Wednesday - Week 5: This Catholic Holy Week schedule was completely surprising to us. I was never aware of an event honoring the events of Christendom to be held on Wednesday of Holy Week. In San Miguel de Allende they seem to do their own thing. When walking in to the Centro this morning, the traffic police were moving all the cars off San Francisco Street, obviously for some big event. I asked a gentleman on the street and he advised there would be an evening procession.
The Atención newspaper told us that it was the Via Cruces procession. The procession would carry the Statue of Christ on the Cross on a platform going by 13 (not 14) stations at various churches and schools in the Centro, ending at the Calvario Chapel just below our casa. These are no little events. The procession included a band, other platforms with religious figures, and literally hundreds of walkers carrying various religious symbols, some of which completely escaped me. I really was puzzled by the pair of furry dice carried on a gold pillow. Maybe someone can enlighten me with a comment to this article. The platforms are not like our traditional floats on wheels. They are lifted on poles by marchers, similar to carrying the Egyptian Pharaohs. Looks like a lot of hard work, and most are carried by women.
After the procession we had dinner at a small restaurant called San Agustin Cafe. It is owned by a well known (except to me) film and TV star from Argentina. There were lots of photos all over the walls including one of her on the cover of Playboy magazine, Spanish edition. Because of my desire to be very observant and descriptive of my experiences in San Miguel I paid close attention to all the employees, but alas, I saw no one who remotely resembled Margarita Gralia.
Quirky Living Note: Little did we know when we scheduled our 10 weeks that we were going to be involved in so many holidays. This isn’t particularly relevant to our life style, except as to our having been very spoiled by having a maid three days a week. As the holiday approaches, our manager Pilar calls and asks if it is all right that Betti take the day off for the important event. This week it was Good Friday. With Mary Ann having worked for years for Catholic Family & Child Service, and always getting Good Friday as a holiday, it would certainly be sacrilegious to raise any objection.
The Atención newspaper told us that it was the Via Cruces procession. The procession would carry the Statue of Christ on the Cross on a platform going by 13 (not 14) stations at various churches and schools in the Centro, ending at the Calvario Chapel just below our casa. These are no little events. The procession included a band, other platforms with religious figures, and literally hundreds of walkers carrying various religious symbols, some of which completely escaped me. I really was puzzled by the pair of furry dice carried on a gold pillow. Maybe someone can enlighten me with a comment to this article. The platforms are not like our traditional floats on wheels. They are lifted on poles by marchers, similar to carrying the Egyptian Pharaohs. Looks like a lot of hard work, and most are carried by women.
After the procession we had dinner at a small restaurant called San Agustin Cafe. It is owned by a well known (except to me) film and TV star from Argentina. There were lots of photos all over the walls including one of her on the cover of Playboy magazine, Spanish edition. Because of my desire to be very observant and descriptive of my experiences in San Miguel I paid close attention to all the employees, but alas, I saw no one who remotely resembled Margarita Gralia.
Quirky Living Note: Little did we know when we scheduled our 10 weeks that we were going to be involved in so many holidays. This isn’t particularly relevant to our life style, except as to our having been very spoiled by having a maid three days a week. As the holiday approaches, our manager Pilar calls and asks if it is all right that Betti take the day off for the important event. This week it was Good Friday. With Mary Ann having worked for years for Catholic Family & Child Service, and always getting Good Friday as a holiday, it would certainly be sacrilegious to raise any objection.
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