Semana Santa

Although Catholicism is not the reigning religion in El Salvador, Holy Week continues to be celebrated with very old traditions. In Suchitoto the processions begin after Ash Wednesday and continue through Easter Sunday. “Rugs” are made in the street with colored saw dust with pictures of scenes from the bible. Most people have vacation Thursday through Sunday. And many take advantage of the days off to go to the beach. I felt as if I should not go against tradition. June and I were invited to El Flor, a beach in the western part of El Salvador. I have noticed that each beach in El Salvador is unique. We joined a group of June’s friends for the weekend and did little more than relax. Many of the houses on this beach have been owned by the same families for years. Over the years they have formed their own traditions for Holy Week. One tradition is a sand sculpture contest. I am not sure how I was drafted for this event but I gave my best to create a shark out of sand. As you can see from the picture- it is probably not biologically correct but at least people knew it was a shark. Just to let you know we were basing our shark off of a pair of a kid’s swim trunks that had pictures of sharks.

I also included a picture of the moon during holy week. It was full the Thursday of Holy Week and rose a bright orange color every evening.