San Francisco de Asis

Saludos a todos! I am here in the internet cafe to upload some of my photos but the speed is quite slow, so I have a little time for a brief update on the week. Thursday the 4th was the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of the parish where I will be working. To celebrate, they first had a novena with street masses in each surrounding neighborhood in the days leading up to the feast day (we went to the mass in our neighborhoo). On the 3rd, the confirmation youth put on a play about the last days of St. Francis´ life, and it was pretty well done. On the fourth, the festivities began at 530 pm with a procession through the streets, a couple hundred people, a brass band, and carrying a large, heavy image of St. Francis. I got drafted to take a couple shifts in carrying the image between stations, where we would stop to say prayers on the hour and a half walk (though they had to select the person opposite me with care, since I am taller than most people here). I even had the chance to carry the image into the church to big applause right before Mass and a concert/party in the hall. More later, as my time is nearly up. Some photos are up to, but more organization will come later.