Antigua

 Another lovely breakfast—fresh fruit bowls and homemade bagels (from Linda’s friend). The young Scottish girl staying here said she woke up thinking about the breakfast!

We sat and talked with Linda and heard more of her story. In a few weeks she’ll be taking her unit off Airbnb and finally enjoying retirement. She also shared stories about her Guatemalan family. Years ago, she noticed a woman with no legs panhandling in the park every day. Linda eventually sat down and asked what had happened; the woman had been hit by a bus. It’s heartbreaking, but unfortunately not uncommon here. We saw many indigenous people selling their goods, and a noticeable number had some kind of disability. Every person seems to carry a story. One shopkeeper told us he rides 22 km from his village to Antigua each day. Linda said some vendors travel as long as three hours to get here. There are many mission trips that come to this area—it’s something I may look into when we get home.

Eventually we headed out to see the famous street carpets. They are beautiful and can take hours to create. The artists design a pattern and make cardboard stencils. The base can be pine needles or colored sawdust, then it’s decorated with flowers and grain. The carpets must be misted to keep them fresh before the procession arrives—then they are trampled by the parade! We only saw a few due to time constraints, but they were impressive. It makes me wonder if this is something we should return for someday.

The procession began with many participants in purple robes representing the church. Another group followed holding signs above their heads that seemed to depict scenes from the story of Christ. 

Four smaller floats carried by four people each passed by, carefully avoiding the carpets. 

Some participants carried lantern-like incense burners, filling the air with smoke. 

The highlight was a large float carried by about 20–30 people. It looked incredibly difficult to support. Some walkers even had their eyes closed, simply keeping pace with the group beside them.

Back at Linda’s we exchanged contact information, and she said we’d always be welcome to return. Nice to know!