Easter in El Salvador

I miss the U.S. on Easter. It’s just different here. It’s interesting, and colorful, and full of tradition…but different. During Holy Week most things shut down and many people head to the beach for a vacation. Absolutely everything closes down on Good Friday and processions wind through the streets demonstrating the crucifixion. Colorful alfombras (“carpets”) made of salt, sand, and sawdust line the streets showing depictions of scenes from Jesus’ time on earth and His death. It really is a sight to see.

But on Sunday everything is opened again. Churches don’t make a big deal out of the Resurrection. Sunday worship is joyful like every other week but there’s nothing really different about Resurrection Sunday. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not criticizing my church. I am grateful to be a part of it and I have made some great relationships there. The messages have both encouraged and challenged me. And the worship every week is celebratory. But I miss the “specialness” of church in the U.S. on Easter morning. Everyone in their new clothes…the calls of “Happy Easter”…people gorging themselves on chocolate bunnies. Just kidding about that last part…kind of.

But we held on to our somewhat silly Easter traditions of Easter baskets filled with some jellybeans I found at PriceSmart (our version of CostCo) and new white shoes for little girls and we had a great day. We worshipped in church thanking God that He is alive and I found myself encouraged that His life brings hope to all nations. In the afternoon, we enjoyed lunch with some friends, spent the afternoon relaxing, and then Tori lost a tooth! Maybe got stuck in all those jelly beans…