Nicaragua: Holy Week
My dad loves to tell the story of going to church when my older brother and I were little tykes one Christmas Eve and as a reaction to the completely full house, my brother labeled that Mass as a "sell-out." Although I don't remember the exact scene, I'm sure the crowd of people filling the church pews resembled a sold-out stadium of some sporting event or another. My experience this past week during "Semana Santa" has been completed with many "sell-outs" much like that one a few years ago.
The people in my community flocked to church throughout Holy Week and many days it was nearly impossible to find a place to sit or even stand inside the decently-sized European-style church. One had to arrive hours before Mass was scheduled to start just to secure a spot to sit. A neighbor of mine did just that, arriving at 4pm one day for an 8 o'clock service which didn't end until 11:30pm. Sitting for nearly 8 hours in the same church pew...can someone say dedication?
The people also took to the streets in daily processions. The custom is to carry around statues of Jesus and his posse while playing music and shooting off firecrackers. In one of the processions Jesus was blindfolded and in another one they carried him in a see-through casket. My community is also known for a tradition seen in this video. I still haven't figured out its exact history, but basically what happens is people dress like Roman soldiers and run through the streets carrying chains. Also, one lucky volunteer in the group gets to be tied up by the chains and carried/dragged through the streets as the rest of the group runs.
And now allow me to share some of the natural beauty that Nicaragua has to offer. As the majority of the community took the entire week as vacation and classes were not in session, we had some free time to explore. The following video is of the Masaya Volcano...which is apparently still active...but we were still allowed to get a good up-close look.
The people in my community flocked to church throughout Holy Week and many days it was nearly impossible to find a place to sit or even stand inside the decently-sized European-style church. One had to arrive hours before Mass was scheduled to start just to secure a spot to sit. A neighbor of mine did just that, arriving at 4pm one day for an 8 o'clock service which didn't end until 11:30pm. Sitting for nearly 8 hours in the same church pew...can someone say dedication?
The people also took to the streets in daily processions. The custom is to carry around statues of Jesus and his posse while playing music and shooting off firecrackers. In one of the processions Jesus was blindfolded and in another one they carried him in a see-through casket. My community is also known for a tradition seen in this video. I still haven't figured out its exact history, but basically what happens is people dress like Roman soldiers and run through the streets carrying chains. Also, one lucky volunteer in the group gets to be tied up by the chains and carried/dragged through the streets as the rest of the group runs.
And now allow me to share some of the natural beauty that Nicaragua has to offer. As the majority of the community took the entire week as vacation and classes were not in session, we had some free time to explore. The following video is of the Masaya Volcano...which is apparently still active...but we were still allowed to get a good up-close look.
Here is a view of the Laguna de Apoyo as seen from the town of Diria.
Even though Holy Week in Nicaragua didn't end with a visit from the Easter Bunny, I think it could still be considered a success.
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