Semana Santa

In an earlier blog post from Lima I wrote that the holiday "Semana Santa" in Peru probably had something to do with Easter. Well that was exactly what it was, except in Peru they celebrate all week long. Semana means "week" and Santa means "saint" in Spanish.

I watched Peruvians celebrate Semana Santa from Lima and then from Cuzco. Both places were alive and kicking in the most central parts of the cities. Each had a Plaza de Armas that had lots of people in it during the daytime shopping, walking around, socializing, and eating food off the vendors. Both plazas had a large cathedral where parades were held in honor of Easter with people carrying large models of Jesus on the cross and other religious stuff like that.

In Cuzco, I watched hundreds of dancers in the parade wearing traditional clothes dancing along. I took a short video to remind myself later of what I saw. I felt pretty special having witnessed this event because it´s supposedly one of the biggest celebrations in Peru every year, which I found out after I read my lonelyplanet book.