Semana Santa

Yes, it is Tuesday of SEMANA SANTA--the biggest, most important week in the Mexican calendar.

Sure, this does have something to do with the fact that the country is roughly 90% Catholic, and Holy Week is a cornerstone to almost every Christian tradition (what happened during Holy Week clearly IS the cornerstone to ALL those traditions).

But this all takes a bit of a different twist in Mexico. See, while the rest of the Christian world may be fasting and praying on Thursday and Friday, almost all of us in Mexico are on vacation. Every school in Mexico has Spring Break this week and next week (yes, two weeks of Spring Break--it almost makes up for the fact that their summer vacation starts on the first weekend in July). Many, many businesses are shut down for the entire week and, despite Mexico's strict enforcement of the separation of church and state, Thursday and Friday are nationally mandated holidays that everyone has off (except for those in the tourism industry, of course).

Therefore, I'm feverishly awaiting Thursday when Mario gets off, too. We can dream about going to the beach.

However, with us it will simply remain a dream, as we're not sadistic enough to join the rest of country in their twisted attempt to pack themselves by the thousands on Cancun's beaches.

Because that sounds like fun.


Not.

[Note: pictures are from my church on Palm Sunday. I love how they use chamomile bouquets instead of palm branches. It smells so much better.]