It is my last week in Guatemala. I am not sure I’ve even had time to properly process all of
what I’ve learned while here. I
tried to give you a small taste of things Guatemalan. I thought of one other thing I didn’t mention today. Everywhere you go there are “guards”
with shotguns guarding all sorts of things. My favorite is the one that guards the water truck. As the water deliveryman delivers large
gallons of purified water, there is a guard that guards the water. I often see them as I walk to school. I just found that one to be
entertaining. Seriously though,
they are everywhere. You cannot
walk for more than one block without seeing one. And each time I see one riding on the back of a motorcycle
or in the passenger seat of a car, I think, “Gives new meaning to riding
shotgun.”
In addition to this being my last week in Guatemala, it is
the last week before Semana Santa (Holy Week—the week before Easter). Being here during Cuaresma (Lent) has
been very interesting. Yesterday
my teacher and I had a nice long conversation about Cuaresma and all the events
that take place during this 40-day period.
Each Friday in cities all over Guatemala, there are
processions celebrating Lent.
These are interesting and often a tourist attraction as well as an event
for church members. These
processions range in size according to the cities. The largest are in Guatemala City, Antigua, and Quetzaltenango. Guatemala City has some of the largest
because they are the capitol city.
Antigua was the capitol of Central America for a long time and so it has
very large processions as a remnant of its time as a capitol city. Quetzaltenango is the second largest
city in Guatemala and has a large Latin population. Additionally, it still has a very large indigenous population
so it also has large processions.
These processions are like a parade, but instead of floats there are Las
Andas. These are large platforms
that have different images of Christ, His life, and His death, and His
resurrection. The men that carry these
large platforms on their shoulders are called cucuruchos. These cucuruchos pay 100Q for the honor
to carry las andas. Their “turn”
may be only one block. For
example, this past weekend in Antigua, the procession lasted 24 hours and there
were over 8,000 cucuruchos involved in just one procession. The cucuruchos wear purple robes with
hoods that any Southerner would akin to a KKK robe and hood. It is quite a sight to see. Also involved in these processions are grandiose
alfombras. The literal translation
for alfombra is carpet. It is a
symbolism of the palm leaves that Jesus walked on. They are made of sand, flowers, leaves, etc. but are very
intricate. The streets are closed
off before the processions and you can see these alfombras. I didn’t get a picture of one on the
street, but I’ve posted one from a church in Antigua.
There was an article in yesterday’s paper where the Catholic
priest in Guatemala City was complaining about how Holy Week is viewed. He broke it down into three groups of
people. (1) Many people take it as
a vacation and go to the beach and have large parties. (2) Some people don’t attend the church
services, but just attend the processions like a common tourist. (3) Some people attend the processions
as well as the church services.
The priest was asking all the people to please not treat Holy Week as a
vacation or tourist, but to properly observe it. I got a few pictures of one of the processions in Antigua
and one alfombra in the church in Antigua and have posted them. Also, a few from a procession in
Quetzaltenango. They do not do the
entire process justice, but may give you a small idea into what it is like here
in Guatemala during this time.
As you may recall from a prior post, the Catholic Church
here incorporates many Myan cultures and traditions. This has been explained to me by both my teachers as necessary
for the church to survive because they would otherwise not be able to recruit
(for lack of a better word) the Myan persons here in Guatemala. One example of this is that during Holy
Week, Guatelmatecans eat bread, honey, chocolate, garbanzo beans and fish. The bread and fish is from the bible
where Jesus feed the multitude.
The other (honey and chocolate) is taken from Myan culture and
traditions. It is mind boggling to
me how these people so readily accept pagan cultures and traditions in the
church. Be in prayer for the
churches and people here in Guatemala.
Both are in desperate need of reformation and transformation.
I pray that during this Semana Santa, we will all stay
focused on the greatest gift any of us have ever received—Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior! God gave us what
none of us deserved—grace and salvation through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. If that is not a
reason to celebrate, then I do not know what is! I’ll let the Guatemalan Catholic Churches keep their
traditions, both Catholic and Myan, and I am happy to rest in the truth of the
bible and God’s free gift to us of Salvation through Jesus Christ!! What a blessing and honor to be a part
of His family.
