Processions / Parades, by Elizabeth Strong

The processions from the churches that go around the blocks with "pasos" and bands are incredible and completely different than anything I've seen before. They are decorated with great care, treasures, and love. The flowers and candles are stable and strapped down which is helpful so when the processions move it is not too unstable. They are always dedicated to a saint, virgin, or Jesus Christ and occur for religious and national holidays.

People are underneath the pasos that carry them on their shoulders, this is very physically taxing and the processions are very long, often a few hours. The people swap out who carries and who rests but this is something your whole day is devoted to. I learned in class people who do this are part of the congregation of the church that is hosting the procession and they do it to ask for forgiveness for their sins and to be a part of something worshiping their lord. This is a dedication to God, the church, and the community to be a part of this event.

In the United States processions are usually in the form of floats pulled by trucks and other large vehicles. It is not hard work it is just something for fun and celebration, people don't typically take pride or feel humbled when participating. The biggest difference is there are never parades for religion, they are for national holidays like the fourth of July or local holidays like High School homecoming. The floats are not decorated with gold, silver, or flowers but instead painted posters, flags, and often people ride them to throw candy to the audience.

This cultural difference really surprised me as here parades are more like processions, people feel spiritually uplifted when they see or participate in them. In the United States, people feel an uplifting sense of community instead of spirituality, the concept for hosting these are completely different. We use the same types of celebratory events to express excitement for different types of holidays. When you think about it it's pretty cool, we aren't so different from each other!