This week has been a real treat. One reason is the view from our barrio (on a clear day). Another is that, although I have been here many times, I have never visited Antigua during Semana Santa. Easter is serious business around here. The people who walk the processions often go from 4 AM until 1 AM, taking turns carrying giant floats made of mahogany and weigh up to 4 tons.

This is my father-in-law’s family. They are a awesome bunch. They also are my main motivation to learn spanish. Many of them know more english than I know spanish, so that helps the communication barrier, but I feel terrible when I come to Guatemala and speak my sad broken spanish. My sister-in-law just spent 3 months here in spanish school. I hope that one day I can do the same, but I will need more than 3 months.

Here you see a man working on a carpet for the processions. Families work most of the day preparing these beautiful works of art as a tribute. The processions walk over them and then they create a new one the next day. This goes on for most of the week.

The Cucuruchos are the procession participants. They wear this purple outfit until Good Friday when they wear all black.