Los Bomberos (Firefighters) cleaning the streets the night before |
Bomberos! (I love that word) |
An actor playing the part of Jesus is giving a speech in front of the Cathedral in the Parque Central |
The open market with tons of fun stuff. We bought Crystal a great necklace for 60 L. ($3) |
Boys sitting on bags of sawdust waiting patiently to get started on their alfombra |
Portrayal of the last supper inside Iglesia la Merced in Comayagua (a few blocks away from the main cathedral) |
View from the courtyard of Iglesia la Merced |
Niņos posing for me on the different colored bags of sawdust |
Street hustle and bustle before the alfombras begin |
Los Bomberos start leveling their alfombra |
Their uniforms look more military than fire protective (notice the tight blousing of the pants into the boots) |
After about an hour of leveling the sawdust, 12 different ways, a stray dog ran across the carpet! |
Beginning to put some detail on with the aid of a stencil |
Good Friday! |
People are working fast to finish up the alfombras before the procession starts |
Sprinkling sawdust |
One of Crystal's favorites, she loved the brightly colored ones the best. |
The stencil |
the finished alfombra (notice the sleepy kid on the left, they work from 10pm - 3am and then 6 or 7 am til they are done) |
They use the misters to keep the sawdust wet so it doesn't blow away and ruin the alfombra |
Using stencils on a mirrored alfombra (many hands make light work) |
Aerial view made possible by ladders (most families have one there so you can climb up and take pictures.) |
Our Favorite Alfombra by far! The texture and variety of items used in it was awesome! |
They used eggs, seeds, flowers, leaves, berries, etc. |
Amazing |
This alfombra was created by the Orphanage Crystal is interested in working at when we get settled |
Bright colors |
Very detailed alfombra |
Making minor repair where the wind took a chunk of sawdust away |
The nearly-finished product from the bomberos |
We were there! |
Nice simple one |
The municipal library |
The longest alfombra beside the main cathedral (where the kids were sitting on the bags of sawdust the night before) |
Some crazy gringo |
Is that a sousaphone player walking down the street? |
A beautiful carpet with birds and butterflies (Mary is surrounded by the national bird - the macaw) |
The sidewalks become one way paths |
We thought about buying this house...but worried that it would wash away in the rainy season :) |