"Most towns in Mexico, saving the capital, are in themselves, at once. As if they had been lowered from heaven in a napkin, and deposited, rather foreign, in the wild plain." - D. H. Lawrence, Mornings in Mexico
If you've ever wondered what happened to those school buses you rode in the 1960s, they are all here in Mexico and we rode one today. A bit rickety and noisy, but it does the job without complaint.
We arrived at the bus stop to the town and from there we took a tuk tuk. San Antonino was bustling with a big market with many outdoor restaurants. This town is also famous for making these amazing Mexican wedding dresses with very intricate embroidery. Amy asked the price of an especially nice one...4000 pesos, about $275. She ended up getting a nice blouse for 200 pesos. That's my gal!
While looking at the dresses, a young girl started a conversation with Amy, as she wanted to try out her English. She mentioned that we should head down to the cemetery, as people were decorating graves. Well it also turned out, that is where the procession would start.
When we got there, there was a pretty good size crowd outside the cemetery. And the center of attention was a life size statue of Jesus on his donkey. Not so unusual for Palm Sunday. What was unusual was that all around the base of the statue was an enormous amount of food! And it came all the way up past his waist! It was all fresh food, brought in by different people. There were oranges, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and the most enormous radishes (rabanos) you've ever seen. Then several men put on this very long string of buns, so it went around the statue a couple of times. And then strings of chilies. And then more strings of rolls. Last of all, they put giant dried fish on the back. And gave him all kinds of things to carry in his hands too.
In addition to this, many locals brought different offerings. There were three old ladies who were accepting the offerings. Not sure who they were, but they were obviously important. People brought all sorts of things; bread, fruit, chocolate, money, toys, shoes. There were even live goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and a squealing pig! Everything was accepted by the ladies with a smile.
By now, after the painstaking work of piling the produce around the Christ statue, everyone was ready to roll. Poles were inserted under... About 12 men carried the by now incredibly heavy statue down the dirt street toward the church. All the locals and a few of us tourists followed, all of us also carrying our little palm offerings. Some had specific offerings wrapped in plastic... Fancy shoes with sparkles... Small sets of speakers.... Music was playing and fireworks were exploding. After about 1/2 kilometer, we arrived at the church where a mass would follow.
It was a fun day and especially nice because we were amongst local folk in a real and very traditional event. Hopefully, we will find mor like this.
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