Countdown to "Semana Santa"

---

Exams are finished and the countdown has begun. A bell marking the beginning of Holy Week will be ringing this Friday in Comayagua. A tradition many Hondurans have celebrated for years. The time of this sacred ceremony varies from one neighborhood to the next. In our neighborhood they will be ringing the bell at 1:20 PM. At that time the streets will flood with screaming teenagers wreaking havoc on the unguarded city. The crowd of children, riddled with the occasional teacher, will be seen exiting El Alba school this Friday upon which each will go their separate ways. Since this is my first time celebrating as a teacher I am really excited. In the past I have experienced this Holy ringing of the bells, but (up until now) I never appreciated it. Now that I am a teacher I have a better understanding of it's truly sacred nature.

Complete freedom. From what I hear, this ceremony is only a warm up for something called "Summer vacation." Once again, only experienced this as a student and I'm looking forward to celebrating this event of spiritual cleansing as an educator.

This ever so Holy event has caused quite a stir amongst the students in all my classes. They just can't wait to parade the streets with their Dennis the menace antics. I have already had a few false alarms as the bell rings every 40 minutes to switch classes. We had to ice down a few 7th graders to lower their body temperature and slow them down. Otherwise they could be a danger to themselves or others and nobody wants that. So I make sure to clearly warn everybody that a bell is about to ring, "Now this isn't the bell, kiddies... it's just a bell, so I don't want anybody freaking out... can we stay calm, class?"

You have to handle these things very carefully. Down in Honduras there are wild cheers at the end of every class. The bell rings and glorious shouts and whistles fill the air... and it's only second period on a Tuesday. Now, I'm allowed to hit the students till I'm blue in the face, but that only gets them worked up, and the school won't spend the money on straight jackets and muzzles, so I'm left to reason with them. It's a dangerous situation, because I teach on the second floor. Already I've had to talk down two 9th graders who "would rather die than wait three more days till Semana Santa."

For those who don't speak Spanish: Semana Santa translates to "Santa week." Originally this week was designated for Santa (Saint Nicholas) to take his vacation time. It is a commonly shared joke that Santa loves tropical weather, any amusing Christmas card can show you this. Santa is often portrayed on a beach, wearing sun glasses, tanning with the reindeer and so on. However, this is simply not true. Reindeer never get vacation time because Santa is nothing more than a stingy small business owner. Any who, during Santa week (Semana Santa) people flock to the beaches in the thousands in hopes to find Santa and do some sort of good deed for him. After all, everybody knows he keeps track of these things and April is a great time to get a head start on that list. This year Hondurans are really excited, because Santa, with the recession and all, has recently been vacationing in areas where he can stretch the ol' budget. Rumor has it he will either be in Honduras or Guatemala this year.

So you can see why my students are getting so antsy. Santa is very likely going to be in Honduras. Karina and I will be going South to a beach near Choluteca. Karina has a hunch that Santa will be hitting up the less popular beaches and avoid the North coast all together. I think she is on to something there. Karina plans on giving him a nice foot rub or cooking him dinner... However, my plan is to capture him until I can either collect some sort of ransom or sell him to a museum. It isn't anything personal, I think Santa is a good guy, but I have been talking to a lot of angry people who would pay good money to get their hands on him. They are mostly crying over spilled milk.


It is so hot right now. It feels like 100°F. I can't even think straight.

---

Comments

[mom]

l00 degrees???!!!!!!!!! YIKES
I know you only said it FEELS like l00, but that makes me wonder what it will FEEL like in July to us gringos from way up north - where even a sunny 75 degree day with no wind can make us wilt. Make sure you take your camera to the beach.....I want a picture of Santa in his lounge chair!

[Eric Chaffee]

Holy week?
Santa for Easter? I lived in Spain for two years while in the USNavy. Over there, Semana Santa means "Holy Week." And it's gruesome. Parades of mourners carry statues that are atop hugely heavy floats, borne through the streets by invisible members of brotherhoods (cofradias) concealed under the float's skirts -- really hot and stinky underneath, no doubt. And some folks even carry big heavy crosses through the streets — made more dramatic by a few who will do so on their bloodied knees! No, this ain't Santa at the beach. It's holy week. No pain, no gain. Can you feel the suffering of Jesus? (I'm relieved he's no longer on that cross. We have a RISEN savior.) But hey, do say ¡hola! to Santa, if you see him. And enjoy the beach time. ~eric.

[Clint Holmes]

Spainin to do
Yeah Spain has been known to take Santa week in a whole different direction. There are a few Catholics who practice those things down here, but it's mostly viewed as a slight against Santa. Once I capture him I plan on setting up a 24 hour web cam, where bidders can log on and place their bids in real time. :)

[El Eterno Caminante]

Santa
haha!! hey clint well when you capture him ask him why he's skipped my house for like 15 yrs??!! lol jk..hey you 2 have a great time! keep up the good blogs for us "random" readers!!!