This Week's Celebration

BANG! BANG! Fireworks, carnival rides, daily processions carrying the Virgin through the streets, ending in church which is nearly full every evening for Mass, then another procession through the barrio, even if it's raining. What do YOU think this is all about? Yeah, you got it, it's the parish Saint's Day coming up, and it's so big one day can't cover it, so we celebrate for a whole week. It's fun and can be rather strenuous if you live in the middle of it. One of the carnival rides uses the full-gamut car alarm sounds for its music.
Our Virgin of the Assumption is a lovely small figure, the usual blue dress and white veil, and a crown of flowers so big it nearly dwarfs her. She is preceded by a little girl carrying a new arrangement of fresh flowers each day; folks in the procession carry blue and white flags, the church is also festooned with garlands of blue and white flags, and countless arrangements of fresh flowers.Since this is the rainy season, she is protected by a plastic see-through little house, on top of the wooden case with handles that she is carried on.