In the States, we have Easter bunnies and Easter baskets, Easter bonnets and Easter lilies and Easter mass...or services, depending. We have Easter brunch and Easter dinner and Easter eggs.
In Mexico, we have Semana Santa.
Holy Week, the week before Easter (Pascua), is a big holiday in this country. Workers have time off, students are on vacation from school, and people flock to the beach. Buses and taxi vans maneuver between parked cars, backing full blocks when necessary. New vendors are in town. New booths and mini-restaurants and hot dog stands are popping up like bunnies from their holes. This is the final week to make any real tourist money, and Mexico's entrepreneurial spirit makes gringos look like lazy slouches.
Nicole and I took a walk yesterday, Good Friday/Santo Viernes. The town is full of energy and visitors. Approaching the beach, Avenida Tercer Mundo (closed to auto traffic for a block near the Malecon and supposedly one-way for the duration of the weekend, ha!) felt like the entrance to a circus.
Which it actually kind of was.
You can get anything you want during Semana Santa.
And, oh, the beach!
Remember the sign in the background of this next shot? The one that says "Prohibido Acampar" -- No Camping?
Last night around nine, Carol and I walked down to the beach to see the nighttime action. Earlier in the day, I'd taken this photo of La Perla, one of our beach restaurants, all ready for its customers.
Doesn't it look pretty?
Well...after the day's onslaught, not so much.
I'm sure by this morning everything was back to spic 'n' span: the waiters there have been known before to work all night or come back at daybreak to repair storm damage, to which this seems rather analogous to me. Poor guys...I'm glad I didn't have to clean it up.
All the restaurants in town, old and new, were hopping too. In the karaoke bar at the Malecon, young people were singing their hearts out.
And back on the street, vendors were still selling their wares.
I'm going to go ahead and post this now, on Saturday afternoon. But I plan to spend much of the day at the beach tomorrow and you know I won't be able to put the camera down.
Happy Easter to all!
Recent Comments