Easter in Antigua

We had a great Easter break in Antigua, Guatemala.  It was a time for the family, a break from the heat, an adventure and one of the most contemplative Easter weeks I have ever experienced.

As is the Belizean tradition, we had an early morning breakfast with the clinic staff on Holy Thursday before leaving.  They served their traditional hot cross buns and coffee.  It is traditionally a time of prayer and togetherness before the Easter events begin.  After breakfast, we left the clinic with Chad and Natalie in charge and caught an open boat across the Bay of Honduras to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala with Celia (our nurse), Meagan (our public health intern), Annette (our physical therapist) and one of Annette's friends who is with us as a student. From there we went by bus the six and a half hours to Guatemala City.  The shuttles and buses were all shut down by the time we arrived so we took a taxi to Antigua.  Even though the travel was long, it was good to be back in civilization.  

Staff breakfast at the clinic

Antigua is a small city 25 miles southwest of Guatemala City.  It was the capital of the Spanish colony of Guatemala and then the country of Guatemala from 1543 until 1776 and is considered to have the best preserved colonial architecture in Central and South America.  It sits at over 5000 feet in elevation providing for cooler days and nights.  We loved the sunny days in the high 70s which cooled off beautifully to high 50s at night.  After the heat index in Punta Gorda being in the 110s the week before, it was awesome! 

Caelan with Celia and Meagan

Volcano de Agua behind Hermano San Pedro hospital and church

The city's population swells by 100,000 people for Lent and Holy Week.  As we arrived Thursday night, there were multiple processions winding their way through the streets and hundreds of people at each intersection to see them.  Large groups of people dressed in black processed through the streets carrying floats that told the Easter story from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his crucifixion.  The floats were elaborately painted and decorated and each was usually accompanied by a band playing somber music or by slow rhythmic drums.  Even though there were hundreds of people, there was a quiet, somber spirit that allowed for contemplation of each part of the Easter story (except when the street vendors would occasionally get noisy with their bells!).

One of the many Good Friday processions

Many people put down elaborate "alfombras" or "carpets" of pine needle, flowers, flower petals or dyed sawdust for the procession to pass over.  Some of the designs were quite beautiful, taking hours to complete.

On Saturday we hiked up one of the four volcanos that surrounds Antigua, Volcano Pacaya.  Listed as a "leisurely hike" in the online guidebook, we were excited to do it.  To our surprise, there was nothing "leisurely" about the climb but we did finally made it up to the top. The boys were able to roast marshmallows over the steam vents and the view was spectacular.  Quinn was very proud of himself that he conquered two fears: climbing a volcano and standing near the edge for a photo.

(I passed my cardiac stress test!)

Sunday was a happy day in Antigua.  There were trucks with loudspeakers going slowly through the streets broadcasting, "Cristo Vive, Cristo Vive" (Christ lives).  The processions that wound through the streets were made of flag-waving, dancing crowds singing songs of the resurrection and carrying a float to tell the story.  I got to see one of these processions from the upstairs floor balcony of the bakery where Quinn and I were having brunch with Meagan.  The bakers had made beautiful loves of sweet bread shaped as animals, crosses and other designs.  They laid these out on a large bed of pine needles in the middle of the street and decorated it with colorful blown eggs shells.  As the procession came toward them, they knelt and offered them to God.  Then they gathered up the bread, placed them in plastic bags and placed them on the float and gave them to the priest.  It was the most personal interaction I saw with a procession passing over an alfombra and was very meaningful.

One of the Easter morning processions

Monday was a long travel day back home: taking a shuttle to Guatemala City, a bus from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios and then the water taxi over to Punta Gorda.  The trip was well worth the travel time and I highly recommended spending Easter in Antigua.

Volcanos Fuego and Acatenago as seen from Volcano Pacaya