Mark Kendell sends on the spot reports as he films his documentary:
Out late last night and got a slow start on the morning. When we showed up, buses were already lined up outside and had been fully converted into parade floats – adorned with flowers, statues of saints, balloons, christmas tree branches, ornaments, paintings, sketches, and feathers. I walked into mass as it was starting because I needed to get a few establishing shots before things picked up, but Andrew managed to get there in time to put a wireless mic on the priest before he began. From our short conversation with him on Friday, we didn’t think the priest was going to have much to say about St. Christopher – he actually suggested to us that the holiday used to be big but “the legend had since been disproven.” I’m not exactly sure how you “disprove” a legend, but when he gave the sermon today I was surprised that he had some very poignant things to say about the importance of bus drivers in this country and the very delicate and dangerous position they are in right now because of the security situation around Guatemala.
All the Esmeralda drivers were wearing green and white striped shirts and sat towards the front of the church, so during a transition in the service I repositioned myself closer to them off to the side and discovered there was also an icon of St. Christopher right beside me. This turned out to be great because as all the members of Esmeralda team came up to bring gifts and offerings to the altar, they gathered around the icon for a group photo and then carried it out of the church in a procession right in front of me.
I was surprised by how emotional I got when they carried out the icon of St. Christopher and placed it on top of one of the trucks that would lead the parade. Until only quite recently, this profession and this holiday didn’t have any direct relation to my personal life. Nevertheless, this was definitely one of the emotional peaks of the trip so far.
When the procession began, I felt like a kid in a candy store. It was a visual feast and lots of things were happening at once – what do I need to make sure I cover?
Within a few minutes, I saw Andrew had climbed on top of the roof of one of the buses and was taking pictures from up there as they headed towards the volcano. I joined him for a while, then began spending some time inside the buses with the drivers and their family and friends. The parade lasted about 90 minutes and by the end of it I was exhausted yet thrilled.
Afterwards there was a party in the main plaza, but we decided to just sit, eat, and take it all in.
We returned to Antigua later in the afternoon and, after months of email, Facebook, and phone calls, I finally had a chance to meet up with Kara and thank her in person for all her help. Not surprisingly, she had a few more suggestions for stones to uncover and people to contact. Although Andrew and I are already in a pinch to finish what we’ve got planned in the upcoming 4 weeks, I have a good feeling about where things might go.
Only time will tell…
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