Last Sunday was a sight to behold here in Antigua. The streets were covered with these temporary alfombras(carpets) made of many different things. Some were colored sawdust, others a combination of fruit, vegetables or flowers. The one on the right had alligators made of bread! All of these were going to be walked on, then removed by the cleaning crews in preparation for next week , when it will happen again on Palm Sunday. The exception was the vegetable carpet. Yes, it would be walked on, but then the onlookers were going to pick up whatever they could, to take home and consume.
The procession on Sunday lasted almost 20 hours, as the participants made their way from a village (pueblito) near Antigua, into town and up and down the many streets, over all these works of art. I took almost 120 photos, and Tim wasn't far behind with the other camera. It made for a long walk, trying to capture as many carpets on film as possible. This Sunday is rumored to be even better! We'll be out then with the video camera.

We are taking a week off from school to rest, then we are back at it for another 8 weeks. In the meantime, we are also working on our 2 year resident visa, which has entailed many afternoon trips into the city (about an hour trip one way on a good day). Hopefully, we'll have everything together by the beginning of next week, and make our submission then. This week, it's 2 trips to get our tourist visa renewed. Why 2 trips, you ask? The first is to drop off our passports and application, the second to pick them up. Nothing is instant here!!! It takes 2 days to send the paperwork to the 4th floor to put a stamp on it. It has been the same thing in every office we visit. Some are only open until 3, which means we finish school at noon, jump into the car and eat on the way, so that we can visit at least 2 offices before closing time and rush hour, which actually never seems to end. Parking is the other challenge, as we found out on Monday at immigration. Today, Tim is just going to sit in the car, while another missionary runs in to pick everything up.