Cuaresma

This is my first "Cuaresma"-- Lent-- back in Canada.

In Guatemala, Lent, and then Easter, are such a big deal. In Antigua, Guatemala, for example, there are the beautiful sawdust carpets that people make for the processions which seem to go on all during Lent, getting progressively bigger and more elaborate until the really big processions during Holy Week. Here, you hear about Lent in churches but it doesn't seem to make it into the public eye. It's not a cultural thing, just a religious one.

This year, I'm for the first time marking Lent by giving something up. A lot of people, women especially, seem to give up chocolate. I could do that, but trust me, it wouldn't be a sacrifice. Did I ever tell you the story about why I gave up chocolate in Grade 8? That'll be another story for another day. Just trust me when I say I'm not one of those chocolate-crazed women who's more addicted to sweet cocoa than a heroin addict is to injections.

So what did I give up?

These:

And this:


This delicious thing, too:

And even this:


Pop. Soda. Gaseosas. Whatever you like to call them, they're still just as yummy and sugary and my favourite afternoon source of caffeine.

In Latin America, pop is a big deal. Some people actually put it in their babies' bottles, which I know is horrible. But since I'm not a baby, you don't have to gasp in shock at my awful little addiction. I have to say, I'm a believer in the healing power of Coke and Pepsi. It can settle a stomach, don't you think? And sometimes it makes a headache go away (especially if it's washing down an Advil).

There's a town I visited in Chiapas, Mexico, where gaseosas are holy. It started out it was just Coke, but now all kinds of pop seem to have the holy status.
Here's the church, in San Juan Chamula:


Inside the church, its Mayan followers practice a Catholicism mixed with Mayan sprituality. Coke is considered holy and is drunk inside the church, as is a strong alcohol called "pox" (pronounced posh). Pox was always holy to these people. Coke got that distinction more recently. The people saw that the bubbles went up. They thought of it as going towards the heavens. So by drinking it, people are getting closer to God.

There are many things I could write about that town. The drunkenness there really bothered me. It's awful to hear a man's head smack on a cement bench just outside the church as he stumbles out from practicing his religion. While I realize Coke does cause problems, I don't think the negative effects are nearly as strong as those from the 'guaro.'

I'm not praying to Cola. A lot of people seem to see it lying closer to Hell than Heaven, I'm finding. I know I'd heard negative things from social justice types about Coke. But I didn't really know the issue. Now, as I search for images, I found some sites poo-pooing Coke. Here's one.

Whether fizzy drinks are closer to Heaven or Hell, I'm not sure. But I can tell you that when I was in Calgary and the whole family was over at my parents' place and I had to endure that distinctive sound of opening a bottle of pop, then smell that delicious Pepsi smell-- I sure was tested in my pop-free wilderness. I may be away from where Lent is celebrated so openly, but I seem to be really experiencing the season.