Holidays at Lake Chapala, Mexico
Posted by Administrator in Areas. Prevacid No Prescription Zyban For Sale Clarinex Generic Buy Zyban Online Lipitor Without Prescription Neurontin No Prescription Cymbalta For Sale Topamax Generic Buy Soma Online Celexa Without PrescriptionThe Day of the Construction Workers
By Judy King
A dramatic volley of thousands of joyful cohetes shatters the midnight calm on May 3rd each year. Construction crews in every Mexican village shoot off the booming skyrockets to announce the arrival of their feast day, the Day of the Holy Cross or El Dia de Santa Cruz. This macho rivalry between workers continues sporadically all night and for most of the following 24 hours. Each team strives to set off more skyrockets than their competitors. It’s a contest of sorts, proudly reminding one and all that their crew is the best, and the proof is being able to afford all the cohetes.
Processions, Mass, Music and Brandy
As dawn breaks, the frequency of the cohetes increases, waking the men and calling them to an early morning mass said in their honor. To ward off any possibility of chill during the pre-dawn hours, an abundant supply of brandy and rompope, milk-based liquor, is carried in the procession to the church. Mixed into the crowd at convenient distances are men carrying huge caldrons of hot cinnamon tea and towers of Styrofoam cups. With the comparable affluence that sufficient work has brought to Lakeside in recent years, not all in the procession walk to and from the church. Many of the work crews now ride in style in the back of pickup trucks with their kettles, bottles and cups. The town brass band accompanies the masons as they crisscross the village, stopping to refill cups, wake companions and serenade their Patrones with “Las Mañanitas,” the celebration song that begins every special day in Mexico.
After mass, the band picks up the volume and rhythm into rollicking polka-beat norteña, ranchero and banda music, announcing to the community that a special celebration in the church year, and a special time in the lives of the workers, has officially begun.
Each construction team fastens a decorated cross on their project.
Erecting the Cross
At each job site in the area, the hours are studded with sporadic cohetes, music and laughter as the men gather at the job site after mass to work and to celebrate. Crews fasten a cross, brightly decorated with crepe paper flowers and streamers, onto the uppermost section of the building, continuing the tradition that the Spanish initiated during the building of early Mexican churches in the 1500’s. Read more