El Güegüense

Here's some more about my weekend in Diriamba for the fiestas patronales. Diriamba is famous for El Güegüense, which is a dance native to Nicaragua that basically pokes fun at the Spanish. There are several characters and pretty much everyone wears masks and colorful outfits (I was hoping to have the story down a little better before posting this but I haven`t had time). I don't know the story very well but here are some photos:







The whole idea behind the fiestas patronales is to celebrate the town's patron saint and in Diriamba that's San Sebastian:



When they brought the saint out of the church it was like paparazzi madness, you can kind of see in this photo all the people crowding around to get the best shot:



Next the saint is taken from Diriamba in a massive, several kilometer-long procession including dancers, a marching band, and hundreds of people following behind to meet up with the saints from nearby towns Dolores and Jinotepe. Maria and I processed up to the big clock tower and then decided that we should get pizza instead. From texts I received from Maria I guess the three saints make a couple rounds through the streets since they passed by her house later on that week.

I think the fiestas patronales in my town aren't until July and they certainly won't be the spectacle that they are in Diriamba (we don't even get to have an hipica), but I'm still excited to see it.

School starts on Tuesday, should be interesting!