November 16th is my volunteer birthday, and as of yesterday I have been a volunteer for one month!
Now down to business...
One of the things I have totally managed to not mention so far is La Purisima, not because I don't feel like it's important, but because everyone else is writing about it, and well, there have been more pressing things going on. However, I feel it's time to shed a little light on how Mérida celebrates the Virgin. I was also reminded of my oversite on the 14th by the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe in our yard.
Some background. La Purisima is 9 days of celebrating the Virgin Mary. Here it began each day at 4 AM with fireworks every morning, and these are the most amazing fireworks because they sound like bombs going off and you can feel the vibrations from them. Really, it was amazing. The first time it happened I thought someone was bombing Mérida. It reminded me of the night the tree fell in my front yard and made my whole house shake. I was much relieved to find out that it was merely the announcement of the national love of the Virgin Mary, and not an invasion. This continued for the full nine days of La Purisima, but I must be adjusting to all the noise here because after the third day, I slept right through it.
Then, each day at 4 PM, all the people celebrating La Purisima walk to a different house that is hosting the Virgin that day. There is prayer and singing, and afterward the family gives gifts to everyone in attendance. This can include chunks of sugar cane to chew the sugar out of (I love that), candy or chips, frescos, plastic panas (which are used for everything here), oranges, other foodstuffs, or sometimes small toys. All the kids line up and get little bags or cups of goodies, and someone comes around to all the adults with stuff. I think it must be a big honor to host La Purisima because it costs the family a lot of money to do it because of all the gifts. The last day of the nine days of La Purisima is held at the church and lasts for about 4 hours. Afterward, there is much revelry and joyfulness. Unfortunately, that night I was rather ill and missed the revelry part.
This is the 8th day of La Purisima after the singing has ended. I felt disrespectful taking pictures during the ceremony, so this is the alter afterward.
And here´s the line of kids at my house waiting to get their containers of goodies.
And, one of my favorite pics of Mérida taken thus far. This was the sky at about 6 pm as the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe was ending. I was playing with my camera and got this. I am a terrible photographer, but occasionally I get lucky.
In other news, I realized today that I really like helping in the CICO, but for a reason that never would have occurred to me before. It reminds me of the church where I grew up. There's a big room that's the classroom area with toys and little tables and stuff, and then a nursery room, and then the kitchen with the big bar/window thing that separates it from the classroom. It reminds me of a combination of the social hall and the classrooms in the church. The feel is kind of the same too. The kids come to play and eat, and the moms play with them, and talk and enjoy a break from all the work they have at home. There wasn't anything like this headstart center in Buckhead and its environs, but thinking about this today made me realize what an important role the church plays in our community. While I am continually weighing the good vs. bad of organized religion (and here I need to stress once again that all this stuff is my personal opinion only), I think in many places it provides some much needed social structure. It is a social outlet, a safety net for people in need in the community, oftentimes a daycare facility, a counseling center, and a lot more. When I was in Columbia I missed being a part of something like that. It's nice to just be involved in things again, and I realized today how lucky I am that for the next two years, this is my job. Being involved, helping, networking, trying to make my community a better place. Those are things most people have to do after they get done with their job. What an incredible luxury and opportunity I have here.
Not to mention that this brings me back full circle to La Purisima (I love symmetry). Someone (another foreigner) mentioned to me the other day that people only go to La Purisima for the stuff they get. Her family hosted it in another town and spent the whole week making nacatamales to give people. Her town is larger and about 300 people showed up to their La Purisima. While I'm sure there are a number of people who come for the food (as in the US when everyone shows up on the holidays), I'm also certain that a lot of people go for religious reasons. Also, I've recently discovered that after the 9 days of La Purisima there are a bunch of days of Purisimas for the Virgin of Guadalupe and then similar festivities leading up to the birth of Christ on Christmas. So many people host these festivities that amongst the families who can afford it, they're basically just passing around goods of similar worth. For the people who cannot afford to host a Purisima, it seems to me like much needed, good-natured charity leading up to the holiday season, and being of a practical nature, I see that as one of the functions of religion, to help those who might need it. Finally, there are Purisimas of varying levels of wealth. Some places just give candy and oranges, and other people go all out. Each person gives according to their abilities, and the people here at least always seem very grateful. Also, everyone knows I'm not Catholic, that I only go to observe, and they still give me stuff.
Now down to business...
One of the things I have totally managed to not mention so far is La Purisima, not because I don't feel like it's important, but because everyone else is writing about it, and well, there have been more pressing things going on. However, I feel it's time to shed a little light on how Mérida celebrates the Virgin. I was also reminded of my oversite on the 14th by the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe in our yard.
Some background. La Purisima is 9 days of celebrating the Virgin Mary. Here it began each day at 4 AM with fireworks every morning, and these are the most amazing fireworks because they sound like bombs going off and you can feel the vibrations from them. Really, it was amazing. The first time it happened I thought someone was bombing Mérida. It reminded me of the night the tree fell in my front yard and made my whole house shake. I was much relieved to find out that it was merely the announcement of the national love of the Virgin Mary, and not an invasion. This continued for the full nine days of La Purisima, but I must be adjusting to all the noise here because after the third day, I slept right through it.
Then, each day at 4 PM, all the people celebrating La Purisima walk to a different house that is hosting the Virgin that day. There is prayer and singing, and afterward the family gives gifts to everyone in attendance. This can include chunks of sugar cane to chew the sugar out of (I love that), candy or chips, frescos, plastic panas (which are used for everything here), oranges, other foodstuffs, or sometimes small toys. All the kids line up and get little bags or cups of goodies, and someone comes around to all the adults with stuff. I think it must be a big honor to host La Purisima because it costs the family a lot of money to do it because of all the gifts. The last day of the nine days of La Purisima is held at the church and lasts for about 4 hours. Afterward, there is much revelry and joyfulness. Unfortunately, that night I was rather ill and missed the revelry part.
This is the 8th day of La Purisima after the singing has ended. I felt disrespectful taking pictures during the ceremony, so this is the alter afterward.
And here´s the line of kids at my house waiting to get their containers of goodies.
And, one of my favorite pics of Mérida taken thus far. This was the sky at about 6 pm as the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe was ending. I was playing with my camera and got this. I am a terrible photographer, but occasionally I get lucky.
In other news, I realized today that I really like helping in the CICO, but for a reason that never would have occurred to me before. It reminds me of the church where I grew up. There's a big room that's the classroom area with toys and little tables and stuff, and then a nursery room, and then the kitchen with the big bar/window thing that separates it from the classroom. It reminds me of a combination of the social hall and the classrooms in the church. The feel is kind of the same too. The kids come to play and eat, and the moms play with them, and talk and enjoy a break from all the work they have at home. There wasn't anything like this headstart center in Buckhead and its environs, but thinking about this today made me realize what an important role the church plays in our community. While I am continually weighing the good vs. bad of organized religion (and here I need to stress once again that all this stuff is my personal opinion only), I think in many places it provides some much needed social structure. It is a social outlet, a safety net for people in need in the community, oftentimes a daycare facility, a counseling center, and a lot more. When I was in Columbia I missed being a part of something like that. It's nice to just be involved in things again, and I realized today how lucky I am that for the next two years, this is my job. Being involved, helping, networking, trying to make my community a better place. Those are things most people have to do after they get done with their job. What an incredible luxury and opportunity I have here.
Not to mention that this brings me back full circle to La Purisima (I love symmetry). Someone (another foreigner) mentioned to me the other day that people only go to La Purisima for the stuff they get. Her family hosted it in another town and spent the whole week making nacatamales to give people. Her town is larger and about 300 people showed up to their La Purisima. While I'm sure there are a number of people who come for the food (as in the US when everyone shows up on the holidays), I'm also certain that a lot of people go for religious reasons. Also, I've recently discovered that after the 9 days of La Purisima there are a bunch of days of Purisimas for the Virgin of Guadalupe and then similar festivities leading up to the birth of Christ on Christmas. So many people host these festivities that amongst the families who can afford it, they're basically just passing around goods of similar worth. For the people who cannot afford to host a Purisima, it seems to me like much needed, good-natured charity leading up to the holiday season, and being of a practical nature, I see that as one of the functions of religion, to help those who might need it. Finally, there are Purisimas of varying levels of wealth. Some places just give candy and oranges, and other people go all out. Each person gives according to their abilities, and the people here at least always seem very grateful. Also, everyone knows I'm not Catholic, that I only go to observe, and they still give me stuff.
Comments
As always Love Mom