We were so fortunate to have chosen Lent for our Guatemalan vacation, because they really put on quite a spectacular show. At 7am on Sunday, March 13, 2004, a procession began in a church (we never did find out exactly where) and ended up around 8pm in El Centro. We were told the procession winds through the streets and villages, with several different changes in the people carrying the statues, etc. It was an enactment of the entire Lenten story, with the people costumed as guards, Pilate, Roman soldiers, and everyone else you can think of, along with numerous statues of Christ carrying his cross, Mary, etc. Scads of incense is burned--enough to actually look like the streets are on fire. I'm sure everyone comes out for the festivities, as the streets are wall-to-wall people! We got lots of fantastic pictures and video clips with our digital cameras.
The one bad part about the evening was that, with the crowds, unfortunately, come thieves also. My girlfriend had her bag slit, and nothing but her wallet was stolen. Thank heavens she only had about 300Q (Quetzales--pronounced Kit/sol/es) and no personal papers in the wallet!
We watched until about 8:30pm and then went back to our hotel for a fantastic dinner.