Well it seems that Semana Santa has begun, or that is what we felt as we gathered around 8.00 p.m. last night outside the small church of Templo Pampa de San Agustin. This very old church is down the bottom of the hill behind our Hotel Tres Mascaras.
Initially there was a reasonable crowd outside the church waiting for the Mass to finish and the procession to begin. There were the usual candle sellers, fairy floss sellers, band members and even two gentlemen regularly firing off exploding rockets; a requirement for this part of the world!
As Mass finished we were able to get closer to the church and even get glimpses of the Ander just inside the front door. As you can see the Ander is a specially decorated platform used to carry various statues, in this case the figure was that of the Sacred Heart. The white candles and fluorescent lights shone in the night.
As the procession came out the front door and headed up the hill fireworks illuminated the night – the Ander was illuminated by a portable generator being pushed along behind!
Every so often as we approached the main Plaza the procession came to a halt for prayers led by the priest and hymns from the choir complete with a ‘portable’ organ. At one stage the Ander was taken across a floral carpet on the road. All night I desperately tried to get a clear shot of the poor woman who continually ran ahead to lift the electrical wires so that the Ander could safely pass beneath, her equipment was a long, thin tree trunk with a cross piece tied across the top!
Realising that this could be the first of many nocturnal walks this week we decided that we had better head for home just after the procession reached the Plaza de Armas.
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