THE GIRLS ON THEIR FIRST PROCESSION

I realize it is way past Semana Santa but I still have 5 more Semana Santa Posts..

One of them is this one. Good Friday while we were out watching that day processions our cousin Jorge  mentioned there was a children's procession on Saturday so we decided we would give it a shot to see if we could still get turns for it. I inquired with one of the ladies in line of the procession if the girls were to dress in black or in white and she said black, so the next morning I went to Paiz (now owned by Walmart) to see if I could find some little black outfits. Since I could find none, resourceful as I am, I made up some outfits for her using a nightgowns one if my skirts and her blouses and drove to find the procession (this of course later became a funny story of how the girls paraded in 'pijamas') . When we got there the good news was we still got turns for Q15.00 (about $2.00) and the bad news was all the girls were in white!

Here are the pictures of the procession, Nicole and Megan are easily recognized being the only ones in black :).

We 'caught' the procession 9 blocks before the turn we  bought so we walked along with it for about an hour. Since it is all little girls, the women in charge have them walk holding hands.

The picture below is taken walking in front of the Cathedral. It is very exciting because the bells are rung when the procession goes by.

After nine walks of walking under the sun I thought they were going to totally hate their first experience, but fortunately they informed me they loved it!

I posted the next picture because my dad is on the right corner.
The door you see in the background is the entrance to the Presidential House. Because it has proven to be less secure than staying in  your own house Presidents have stopped using it.

The procession is from La Recolección and both and the men from the brotherhood of El Señor Sepultado and the women from the Sisterhood of La Santisima Virgen de Dolores y Soledad organize and direct this procession.  There are 4 floats and 2 bands

Jesus Sepultado with approximately 20 bearers on each side. 

La Virgen de Soledad with 15 bearers on each side.

Maria Magdalena and San Juan with only 5 bearers on each side

 

The Band follow Jesus and Mary. This procession looks less neat on the line because all the parents are hovering our around their children.
I have to add this was a wonderful experience for all of us. It was a blessing to share this cultural and religious tradition with the girls. It was  the highlight of Semana Santa.