La Purisima

I awoke at midnight in a panic to what sounded like bombs being set off right next to my bed, but my nerves quickly calmed when I realized it was just firecrackers exploding all over the city of Managua….the sound was so loud, I imagine you could hear the rumbling for miles. This night was the eve of La Purisima (the Conception of the Virgin Mary). Among the numerous things I have experienced during my first week in Managua, I was fortunate enough to celebrate the Purisima. On this day, in celebration of the conception of Mary, many Nicaraguans set up altars outside of their homes to honor her. The altars contained everthing from very obviously fake flowers, to balloons, to a blinking Christmas lights of all colors, but no altar was complete unless it displayed some representation of the Virgin Mary…normally one picture would not suffice, many displayed almost 10 to 15 framed pictures or statues to symbolize her. Very loud fireworks are set off to let Mary know that the people of Nicaragua are praying…and on that night, they must have been doing a lot of praying.

Not every family created an altar, but generally they were created for either a special intention in the family or a symbol of status because on the eve of the Purisima, the neighborhood walks around to view the different “Purisimas“. I found this night to be a pretty accurate combination of both Christmas caroling and Halloween. After viewing the altar dedicated to the Blessed Mother, every group of neighbors stood together singing an ample amount of songs to revere her (this was the part I thought was like Christmas caroling), then the family hosting the Purisima handed out small gifts to all that participated (kinda like Halloween) We walked around with a bag just as if we had been trick-or-treating, except I almost enjoyed it more because it was always more a of surprise what gift you would be given (and there was no age limit to participate). To my amazement, I received quite a range of things including: dishware, a bowl of fried pig skin, oranges, a key chain of Jesus, a tamale, a headband with feathers (like the Indians wore), a stick of sugarcane, and (my favorite) a spatula.

The night ended early because of some rain, but at least I have next year to look forward to…I also have another year to practice the songs, but after singing some of them 10 or 12 times, I might not need much practice…