Independence Day

My favorite part of this whole day:

The very first song sung in Alejandria – the first song of the Rosary that was being said in honor and gratitude for the birthday of Jesús’ mom Dolores (but we call her Niña Lola).

It is a common song for the Rosary: a blessing to Mary.   And it is repeated often throughout the Rosary.  This song is beautiful when sung by the voices in Alejandria.

Something about the quality of the voices within this group.  There are a couple of people in the community that have incredibly beautiful voices: Balmore, Jesús, Blanca and Idalia for sure.  But there are several whose voices can be … painful to hear. 

BUT.

Put them together – all those voices – the good and the bad – and they create a beautiful, and I think, unintentional harmony.

It fills me with peace.

 

The altar at Lola's house is always lush with flowers from around her home

 

Beautifully arranged by Jesus

Someone once called this a Lobster Claw

Bird of Paradise

A different variety of Lobster Claw

"maracas" -
ALL of these grow wild in Lola's yard.

Angela - Blanca's mother

I like the placement of the Rosary beads

 

We surprised Lola with a cake!

 

Freddy and Jeferson

Lola and Jesus dishing up tamales - a birthday tradition!

Pilar helping in the kitchen - serving up coffee and tamales and then cake!

Aminta was gifted a banana tree to plant in her yard

Everyone enjoyed the and cake




 

 

 

Contrasts - part one

September 9 2012 – Quinceanera

Of all the things I could write about … I have to share briefly about this tradition … it is very different depending upon your economic means.

I went to a very humble ‘sweet 15’ party for Blanca’s niece a couple of years ago.  It was a simple affair held outside in the ‘patio’ area of a neighbor’s house.  Dirt floor … tree trunk posts holding up a large blue tarp for shade … plastic chairs placed around borrowed tables covered with simple cloths.  And a cake.  A single layer cake that was purchased from the local ice-cream store.  There were some streamers and a few balloons as decorations and a small ‘band’ from Las Delicias came to play – mostly religious songs.  The birthday girl was in a borrowed dress and was quite beautiful.

 

Gabriela y Marielas with gramma to the left and Fr. Santos

Special balloons

 

A lovely cake!

 

The first dance with grampa!

The cake topper is a special memento

 

 

The Las Delicias band

It was a lovely event.   Full of warmth and love and family and friends and neighbors –

Tonight – I got to see a different ‘sweet 15’ party.  I can’t even imagine how much money was spent on this party.    The girl’s dress alone probably cost more than the other party all together … it was quite beautiful though.  This event reminded me a bit of what I imagine a ‘coming of age’ party would look like in the deep south.

It was held at the girl’s school up the street.  And when we arrived it was already standing room only!  There were tables and chairs set up for (my guess) 300 people.  And it looked like they were all full.  But we were escorted by the dad himself to the table up on the stage in the main area of the school courtyard.  We were at the table near the cake and champagne glasses and the chocolate fountain.   We were also seated at the same table as the Department of Usulután’s ‘Diputado’ – (Representative).  Well then.  Didn’t we feel conspicuous?  Yes we did.

Fortunately there were people there we knew and enjoyed talking to.  Blanca talked ‘business’ with someone from one of our cantons most of the time we were there.  Cecilia and I joked and felt uncomfortable with a woman from another canton. 

The young lady was escorted in by at least 20 young men all in black with bright/light blue ties.  They did a dance routine while she and her father watched.  There was a for real emcee who introduced each activity.  She was presented a pair of shoes for the event.  Her mother ceremoniously placed them on her feet.  She gave some words of gratitude.  Her father gave a little speech in her honor.  There was another group dance and a receiving line for hugs for the dancers and her father.  The first real dance was with her father.  The next dance was for all the young (and not so young) men – people close to the family.   Then came the champagne toast (for family and god-parents, etc.  Then came the dinner.  Everyone was served – catered by the restaurant Cartagena from Alegría.  The rice, potato salad and chimol were good … but the beef was tough.  Even by Blanca and Cecilia’s standards!  They joked afterwards that they wanted to eat like polite society but when they looked over and saw the Deputy himself trying to rip apart the meat with his fingers, they felt relieved. 

 

view from the back.  It really was quite pretty!

The gentlemen escorting her in ... quite a bit of pomp

The cake

SOME of the crowd in the main section

The presentation of the birthday girl

The Usulutan Diputado

A dance number

 

 

We stayed a bit longer to be polite but we were all antsy to leave.  When a couple of other folks took their leave, we decided we could, too.  We said our good-byes and thank you/congratulations and walked back to the Pastoral House.

I’m glad we went … but I would much prefer the more humble celebrations.

 

Yummy times three

Here is a little follow up on the last blog of cool and beautiful things in the cantons ...

1.  The chicken was yummy.  (Sorry ... she is no longer with us).  Jesus came and did the dirty deed of killing her off and Idalia cleaned and cooked her.  The rest of us ate her.  I didn't know that till after the fact.

She was yummy ... but a TOUGH bird. 

2.  Monster mangos are green inside - and not sweet.  But it was still good.  Best with some salt and chili.  Not my favorite though.  I prefer the sweet.  We all shared one ... and sent the other one home with 11 year old Marvin (Cecilia's younger son).  He was thrilled! 

3.  Normal mangos when ripe are YUMMY.  Sweet and juicy - the juice will literally roll down your chin as you eat as well as down your forearms to your elbows.  And it is stringy meat surrounding a large pit.  So if you are lucky and have a knife, you can slice a wedge off and scrape the fruit off the peel with your teeth and letting the juice go all over.  If you are in the middle of nowhere and want to enjoy one - you bite off a piece of the skin and attempt to peel.  You bite the fruit off the peel and the pit.  A lovely MESSY MESS.  And you can't worry about the juicy mess while you eat a mango.  That takes away the fun and would be a waste of napkins. 

I waited till we were at the Pastoral House for my mango treat.  And I sliced it.  But I was still a mess when done.

What was given to us in Virginia the other day.  Two of the larger mangoes and lots of regular ones

My just consumed snack.  I had to clean up before starting this mini blog.

God's Moments ...

It seems there are lots of “God moments” in life – pieces of time that you happen to be where you are needed – and you are there not because you purposely went there – but perhaps a delay on the road made you late – but – it was a good thing you were late because you were able to give someone a lift.  Had you been on time, you would have not been able to help.  Or … on the ‘spur of the moment’ you decided to turn here rather than there …

This afternoon, it was the later … we went down to Alejandria to bring the pan dulce to be given to the folks who had been praying and had been in vigil for Elena.  Her 9^th day of death is tomorrow and the family is preparing tamales by the thousands (literally) to be given to the faithful attendees.  The Pastoral Team ladies (and their families) don’t just give the tamales to those that attend the 9^th day vigil (beginning at 8 p.m. with a mass and not ending till daybreak the next day).  They give the tamales to those who attended the first night vigil, those who attended the mass and interment.  Those who brought flowers … whoever participated received at least a dozen tamales. 

We didn’t stay long in Alejandria.  Cecilia and I had gone down with Misael and Sesi (Margarita’s children).  Margarita had spent the day with Blanca and Idalia and their families helping to make the tamales.  We dropped off the pan dulce, helped disburse tamales then packed up and left - bringing Margarita with us.  On the way back to Berlín, we made some tamale delivery stops.  We went up to Colonia El Jardín to deliver to an aunt.  We went down to Hacienda Nueva in Coyolar (both places not too far from the Pastoral House).  The road down to Hacienda Nueva is bad … very rocky.  But nothing that the truck in 4x4 mode cannot handle.  We delivered to 3 homes down there.  About 2/3 of the way down, we saw a bunch of boys – bike-riding, chatting, hanging out.  On the way back up Cecilia suggested a shortcut so we went a slightly different way back up. We ran into the boys again  They asked us to stop.  One of the boys had broken his arm.  They were hoping we would take him to town.  No doubt about it … his arm was bent between his elbow and wrist and the bone was bulging the skin.  We put him in the front seat and gave him a seat cushion to put on his lap to help cradle his arm. 

I was directed to take him to the Red Cross which is right between the high school and the Berlín Clinic.   I’m not sure why they didn’t take him to the clinic itself.  My guess is, they would not attend to him (past history).  The Red Cross folks could possibly get him to the hospital either in Santiago de María or San Miguel (they would decide).    

Had we not taken the shortcut on Cecilia’s whim, the boy would have had to walk about 2 miles …

The last thing I saw was Cecilia handing some cash to the brother who would stay with the young man.  He would have to pay the gas to cover the trip.  God bless Cecilia.

Random Rainy Day Thoughts

I need a change of scenery.  I want to rearrange my bedroom … but there really IS no other way to create my space … a twin bed, little typewriter table (you remember the old metal two-shelf thingies on wheels?) and one ‘wardrobe’ (as in the Lion, the witch and the…) – all squeezed into a 9’ x 10’ space … and two of the walls have a door (one leads to the office, one leads to my little bathroom) … There really isn’t another way to arrange that space.  Darn. 

Rainy season seems to have started … we already know we cannot go to the wedding in La Llanes tomorrow because that narrow, curved road with the steep drop off is just too slippery.  Another darn.

Good news about the rain: once you get beyond the mud on the ground and the trash that gets pushed around due to the rivers that flow in the streets and walking paths, it is GREEN and clean at knee level and up.  And other than a few hours of humid stickiness every day, it is a bit cooler in the evenings.  Especially when the breeze comes up.

Critters are in force though.  All sorts of critters.  Mosquitos (which will become less so as the rainy season strengthens because (I think) the heavy and consistent (as in daily) rains that fall create too much movement in the breeding places which for the most part are no longer stagnant pools of standing water.  But we have what look like the ‘flying termites’ I used to get once a year in my old Clive house … gnats, moths; big and little, lots of flies, beautiful butterflies, ants (naturally), and I’ve seen more cockroaches in my office (and bedroom, sigh) than I have in ALL the time I’ve been here – 2 of them – one died of natural causes, the other has been evicted and is living somewhere outside in the garden.  Until he finds his way back here anyway.

There was a beautiful 1” spider on my office wall last night – and a lizard about a foot away from it.  They were obviously watching each other.  The lizard would creep a little closer … the spider seemed to play dead – the lizard would creep a little closer still … and the spider made the 6” walk to the door frame.  The lizard moved a little closer (getting within 6” of the spider) and the spider dashed out the door.  Lizard gave up and found its place – where ever that is – in the office where he lives …

I was rooting for the lizard by the way.

Wish I thought to take a photo.

Rainy season also means that clothing takes forever to dry.  I’ve had my laundered shirts hanging for 3 days – they are still damp.  A pair of jeans has been out for 5 days.  And now I have to really watch the clothing in the wardrobe and air them out on occasion.  Last year I had to wash about 2/3 of my clothes because they had gotten moldy.  I think that was God’s way of saying: ‘Kathy, you still have too much clothing if they are in the wardrobe for such long stretches of time that they can actually get moldy.’ 

Mass and Burial - or - EIGHT in ONE

The mass was to start at 9 a.m.  The casket would come in the funeral home pick-up truck and the people from Alejandria would follow on foot.  It’s only about 2 miles. 

Since we had to bring things to the house and drop people at the cemetery early (to dig), Blanca and I both had had a chance to clean up and change.  And we were ready to join the procession as it passed.  Blanca asked me to run ahead and keep an eye on her mother till she could catch up.  (María Elena was her sister).  She had to make some other arrangements.  So I trotted close to the truck that she was riding in and walked along side it till we got to the church.

Arriving - in front of the Pastoral House.  The name of the funeral home: Yom Kippur. 

The red truck has a few of the older women in the cab and a few of the men who dug the gravesite hole.

Blanca's mother and her sister in-law were in the cab of this truck.

The men carried the casket inside and opened the lid so people could have one last viewing.  Then Father Santos came down the aisle to serve mass.  Manuel from Las Delicias had been asked to sing for the mass.  He has a lovely voice that needs no chorus and is a close family friend. 

The mass itself was only about 45 minutes.  It was a regular mass, just shortened a bit and with a section specifically in honor of the deceased.  When mass was done, the men carried the casket back out and into the funeral home truck so we could begin the walk to the cemetery.

Most everyone walked behind the casket down the hill.  A couple of older people rode in the 2 pick-ups.  This procession took about 45 minutes. 

At the cemetery, there is a covered ‘salon’ for the casket to be displayed and for the family and friends to gather round for a final look and to hear anyone speak.  A man named Mariano from Loma Alta was asked to say a few words.  A few words always ends up being at least 20 minutes – regardless who is asked to speak.  Balmore then spoke – thanking everyone for their accompaniment.  I was sitting with Blanca’s mother and Margarita away from the crowds.  We made room for the people and the casket to pass. 

The custom here is that people watch the casket lowered into the grave.  There are no fancy machines to do this.  No pulley system.  It is just 4-6 men with rope.  They are more or less evenly spaced on either side of the hole of the grave.  Each with an end of the rope which is looped under the casket. The try to keep the casket level on its way down.  Not always successfully – but today for the most part they did a fine job. 

Then they start filling the hole.  This is when people seem to become most emotional.  It is such a final act. 

Mostly the men with their shovels filled the hole.  But a couple of women scooped dirt in their hands and helped.  That was more of a symbolic gesture.

Elmer and Javier (great nephews of Elena) became quite faint. Normally, immediate family does not have to help lower the casket … but in this case their assistance was needed. Between that very emotionally distressing act and the fact that they had not slept for probably 40 hours, and probably hadn’t eaten much, it is no wonder they were overcome.

When the hole was finally filled – with the temporary wooden cross embedded and a mound of dirt over the grave, people started decorating with the flowers from the night before. They had so many flowers they were able to ‘share’ with many of the other family graves nearby.

Temporary home made wooden cross - Maria Elena Coreas

Almost done - the base of the cross is buried about 2 feet

Women and some of the men help decorate

Blanca said: "she was lucky - she had lots of flowers"
This really translates: she had lots of people who loved her.  She was good to everyone.

Elena's cross cannot be seen anymore for the quantity of flowers

They were able to share some of the flowers with neighboring graves - family members.
Including Elena's mother's nearby grave.

So it was time to leave.  And even though it was overcast and threatened rain all morning, the rain had held off very nicely and people began to pile into the family pick-up truck to go back to Alejandria hoping to get there before the rains finally fell.  The rest of us started the hike up the hill back to the Pastoral House.  Within about a block, the rain started.  And it started hard.  Blanca, Cecilia, Pati, Margaret and her two children Misael and Sesi, and I started to walk faster.  I had an umbrella which I gave to Blanca and 5 year old Misael.  Pati had two plastic scraps she and I used as head coverings.  Relatively quickly, a moto-taxi slowed down for us and all but Cecilia and I got in for the ride up the hill.  Cecilia and I decided we could walk  (we both have the mother-martyr syndrome - we would rather others be comfortable!)  But the driver said there was room for us, too … there were 5 already in the back seat – which is really meant for 2 or 3… so Cecilia and I were invited to climb in and sit on either side of the driver.

How the heck that little moto-taxi made it up that steep hill is beyond me.  But what a blessing.  It was a ‘light-hearted’ way to put closure on the day’s sadness. 

Rosary and Vigil in Alejandria

I was exhausted. But I’m sure not as tired as my Compañeras were – and all their family members.

I attended the Rosary and vigil Monday night at Elena’s house in Alejandria.  She was still there – in the casket.  She looked beautiful – almost smiling.  Margot, Blanca’s sister, said her face did that ‘spontaneously’ when they put the first injection of preservative liquid in her.  (Yes, the family does that). 

We didn’t get to Alejandria till about 6 p.m.  We had to wait for the pan dulce to finish cooking and also wait for Elida who was coming from Virginia. 

By the time we left the Pastoral House, it was getting dark – and it was very cloudy.  About a third of the way there it started raining – and not just a drizzle – making it quite soggy for the people in the back of the truck.  We had Elida, her daughter Lorena, Margarita and her pregnant sister Reina, and 3 women from Alejandria accompanying us.   Most of them were in the back with the tubs of sweet bread which were covered in plastic. Fortunately, someone thought to bring a tarp so they had me stop driving while they covered themselves. Blanca, Aminta and Reina were in the cab with me along with a bunch of things that for the vigil could not get wet. 

Alejandro was waiting for us at the turnoff to the road that leads to the other side of the ravine where about half the community lives.  He knows I don’t like to drive down into the ravine and then back up.  It is wicked steep and has a couple of scary turns. And it is worse when wet. So I ended up in the back of the truck for the ride down the hill.  He stopped about 30 yards from the bottom to check out how high the water was – it had been rising.  This would determine if we could even go on.  Blanca and I went down to look with him.  It wasn’t so bad: maybe a foot deep and not running too swiftly.  So he went back up for the truck and scooted across the water.  Blanca and I waited for him.  We thought he would stop so we could hop back on but no.  He continued on up the steep hill.  Blanca and I took off our shoes and we crossed the water on foot with Elmer’s helping hand.  So much for the bug spray I doused my feet with!

By the time we got up the hill everyone was soaked.  But it was still warm out so to me, it felt good to be a bit wet.  Blanca and I washed our feet since we walked up the hill barefooted and were quite muddy.

People got settled.  Those who were going to help prepare the snacks stayed behind in Blanca’s mother’s house.  I was told to go up to Elena’s house and be with the people.  There were not too many people yet.  So we waited and chatted a little.  In between chatter, we contemplated the life and death of loved ones (I did anyway – I’m not sure what others were thinking).

I did not want to use the flash ... I felt funny enough taking the photo. 
With the storms, there was also no electricity so all we had were the 4 candles and a gas-type lantern hung from the rafters.

People straggled in.  By 7:30 it was time to start.  Balmore welcomed all and said a few kind words to all that were present to accompany the family in their sadness.  Elida was asked to do the first reflection.  This was followed by the first Rosary which lasts about a half hour.  Then we had about a 10 minute rest.  Then there was another reflection done by Balmore which was followed by another Rosary.  Then another 10 minute rest.  Then Jesús did yet another reflection which was followed by yet another Rosary.

We were done with the prayers by 10:30.  This was the very first vigil I have ever attended so I wasn’t sure if we were done.  But turned out we were.  With the prayer anyway. 

By this time there were at least 40 people standing and sitting outside the house and between 40-50 people jammed inside Elena’s house.  “Walls” had been moved to create one larger room.  (Remember that many walls here are just sheets or tarp separating space).  There was a beautiful altar created – a table with lots of flowers and religious items.  The casket was elevated on stands in front of that.  And there were 4 very tall pillar candles on each side of the casket and an ‘oil’ candle under.  And there were flowers in abundance all around and on top of the altar and casket.  None of the flowers were purchased – all came from people’s homes and arranged in whatever container could be found: 2 liter soda bottles cut in half, old paint cans with newspaper wrapped around them, etc.

At about 12:30 a.m., Cecilia came up to me and asked if I wanted to rest a bit.  I said no at first, but then Elida and Lorena were going to rest so I decided to join them.  We walked down the very slippery and muddy path to Celilia’s mother’s house and we were shown where we could rest.  There were 2 beds in one of the ‘room’s.  We all needed to avail ourselves to the bathroom facilities and we went together to share flashlights.  Idalia had baby wipes so we could clean our feet.  We slept in our clothes.  By the time we got settled in, it was well after 1 a.m.  Elida’s phone kept going off – it rained really strong a couple of times (and is like thunder on the lamina roofs), the roosters sang (loudly), and people were coming and going so it wasn’t a huge sleep we got.  But it was more than some people got.  I was grateful for the rest.  By 4 a.m., Elida decided we needed to go back up to Elena’s house to accompany the family once again.  So up we popped, put on our sandals, made a trip to the bathroom and began the slippery trek back up.

Most of the people had left. People had come from El Recreo, Berlín, Hacienda Nueva, Loma Alta and of course, Alejandria.  Most of the family was still there – and the young men who were going to help get the casket across the ravine to the main road to the funeral truck.  Blanca, Idalia, Cecilia, Margarita, an uncle were inside the room with the casket.  The young men were outside the door playing cards. 

By 6 a.m. it was time for some of us to leave.  Blanca, Margarita, Reina (the pregnant woman) and I took the tubs and a few other things back to the Pastoral House.   We also brought a half dozen young men and dropped them off at the cemetery because they needed to get started digging the hole.

I’ll save the rest of that for the next blog …

T.T.P.

We went to San Salvador to buy cantaros on Tuesday – the plastic (5-ish gallon) jugs that people here use to fetch water.  They are lightweight when empty – but between 40-50 pounds when full.  Usually the job of fetching water falls to the women and young girls but there are many men and boys who pitch in to do this task.  The lucky ones have horses to schlep the full jugs home – or home-made pull-carts.  The rest carry them on their shoulders/backs (the men) or on their heads (the women).  If they are lucky, they live close to their water source – be it a community water faucet that runs maybe twice a month for a few hours or a spring or an actual river.  They might have to walk 30 yards or 3 to 5 kilometers. 

Everyday tasks can take a long time and do damage to your body over time!  Say a prayer of thanks next time you turn on your faucet and you not only get water – but you can choose to make the water hot!!  And you can drink it without getting sick, too!

Anyway – I didn’t start this blog to preach at you – consider that a bonus!! Haha.

Back to the cantaros: we had hired Raúl from El Tablón to take us to San Salvador.  In the past, when we needed a large quantity of cantaros, we have gone to San Miguel.  The problem is, the pick-up truck we have only holds about 5 dozen.  And San Miguel is about an hour away – takes longer if there is no parking readily available.  We normally spend about 3 or 4 hours per trip by the time all is said and done.  And it’s about $25 worth of gas for each trip.

So when we realized that we were going to need a ton of cantaros – I suggested we call Alfredo to see if he knew of a distributor in San Salvador.  I thought it would be cheaper to pay the store to get them here.  Also thinking about the time that would be saved.   Cecilia immediately thought of the ‘little’ store from which we had purchased a lot of small bottles and containers a couple years ago for a woman’s group.  She found Roxy’s in the phone book, gave them a call, and they said they had what we needed.  They also said they were having a sale!  For every 100 you buy – you get 10 for one penny each.  Nice.  This sale ended today she said.  So we looked at each other and said – well – guess we’re going!   We quickly called our ever faithful driver (it is about 9:30 a.m. at this point) who said he could be at the house by 11:30.  Cool.  Lucky for such a last minute call!

It was 12:30 by the time he actually got here – he had been in Talpetates and had a car issue.  We did not give him grief for being late.  Life happens.  Especially in the country. 

We hopped into the cab of the big truck and off we went.  I tend to doze on long trips if I am not driving – it was not very comfortable – but – I still managed to keep up my reputation.

2 hours later we found the place.  I had only been there once – a couple of years ago – but we knew the street (and I knew the street) and we had a good idea more or less where it was.  And we found it with no problem. 

Again – I should never complain about parking.   Raúl got that monster truck into the little parking lot (a lot that has space for maybe 6 normal vehicles) without a hitch. 

They knew we were coming and had an invoice all ready for us.  And out they came.  5 cantaros tied together in bungles with plastic string (pita). 110 bundles in all!  I pulled out the camera to start taking a photo journal and very soon realized that I had left my chip in the computer after downloading the photos from the day before.  So I was camera-less.  Darn it.  I was kicking myself because the process of loading was very fun to watch.  The truck was FULL when all was loaded.  José, a friend of Raúl’s had come with us and between the two of them, they made fast work of loading and tying down.

All four of us ended up in the cab of the truck for the trip back.  It rained a little.  We had to stop a couple times to re-secure a few that seemed to be slipping from all the bouncing around.  (I say “we” but it was Raúl and José!) We made it back to Berlín by 6:15 p.m.

Then we ALL helped unload – each of us making several trips with two bundles of 5 each up to the chapel.  The chapel is now quite full.  I’m sure that God doesn’t mind.  It’s for a good cause.

The cantaros are to give the folks who are using their water filters – the project that we had a few years ago.  We’ve been re-visiting the communities and monitoring their use this past 6 months and learned that most everyone’s water jugs were either broken or just really gross.  So we decided to give each family who is actually using their filter 2 cantaros: one to capture the purified water, one to store it for use.

So what does TTP mean?  They are the initials for “To the Penny” – that was always the signal in my checkbook that I had balanced my account each month. 

At the store, when Cecilia was in line to pay – she had cash in hand.  The bill was $1,095.15.  She asked me if I had 15 cents.  I did and I gave it to the cashier. 

After we got back and the truck was unloaded – Cecilia was putting the change from the purchase back to its proper cash box.  There was change from the cantaros and change from the small snack we had bought for Raúl and José (Gatorade and pan dulce).  Then she turned to me and handed me 15 cents.  So it would be exact.

I rolled my eyes inwardly.  We’ve had this discussion before.  The Pastoral Team likes things ‘just so’ – they want accounts to be totally accurate.  They want every penny accounted for.  So knowing that I could not (and really should not) argue – I accepted my 15 cents back. 

Good stewardship of funds.  It is a GOOD thing

Raul in front of the truck

10 at a time they made it up the stairs to the chapel

Little by little the lake filled

Idalia trying to keep them from slip sliding

After a while they sort of held onto each other

Un MONTON de cantaros en la capilla!

Voting Day

Well.  They wouldn’t let me in … so I was only able to get a few outside photos.  It wasn’t TOO crowded outside, but from what little I could see behind the doors of the school – it was pretty crowded inside.

Even this morning, people were discussing the proper way to put their marks on the ballots.  I have a bad feeling about how the results will be ultimately tallied.  I wonder how many ballot slips will have to be thrown away due to being miss-marked in one way or another. 

Blanca and her dad heading to the high school to vote

Blanca's mom, Cecilia's mom and Idalia heading out to vote. 
Notice the lack of political party colors in their clothing choices.

The scene at the end of the block at the high school - lots of activity

Coming in by truck, by foot, by moto-taxi ...

Taking advantage of the crowds to earn those few cents

The Scouts help out

Not sure what their job was - maybe crowd control and question answering?

Every bag got checked and every man got patted down

Of course you can take our picture!