waving palms in the air

The anticipation mounted in our house as we prepared for Jesus and his crew to prepare for their day at our house in the morning (6 am) on Palm Sunday.

This included our coffee pot breaking Saturday morning (yes, with a full pot of coffee...yes, it was a mess). My 1st thought was, 'It's a good thing Caro's not here this week. We'll get this taken care of by the time she gets back.' And my 2nd thought was, 'Oh shoot, we need that for Jesus & the apostles tomorrow.'

This anticipation is a stark contrast from most years on Palm Sunday when I generally dread it. I just feel stupid parading around a church holding a palm & i never liked the length of the mass (it was long). This year I was so excited.

Adding to the anticipation no one seems to know when the time is going to change. Our excuse is that we don't have a TV, but when Beito (sp? a regular at the church) arrived Jess told him how she had problems sleeping the night before because she wasn't sure about the time and he said the same thing happened to him. We even asked several people Saturday if it changed that night and no one seemed to know. That's a culture difference right there, no one seemed to care. No to worry, I still slept like a rock.

I guess it's next week.

Jess & I got up at 6, expecting people at 6:30 and as soon as Jess turned on the downstairs light there was a knock. Early? SO no on Mexican time. It was an apostle who told us all about how he couldn't sleep and felt a lot of pressure.

I cut the bread while Jess made coffee by boiling it for the first time (it turned out excellent).

I worked on getting Judas's (Ivon) earring in and I think I felt more pain than him. (There was blood and I think he pierced it himself, specifically for the part.)

Jess turned to me at one point and said, "This is what it was really like. We have Jesus and his 12 apostles in our house."

As they prayed in the Chapel Beito talked to us about the plan for the day. They were going to 100 houses 100! They give them a piece of bread, a prayer card, and 30 cents (pesos). And I think it was all blessed.

So after they met, changed, and prayed they were off.

I arrived at the parish early because I was so excited and I found soldiers already standing guard and I had to remind myself it's a happy day and not to let them intimidate me and I admired all the intricate designs with the palms. I thought I saw some before, but that was nothing compared to these.

Then as I waited I literally saw a young boy (a soldier) throw up and stand back up straight like nothing happened until someone else who saw went to get help. I knew how serious they take it here from seeing them practice for 3 months every night, but for some reason this was another thing that helped me understand a little more.

I hung out with Isaac's nieces & sister-in-law most of the time I waited. They tried to convince me Friday is by far the best day (the crucification) and I tried to explain I probably won't like it. But I will be there for the experience.

The music they played before Jesus entered definitely added suspense and got everyone's attention. So they did a few healing scenes and then left.

My favorite part was right before 1:00 mass when I was being pushed into the church (there were so many people) and I glanced back to see the entrance and saw Jesus walking in with HUGE palms waving. It was beautiful!

Then he came into church followed by palms and people chanting and he stood in front of the alter with the palms waving. That was beautiful as well.

After mass was Jess's birthday lunch.

With the lilac trees (i have no idea what their real name is) in bloom and my favorite Palm Sunday ever, I'm excited for Easter.