Palm Sunday in Coyoacán

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  Alejandro and I were invited to the birthday party of one of his friends.  We had some time to kill (nobody in Mexico arrives at a party at the stated hour!), so Alejandro drove us to the picturesque neighborhood of Coyoacán on the south side of Mexico City.  Coyoacán is always a popular place on weekends, and since it is Holy Week, it was even more crowded.  We drove around for a while before we finally found a place to park the car.  We walked to the neighborhood's principal church, San Juan Bautista.

 

Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, mass was still being said.  Alejandro told me that in Mexican churches all of the altars and images are covered with draperies during Lent.  They are then uncovered on Easter Sunday.  He found it odd that nothing was covered in this church.  Perhaps it is because this very beautiful church is visited by many tourists.

Outside the church there were a large number of vendors selling small decorations made out of palm leaves.  These are called "palmitas".  Worshipers take their "palmitas" to the Palm Sunday mass to be blessed.  The decorations are then taken home and hung behind the door for the rest of the year.  Then the "palmitas" are taken to church prior to the beginning of Lent the following year.  They are burned, and the ashes are used on Ash Wednesday.

 We took a different street to return to the car.  I'm glad that we did, because we ran across an outdoor art market in one of the parks.

I'm a sucker for art shows like this.  Since I have participated myself in a number of art shows, I know how much even a small purchase is appreciated.  I didn't leave the show empty handed.

This gentleman, who is hearing-impaired, was painting miniatures in oils.  I bought one of his little paintings for only 30 pesos ($2.50).

An artist by the name of Rosa María Rodríguez Cervantes was displaying these charming acrylic paintings.

I bought this one for about $17 U.S.   I will put it aside when I return home and donate it to next year's charity auction.