Friday, January 16, 2009

No more sleep.

The families who travel days by ox and cart from all over the countryside have arrived in El Sauce, serenaded by a mariachi band and hundreds of townspeople cheering in the street.
Finally, all of the families who have been setting up shop in makeshift booths along the street for a week are settled, sleeping on cardboard and under sheets in their stalls at night.
The bells for Mass rang at 5 a.m. again today, with the religious pilgrims making their way to the sanctuary from the street along the cobblestone path on their knees in reverence to the miracles they believed have occurred here, and their faith.
Tomorrow, the priest will lead a procession of thousands from the small chapel where our English class posed today, followed by lines of people hours long to view the beloved Cristo Negro.
Sandal-clad kids hawk cotton candy in hand-tied bags, a woman starts selling her hot dogs from the Virgin of Guadalupe cart at 7 a.m. sharp and passerby can find used dishes, jeans, hand-picked herbs, dried sugar candies shaped like birds and ladies in big poofy dresses.
The roosters yell at the dogs who bark, who sing along to the music in the streets.
The fair has come.
There is no more sleep in El Sauce.

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