Semana Santa (Holy Week)

The week leading up to Easter is called Semana Santa (Spanish for Holy Week) and it feels like Christmas break but in April!   The excitement for Semana Santa builds and builds in the weeks leading up to the holiday.  Schools and the government have the whole week off while most businesses wait until Wednesday at noon to let their employees enjoy their vacations.  Many people take the whole week off to take advantage of the many beautiful beaches in Honduras.  Thousands flock to the coasts in the north and south as well as the three Caribbean Bay Islands.  April and May are two of the hottest months of the year in this climate so everyone switches to shorts and bathing suits to deal with the incredible heat. 

There seems to be some growing concerns about Semana Santa and how its celebrations have evolved over the years.  This Holy Week is essentially a time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but more and more Semana Santa has converted itself into Semana Sangana – a week of excessive eating, drinking and parties.  It seems like the original purpose and meaning of Semana Santa has been swallowed up by a kind of Spring Break Gone Wild whirlwind of activity. 

Last year´s service and baptisms at El Boquerón. 

However, there are still many people that celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ during their Easter break.  Many churches hold special services leading up to Resurrection Sunday including a service dedicated solely to the “7 Palabras” which are the last seven words or speeches Jesus made before his death.  In Santa María del Real they continue the tradition of uniting all the churches to have one big service and baptisms at the Boquerón River.  Besides going to church, people also take the opportunity to spend time with their families.  Those who can´t afford to go to the coast make day trips to a local stream or river to splash around, have fun, and eat a tonne of watermelon!

Isaí and I were fortunate enough to travel to Utila, one of the Bay Islands, during Semana Santa.  Isaí lived there for two years before coming to work with Diaconía.  Isaí worked in a hardware store owned by his cousin, Richard, who was anxious to have us over to stay in his home.  It was incredible to meet more of Isaí´s family and as a bonus we didn´t have to pay the premium for a hotel during the busiest week of the year.    Most of the people in Utila speak English as well as Spanish and the culture there is pretty distinct from the mainland.  Once you´re in the Bay Islands (Utila, Roatan, Guanaja & Cayos Cochinos) you hardly feel like you´re in Honduras anymore! 

In the end, we ended up spending more than 20 hours driving to and from the coast but it was all worth it.  We really enjoyed our few days in Utila and I liked meeting some of Isaí´s family and old friends.  It was tough getting back into the office routine but by now we´ve adjusted.  It´s funny how avoiding your email for 5 days leads to 10 busy days recovering from the backlog of work!