JESUS WALKS Part II

On the day of the procession, we went very early to Mass so we could get a good view of the Anda (the giant platform holding Jesus). The procession began about 11:45am when the first group lifted the Anda off of the ground to the music of a drums and a large bass band. I felt really bad for the first group as they had to hold the Anda for a very long time while in the church. Toward the door of the church the group then had to lower the figure on to metal tracks on the ground so that the figure could be pushed through the doors because it was either too tall or wide to be walked through. It was quite the experience between the thousands of people packed into the church and the noise of the band. Once the figure had left the church we scrammbled to get around the corner to where my turn would be. There were 30 different groups arranged by height and I was turno 3. I got to my transfer point just in time and got ready to carry just as the Anda was rounding the corner towards us. In addition to a "turno" each person is assigned a "shoulder" where they carry each time as well. I was surprised that the Anda was SO HEAVY. Even though there was over 70 people carrying the figure it it was very heavy and by the end of the turn many people were bending over from the weight. While walking through the town we were constantly surrounded by hundreds and thousands of observers. People lined the sides of the streets to watch the procession travel down the road. I felt so priviledged to take part in such a special ceremony. Luckily for me I will get to participate in a procession this friday during the Holy Week when Antigua is flooded with around 500,000 people for the week.