Holy Week. . . . .and more "stuff"

Easter, when celebrated here, lasts an entire week!   For obvious reasons, they label it the Holy Week.
Little processions take place on almost every day of the week, somewhere in town.  They begin by honoring  what we refer to as the "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem.  We had plans go see one of the processions each day, but were too busy to get to them all, thanks to having Missionary Work to do!!!
The one we finally got to see took place on Thursday, the night of the Last Supper.  We had hoped to feel something of the sacredness of the event, but the way it unfolded just left us a little 'lost'.  Not to be critical in any way, but the procession was more dark, and gloomy, somber and not as uplifting as we had hoped.  That's our problem, I guess, for not knowing the customs of the day.

Notice that all the participants have covered their faces with this
hooded robe.  We investigated and found out that they volunteer
as part of a penitence process, and thus keep their identities secret.

They marched, in a real slow step, to the beat of a single drum.
The entire process was not very long, but it took a real long time
to pass by the crowd because of the slow, measured way in
which they marched.

Christ, of course, is one of the central figures.

We assumed that this represented the resurrected Christ, since it
was an empty cross.

The last, and arguably the grandest, of all the figures, was this
one of the Virgin Mary.  In this culture, she is revered almost
as much as is Christ.

One of the things that I did really like, was the celebration during an entire week.  It made the Resurrection Sunday even more special for me personally, because we had been thinking and pondering for a whole week, and not just the Sunday of the Resurrection.  That part of the way they do it was a huge improvement for me.  I really appreciated it!!

As mentioned above, the celebrations last the entire week.  There is no school held during the Holy Week. Maybe they treat it like our Spring Break, who knows?   Families get together and have a a big family dinner, especially on the Thursday evening.  Sunday, the actual day of the resurrection, we did not notice any big festivities going on, but of course, we were in church, so it would have been easy for us to miss it.

Compared to where we live in Idaho, this has to be one of the mildest winters I have ever experienced, except for the time I spent in Uruguay, right on the coast.  As I watched the forecast each night, to see how low the temps would go overnight, I realized, part way through the winter, that we had not had even one night of a freezing temperature!!!!  And so it went.  YEA!@!!!  Then, what do we do?  We go visit a family that lives closer to Lugo, and they think it would be a fun idea to go to the snow!!!!!   WHY?, I said to myself.  But, we had with us that day a young lady, student from Mexico, and member of our branch (for the semester, at least) who had never seen snow before.  So. . . we went to the snow.

Can't see it yet, but we are closing in on it!

Awe, there's some of that stuff, that I don't miss!!

At this point, I was getting nervous!!  One lane, really!!
But, we survived.

Big, deep canyons!!  If you are a hunter, you might just notice
something of interest in this shot!!

There it is!!!  Probably the closest I will come to one, at least
on this mission.  These tracks belong to the elusive "corzo",
the Corsican deer,  a diminutive little creature, with single curving
horns, that do not branch.  They might weigh 90 pounds!!

Hermana Bake stayed in the car!!   SMART!!

The little place, up in the hills, where we turned around,,, finally!!

On the way out, our friend took us past this old Roman Fort,
which now resides in private ownership.  Cool!!
Not sure why they had this one, clear out in the boonies!

Our branch president's wife is a tireless genealogy hound!  They (she) lives in her ancestral home, where she was born and raised.  After spending almost 30 years in Switzerland (because they could find work there--not unlike a ton of people from Spain) they felt the Spirit prompting them to 'go home'.  They responded.  This little village, about 70 kilometers from Santiago, has a Catholic Parrish that has kept records from all the baptisms and marriages that transpired in the village.  She had tried, on many occasions, to be able to go there and to look, and to record, but the old Priest just had a little stubborn streak that would not allow it to happen.  Then, a miracle occurred.  A young Priest replaced the aging man, and when she (Marite) (accent over the  'e') went to see if she could copy dates, names and such, he allowed it.  Then, the greater miracle!--he was going to be gone for a time, and she was anxious to keep working on the extraction of the data, so. . . . . he actually invited her to take the book home with her!!!  He had seen her diligence, and knew she would take good care of it.

You can see the dates.   This book is full of the names of her
relatives.

Tons of baptism dates!

Besides working on here genealogy, they are also in  the process of renovating their very own old stone house.  Currently, they live with her brother, in the old homestead home, but on that property, their is another old stone home, that could be remodeled to accommodate their family.  What follows is a picture story of the work so far:

Outside view after the old stone was washed up.

The stone building on the left was the look of the other building
before the washing of the stone.

Hard to see in the photo, but there is a layer of foam
insulation between the old stone and the newer brick.  Notice that
the brick has hollow spaces in it--lending itself to more insulating
value.

These two walls they will repair and keep the stone exposed.

Hna. Bake, Marite (Maria, Teresa), Elders Trassierra, and Hendrix.
The old stone oven, in  the background, will remain, as well as
the open, stone well, just to the left of the oven.  You can remove a lid,
dip a cup down the well about 6 feet, and get water!!!

Men at  work!!  This brick is then 'finished' with a layer of troweled
'grout'' or 'cement', or whatever they choose to  do the finish work.

And now, a little more on the Camino.  Below, find an assortment of some of the signs along 'The Way'.

This is to warn those who are driving, that there is a 'crossing'
coming up, and you should be on the alert for the Peregrinos.

Peregrino!!!

Actual crossing sign.  

Some of the signs are real subtle!!

Hna. Bake just loves these old fountains!!

Seems like the 'locals' love them also!!

Our local full-time missionaries are really keeping us busy these days.  They invite us to go with them to teach.  We actually take a part of a lesson and then at the end, bear testimony of the truths of what has been taught.  Sometimes then need us to drive them so a lesson, when they can't get there soon enough.  The little car comes in handy for a lot of that, and we are putting the miles (kilometros) like crazy!!  I also teach classes to the teachers of 4 of the eight units, to help them to improve their methods and effectiveness.  Three of those units are at least an hour's drive away, so we get to see plenty of the countryside.  We do stay busy these days, and the time is moving along swiftly.  Yesterday, the 13th of April, we just completed the one year mark!  We will be home before we know it!

Take care--be good--and keep praying for the success of the missionaries world-wide.

We will be back with another installment of the blog, in the not-too-distant future.  I promise not to delay so long between this one and the next one.

Elder and Hna. Bake