Today is Good Friday and it feels like a ghost town here in Cauayan. Why? This is the holiest of all days for a filipino Catholic. Everyone goes to mass and there are processions coming from the church after each mass. There are repentant people who are walking around carrying heavy crosses or flogging themselves. Our assistants got a picture of a man without a shirt and his back was covered with cuts, blood was dripping everywhere. He was walking down the street, his head hung low and was whipping himself with a rope that must have had cut glass woven into it.
During this time of year there is a Fiesta going on. Lots of makeshift bamboo huts are erected across the street from the city hall and people come from all over to sell their wares. The Fiesta started a week ago and will run for a couple of weeks past Easter. There are also all kinds of food booths and some carnival type rides.
In the middle of this float was a Black Messiah
The streets are all decked out for the Fiesta. The Lakers enjoyed their first shopping expedition for native products.
These little helpers earned a Popsicle by carrying our bags do the car. See the trycies in the back.
Several of the vendors had lovely plants and flowers. I purchased a beautiful orchid and some mums. We have lots of lush plants around the mission home but there's an absence of flowers. We'll see how mums do in this climate.
Saturday most of the stores will reopen but most families head to the river for swimming and picnics. Easter is not a huge focus, even the stores will be open on Easter. For us latter-day saints, we will be watching General Conference this weekend. What a wonderful way to celebrate Easter! (Since we're a day ahead of the US, the Sunday meetings would be on our Monday. So it is recorded and saved for the next weekend.)
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