April 07, 2007 - Semana Santa in Orosi

Hello from Orosi!
This has been an interesting week - it is nearing the end of Semana Santa. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there are ¨processions¨ around the town - Young men from the town dress as soldiers and slow-march to drums, they are accompanied by young girls. They are followed by older men carrying a statue of Jesús carrying a cross (in some towns, a person represents Jesús and carries a cross instead). After them, older women carry a statue of Mary, followed by others carrying a statue of a man - we are currently guessing that it is St. Peter, but we haven´t asked anyone. Many people from the town walk behind and beside these. They walk very slowly, in sadness, and it takes about 2 hours to walk the town. The processions take place at different hours each day. Last night, the parents of our Tico family were walking in the procession when it started to rain. People duck out and either stay under shelter and watch, or take raincoats or umbrellas and continue.
On Sunday, the procession starts at 4 in the morning (!) - they will march much faster, with joy, and set off fireworks. I don´t think we will sleep through it. The procession will go the the ridges (I think in time for sunrise, but - again - I haven´t checked with anyone.).
Our family invited us to their finca (a farm) for dinner tonight, but then Teresita (the mother) learned that her father is not well - so she will go to him instead, and we might go on Sunday instead.
We had a couple of nights of ¨problem sleep¨ - one night an alarm went off at midnight, and stayed on for 15-20 minutes. We didn´t know if it was a house alarm, or a civic alarm (something like a tornado warning). It turned out to be someone possibly trying to break into a store. They said that hadn´t happened in 5 years. The next night, I think all the unusual and rich food got to me - I got sick in the middle of the night, and Rick and I only dozed a bit through out. I had soup the rest of the next day, and got out a bit the day after. I feel fine now, so the only real remaining problem is that I missed a couple of days of study. But, it was Semana Santa! And I already told my teacher I wasn´t going to study much...