November 2006 - Feria Patronal de la Virgen de los Dolores

Bright and early Saturday morning November 4th, the annual fair commenced in La Paz. Every November the community gathers to put on a fair in honor of the “Virgin of Pain”. As history goes, in 1848 Priest José Felicitas Jalón gifted an image of the Virgen de los Dolores to the city of La Paz, and from that moment, she has been considered the patron of the city. So, on Saturday morning, since the Mayor deemed it necessary that I help initiate the fair, I joined a group of about 30 people in the central park at 3:30 am to get the fair started...In typical Honduran fashion, we piled into the backs of pick-up trucks to parade through the streets, a police truck leading the way with sirens blaring, another truck in the back with music playing an announcement of “Felicidades” for the commencement of the fair. Along the way, we stopped in each neighborhood to set off fireworks and wake up the city...I was back to sleep in my bed at 5:30! (this photo of the central church is taken just after it got a paint job...)