Good Friday

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big deal in Latin America, especially in Central American countries. We took the opportunity to travel to Comayagua, small town about an hour away to experience the tradition of the carpets. Las Alfombras (the carpets) are made of sawdust on the streets of Comayagua.

There are over 40 carpets to appreciate and admire. It takes over 3 months to prepare for the Viernes Santo (Good Friday) tradition. Starting at midnight the night before Good Friday and over ten hours later you see the streets transformed with these beautiful carpets of sawdust representing distinctive religious symbols.

Once the carpets are completed there is a processional through the streets representing Jesus carrying the cross. The processional walks on the carpets and destroys the artistic work of the families that were made traditionally showing thanks to God. As soon as the processional passes the kids play in the sawdust carpets and collect some of the sawdust in whatever container they can find.