RMLApril 17

At five in the evening the coming of Maundy Thursday was announced by means of rattles. The rattle has a roller with deep grooves and a stick that goes back and forth, from back to front, to provide a stronger contact. A young boy spins it and it goes “taka, taka, taka, pop!”

The church was decorated with two images on Palm Sunday – La [Virgin of] Soledad and Christ. At the feet of Christ were, as always, the lit candles and now dry flowers. On the right side of the church a jail was constructed from sticks of bamboo. The sticks were decorated with branches of a plant very much like Mimosa. The jail was big enough to hold a man. In the very center of the floor was an empty plate.

In the night there has been a procession that we did not see. The next day the plate had been taken from the jail.