Semana Santa is the week leading up to Easter, and it’s the biggest national holiday there is. It translates loosely as Hoy Week, but literally means Saint’s Week. I think it’s somewhat like Thanksgiving in the US, because the time window is narrow and specific, whereas Christmas is more spread out and with more flexibility. Almost everyone travels during Semana Santa, and all schools are certainly out of session.
Travel is hellish during this week, because the system is not big enough to accomodate all the people who want to go somewhere. Prices, especially plane tickets (where there’s little competition to begin with) skyrocket. Resorts will be jam-packed, and getting to popular destinations can be pretty difficult.
Where Am I Going for Semana Santa?
I am headed to Santa Marta (on the coast, but not a huge resort town) by bus, but going to Taganga, a smaller fishing village nearby, and then to the Parque Tayrona, even smaller and more remote, with Jose. From there we plan to walk along the ocean to a really, really remote beach called San Juan, where we hope to be not entirely alone but at least away from most of the heavy crowds. We will fly back next Friday, because that is the only day we could get plane tickets priced anywhere near what’s reasonable. I’ll write a few entries about the trip when I return (won’t have much internet access there).
The Bogota Theatre Festival, But Not this Year
Every alternate year, Bogota has a theatre festival during Semana Santa and the weeks surrounding it. Supposedly this is the largest theatre festival in the world. Since there’s not really a theatre district in this city, the shows are located all over town in all kinds of venues, and attract troupes from something like 60 countries.
Last year I stayed in town during Semana Santa and enjoyed the quiet streets and calm, and also went to a few shows. My Spanish was still minimal, but there were a few shows in English, and some that were more action than words, and I went to a production of Hamlet done by a Spanish troupe that I was able to understand just because I know the play. But this year is the off year, with no festival, so the people staying in town just have to enjoy the silence.
Everybody talks about Semana Santa for weeks before and for weeks after. The thing is, I don’t even know the Spanish word for Easter.
Entries (RSS)