Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Castillo - From Linda in Melaque

Went into town last night with friends. We had a late dinner and then headed to the square for the castillo which is a part of the celebration for San Patricio that is going on here until St. Patrick´s Day on Wednesday. The castillo is a large structure made of fireworks and rockets that spin around, sometimes coming off and shooting into the crowd. It is absolutely crazy and amazing at the same time. Imagine about 1000 people all gathered around. As the different parts of the castillo are lit, people yell, scream, dance, etc as the fireworks burn. Some kids place a piece of cardboard over their heads and run underneath this thing. Yikes! There are four sections to this structure with different parts to each section. At the very end is the corona. This shoots up into the air with fireworks exploding from it and everyone has to be watching where it´s going so they can get the heck out of the way if it´s coming down towards them. After this craziness then los toros show up. These are men with the outline of a bull made of fireworks. They light it and then RUN THROUGH THE CROWD as this thing shoots off rockets, etc. There is much stampeding, running, and screaming as people try to stay away from los toros. It was all very exciting and festive. And they do this EVERY NIGHT until el dia de San Patricio, with the fireworks more elaborate each night. Yes, I´ll be going again tonight and tomorrow. Should be even more people here as the buses roll in with Mexican families ready to celebrate. The day has cleared here and it´s going to be beautiful.

xoxo Linda

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