Corpus Cristi

Despite the "rules" about the weather in this season (it's "supposed to" be sunny in the morning and rain in the afternoon), we awoke to a downpour. We thought it was going to be a day spent inside, transcribing and translating, or playing cards. Instead, Lorena, our "landlady," told us that today was Corpus Cristi, when the host is brought out of the cathedral and paraded around the streets. By 9:00 AM, the rain had slowed, and by 10:00 AM, the appointed time for the festivities to start, the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds.

This was a real festival, with children dressed in angel costumes, pine needles (a Mayan tradition that shows great respect) spread on the ground for the priests carrying the host to walk on, a group of women - older women all dressed in burgandy suits and black mantillas - walking behind the priests and host, and lots of musicians. The streets were blocked off on a block by block basis to allow for the procession to pass. Various altars and special places were set aside along the way where the procession stopped. One street along side the central plaza also was blocked off, and people were selling fruit, snacks, and toys for the children.

We shot B-roll of the procession, and followed it for a ways. Then Lorena told us that people in Antigua cook a special dish - pepián - for Corpus Cristi, and that's what we were served for lunch (the main meal of the day). It's like a beef soup with potatoes and a special kind of squash.