In Quito for Good Friday Catholic priests dress up like purple Ku Klux Klan and parade through the old town. Other men drag wooden crosses that weigh more than they do, obviously in pain.The whole parade goes for about four hours, and anyone can join in. All the purple and religious fervor really was very impressive.
I watched the procession with my gringa possee from the sidewalk crush, taking so much care of my bag and camera. There were four rows of people in front of us, but none of them were over 5' 7'', so our view was quite good. After about half an hour, we wanted to move, so joined in between the purple blokes and a wooden float of the Virgin Mary and escaped to a plaza in the centre of the old town.
On the steps of the church in the plaza, a small but energetic group seemed to be protesting. We sat and watched them for a while. but still couldn't figure out what they were chanting, and why they were waving around posters of what looked like a middle aged used car salesman. We went and asked... it turns out that Jesus has already come again. He's Puerto Rican, lives in Miami, and has a website about how you can join him.
