A Walk on Palm Sunday

Semana Santa (Holy Week) has started and the town is full of tourists! It's quite a madhouse, to be honest. It seems the holiest week of the year is also considered the best time to get drunk and pass out on the street. Go figure!

Bert and I went for a walk around town yesterday afternoon to see what was up. It was later in the afternoon, so we had missed most of the action, but we did get to see a few small alfombras, the religious carpets made of coloured sawdust.

The big church in Pana with a lovely traditional alfombra leading up to it.

Another carpet. It's coloured sawdust!

That's Bert on the right. He was hungry and walking fast! No time for carpets! :)

Apparently, this is Bert's resting spot when he walks dogs. It's a wee bit of shade and it overlooks the lake.
He's eating crappy pizza!

Why is the pizza crappy? Cuz Guatemalans apparently don't know what it takes to make a good pizza. (Okay, not all Guatemalans. But I guess when you're paying Q10 for a slice, it's not that bad. About $1.82 Canadian.) Bert's slice had a half a piece of pepperoni, a triangle of ham, some cut of weiners, and a tiny piece of red pepper. Pretty much zero sauce and a teeny bit of cheese. Mostly bread. Some pizza stalls are better than others, as we learned when we walked further down the street and saw pizza stands selling Hawaiian and real pepperoni pizza slices. Next time! :)

They plowed rocks all part of the river delta to stop one of the streams. Then they set up a carnival??? Okay...
The windsock is there because the paragliders land on the river delta.

I want to try to get out more this Semana Santa and see things I missed last year. It's difficult, though, because my work is just getting busy now too! A lot of the parades happen in the mornings before it gets too hot. Many expats complain about this week because it so much busier and louder and chaotic than the rest of the year in our peaceful town, but I like it. But then again, it's only my third Semana Santa so perhaps I haven't had enough time to get sick of it! (Yes, we had our two-year Guateversary on April 1. Yay us!)