Traditions of men

Sherry and I were told that there was going to be a celebration going on the first week or so of October. Little did we know what was in store...

It started off a couple weeks before October. Just random at first. ¨Bombas¨, or fireworks in English. Every once in a while throughout the day, there would be a loud bang, which gives credence to why they call them bombas. I thought someone was shooting a cannon!! Then it started happening early in the morning a week before October. Five in the morning to be exact...every morning the whole week...each time would last for five minutes straight...needless to say, I was ticked. They also did the bombas for five minutes at noon and at 7 p.m. So we asked the family that Sherry´s known for a few years what was up. The father said that they were preparing for a celebration that lasts 2-3 weeks. Which isn´t bad in itself...but I found out what was bad about it...

Saturday night October 1 at about 11 or so, there was a parade going by our little apartment complex. The fact that it was 11 at night wasn´t bad. It was that they were nothing but brass insturments that sounded like they were being played by 10 year olds who never had a lesson in their lives. Then the bombas started. I figured that they would last only a few minutes. BOY WAS I WRONG. The explosions would reverberate through our apartment every ten minutes or so until 6 in the morning. Not to mention the parade of 10 year old retards with insturments came back by at about 3 in the morning. I look over at Sherry at about that time and she´s sawing logs.

I didn´t go out in service Sunday the 2nd. No sleep makes Brandon not so zealous. The bombas lasted throughout the day. I was told by a local brother that the celebration with the bombas was over. BOY WAS HE WRONG!! The bombas minus the parades started and ended about the same time Sunday night as they did the night before. Didn´t get a lick of sleep until Monday morning. Luckily, Sherry and I have our day off on Monday, so we could sleep in.

Monday night we go to the local internet owned by the family I mentioned before. While we´re waiting for a computer to open up, we see the retards with their insturments leading a parade out of the church. As the parade goes by, we see four or five guys carrying long Catholic tapestries on long poles. Then behind them, being carried like the Ark of the Covenant by six or seven women dressed all in white, is a three foot tall doll of Mary. More people behind them were carrying lit candles. The parade went around the corner and out of site, but you could still hear the music.

So why are they having these celebrations, you ask? I´ll tell you. Because however long ago somewhere in this colony (equivalent to zip code), someone saw a saint, or a couple saints. I have no clue which one, but ever since then, they´ve been celebrating every October. We have folks setting up a mini fair in front of the church where it´s celebrated. This church is about 2 minutes from our house. The traditions of men are so incredibly laughable...until they make you lose sleep.