weekend #3, Sunday

Slept in and got a really late start on the day. Didn’t get out of the house until 11 a.m. Met Susanne downtown, ate lunch at a Thai place (expensive for what you get, so neither of us will be back there). Went to the Tourist Police to file a report on my theft issue. The man gave me a form to fill out and told me to come back after lunch. Then Susanne and I walked to the market to do some shopping (well, she shopped, I just gave my opinion and waited). We went back to the police to file the rest of the report. Then we walked around and found a place for her to eat dinner at (I just drank water and talked to her). And then we found the procession, watched it go by, and came home.

Overall, it felt like a boring day, but I guess after listing all the things we did it was actually somewhat eventful. I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling good for most of the day because of female issues, so I guess I feel like it was a “blah” day. But it was fun now that I think about it.

The police are slow. The guy could only type with two or three fingers. And he kept asking me questions, in Spanish, that I already answered on the paper. But I got it taken care of and I got the opinion of the bi-lingual tourist helper on the situation. So tomorrow when I go to school and get my money (hopefully), I will complain some more and see if I can get an apology at least. They just seem so uncaring about the situation.

The Thai place had good food, but very small portions for the amount of money you pay. Even by American standards. I only had Q20 that Merlene lent me, so I ordered something and got the ½ portion for 60% off the regular price. It was a little bit of rice and about 5 little strips of chicken in honey ginger sauce.

At the dinner place we found under the arch Susanne ordered a pizza. It was a personal size, but rather large. I had a bite and found it to be rather tasty, but I think the crust was sourdough. Strange. The little pizza cost around Q20 and was well worth it. I saw food for another table and it looked really good. Spaghetti, bread, and veggies.

We were tired and ready to go home, so we went in search of the procession instead of waiting for it to finally arrive in the park or on 5 avenida. And still, even seeking it out, we had to wait quite a while. It moves really slow. There are tons of people involved in the procession itself, so before you even hear anything you see tons of people lining the edges of the street in robes, suits, and carrying things. As the float gets closer, people carrying and swinging smoke makers come through and more people carrying flag things.

Finally the men come carrying the “float.” I don’t know what else to call it. but it is really big. It takes 80 men to carry it. in the middle was a figure of Jesus lying down in a coffin. At the front of it was a man standing up, but don’t know who he was supposed to be, and at the back of the float was Mary, I think.

After the men carrying the float was a band. The drummers were first. As the float approached the periodic stopping points, the drums pounded once after 5 seconds or so. Then they all stopped. A little more drumming. And the float swayed. And then the band played a song and the moving continued. Another song, more moving, and then they approach the next stopping point.

There were TONS of people. But thankfully they were all gathered in one place and bunches of them walked along with it, so once you get out of the mob, you’re free. So you don’t have to follow them long, is my point. You can easily get in a good spot to watch, follow along a little ways, then get out of the crowd and go home. Well, for the walking public. Those driving on all the other streets were backed up, big time. driving here is way complicated.

Anyways, I’m tired and need to study, so more later.