Semana Santa

I’d like to share my experience of Semana Santa(Holy Week) with you. Semana Santa is a huge deal in Costa Rica, especially because of the large Catholic population. Growing up Catholic, I understand the importance of the days leading up to Easter, and was looking forward to experiencing Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter down here in San Joaquín. Semana Santa is also the spring break down here, so it was nice to relax and not have to worry about classes for a week.

Processions are very popular in San Joaquín. As it turns out, SJF is famous for their processions, along with Cartago and Belen. Hundreds of people come to watch, and many of the local people participate. The dedication of the residents is incredible. The Roman soldiers must have marched and played drums for 4 hours a day.

The longest procession was on Friday, which started 2 km away from the main plaza and included the Stations of the Cross. The final stations were in the plaza. It was VERY powerful watching the Roman guards whip Jesus. The processions helped remind me what Easter and Holy Week is all about.

Here are some pictures:

 

One last thing, there is no Easter bunny down here! This is the first year I haven’t had an Easter basket, or listened to my traditional Easter story (The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes). I did eat a lot of chivere empanadas, however. It is a dangerous thing when your host mom makes and sells bread and desserts from her house! Families do gather together, but it feels more like a small holiday. In the United States it seems to be a bigger effort to get families together – here, not so much.

I know this is a small blog post, but I just wanted to give you all a little taste of Easter...Costa Rican style.