The most colorful fiest in Guatemala occurs in Good Friday before Easter in the old colonial town of Antigua. The day before, shopkeepers and others vie with each other in creating the most colorful and elaborate street decorations of colored sawdust and flower petals which the processions march across on Good Friday. The Holy Week [Semana Santa] starts with processions from the various Catholic churches on Palm Sunday and culminate with the Good Friday events.

The major procession in Antigua leaves from the ancient La Merced church, passing through the Calle Ancha and through other streets of the town. The sides of the streets are line with spectators.

The celebrants began their march with costumes of purple, bearing the image of Christ. At 3:00pm, the supposed hour of the crucifixion, the costumes are changed to black. Other communities have similar celebrations. The Church of Santo Toma in Chichicastenango, built around 1540, is at the center of the great Indian market of Guatemala.

On Thursdays and Saturdays, Indians from all over central Guatemala bring their goods to sell in small booths and on door steps throughout the central part of the city. There is a mix of pagan and Catholic ritual in the celebrations at the church and the air is full of incense and smoke. Many years ago, a parish priest discovered a copy of the Popol Vuh in the church archives. This rare document, the sacred book of the Quiche Indians, tells the story of the people from the earliest times in stories and allegories.

So here it is: Guatemala as I have experienced it.