Tlaxcala and Huamantla

Yesterday evening, I traveled to a small town called Huamantla to see a special festival of the Virgin of Charity. Every year, on August 14th, the town begins to decorate the streets with flowers and designs made out of sand. All of the people living in the center of town help out in decorating. After hours of shaking different colors of sand into giant stencils, the streets gradually transform into a magical spectacal of sheer beauty. The towns people are expected to complete their creations by 1 AM, when the Virgin of Charity is taken from the alter at the main church in town, placed in a giant float decorated with flowers, and marched through the streets until about 4 am. The Virgin parades over the designs along with thousands of tourists and towns people, leaving blurred colors of sand behind them. What is even more interesting about this tradition, is that the local Indiginous community, prior to Cortez's arrival, used to have a similar celebration with their Goddess of Flowers (A Goddess of Fertility). Originally, the streets were decorated with bird feathers and flowers.

I arrived at the celebration at 5 pm and gradually strolled through the streets to watch the art work unfold. Interestingly, there were almost no foriegners in the town to watch the event. By midnight, after walking through the streets all evening, I parked my tired butt on the curb and waited for the Virgin to come out of the church. Some of you might be thinking that it isn't safe to be out this late at night (mom) but there were tons and tons of police officers and most of the crowd was wealthy tourists from nearby cities and towns. Many of us were huddled on the curb, falling asleep while we waited. Many older women in traditional dress peppered the streets, holding thier prayer cards while bundled in their colorful shawls. When the Virgin was taken from the alter and was carried out of the church, fireworks were set off and there was a lot of drumming and singing. The crowd pushed their way forward and followed the Virgin as she began her parade.

I only followed the Virgin for a few mintues and then attempted to find a bus back to the town in which I was sleeping. This proved to be a challenge and with some help from some bus drivers and towns people, I arrived back at my hotel at 6 am. Today I am back in Mexico City and slept all day in the hotel room. I only emerged to eat and write this. I can't wait for you all to see the photos I took but this computer isn't reading my USB card so I will try at another internet place tommorow.