Semana Santa, or easter as we call it, is a big deal in Mexico. Especially in central Mexico because they are the most religious parts of the country. And this was where I found myself during parts of the celebrations at least.
I had met up with a guy called Rodrigo (through CouchSurfing) from Queretaro who was my own private guide while I was there. He knows absolutely everything there is to know about his city's history, culture and traditions and was more than willing to share his knowledge with me and Andre , a couch surfer from Brazil that was also there at that time.
Me, Andre and Rodrigo
Queretaro is a beautiful old colonial town with a ridiculous number of churches, town squares and fountains, and with all its churches I think it's the perfect place for semana santa celebrations.
During the holidays the town is filled with visitors from all the cities and villages around (not many tourists though..) and when I say filled, I really mean filled! Everywhere you go there is people, food stands, balloons and cotton candy. It's almost like 17th of may back home. Despite the crowds, morning, mid-day and night, it's always really calm. And I like Queretaro for that.
My first day in town, Rodrigo and his mom takes me to a tiny village outside of Queretaro to show me a special kind of celebration that is nowhere to be found but there. Basically what happens is that the boys and the men of the village dresses up, half in masks and half without, and then they fight with machetes. Yes, real machetes, and yes, there are injuries, but nothing serous. It's a representation of good (no masks) fighting evil (masks) and this goes on for two days straight. It was really fun to see, up until the point where a group of masked guys get a bit to "interested" in me and get a bit too close with their machetes. But then came the police and chased them away. All good, just a little scare.
me with one of the creepy masked guys..
The same night is the night when everyone goes to church. No, not once, but seven times in seven different churches. And I tag along with Rodrigo and his mom. Think I've spent more time in churches since I came to Queretaro than the rest of my life combined. But it was interesting to see how devoted people are and how seriously they take their faith. It was a nice experience to go from church to church and watch people.
The next day begins the processions in town. An impressive silent procession with young girls dressed up as angels, monks in red, white, purple, black, grey and green clothes, all carrying big statues of different saints representing their brotherhood or big wooden crosses. And at the end comes the morning women dressed in black and purple. And it keeps going for quite some time. Think we spent about two hours watching the parade before it came to an end. And it was all quiet.
