I traveled to Guatemala from 03/28 to 04/06. It was the Catholic Holy Week (Semana Santa). I arrived in the evening of 03/28 and the other three friends all arrived earlier than I did. The taxi driver had to drive around in Antigua to arrive at my hotel because many of the roads were already closed due to the upcoming processions. I had no idea what was about to unfold in front of me.
03/29
I woke up very early, took a walk outside, and ran right into the Palm Sunday procession. The local men were all dressed in purple gowns, and women in black outfits, also with a black veil. I also saw the alfombras made by local families. Some with colorful sawdust, others with colorful sand. At first, I thought those alfombras were for Easter and I wondered how they were going to maintain them for the whole week, but I soon realized that people just walk over the alfombras as the procession passed. Then the streets were cleaned, and the families were already preparing for the next day’s alfombra.
A very cute thing was that a family made an alfombra with colored sand, and a dog just accidentally ran across it, leaving its footprints on the alfombra. I walked past it and started laughing, and the family laughed along with me. I asked if they were going to redo it and they said no no, just let it. It was kind of poetic - a dog doesn’t care about the festivals or anything. It’s just another day.
The procession continued until the afternoon and by then I was used to speaking Spanish (again). We walked by a family that was making their own alfombra and I asked “¿Puedo tratar?”, and they allowed me to join. Wow. It felt surreal. I’ve always wanted to not just be a tourist, but to experience things the way locals do. The wish came true again (the last time I had this feeling was playing Pasárutakua somewhere in the mountains of Tupátaro, Mexico).
