionary sisters that morning and they found us at the parade needing to eat earlier than we had planned so we hurried home and fed them.