Traditions

New Year's Eve in Antigua, Guatemala has been said to be "better than Time's Square." Antigua is where I intend to spend every New Year's Eve possible, starting from when I was in the 10th grade, until I can no longer afford it, or come visit my parents for Christmas. January 1st of every year, about thirty minutes before the sun goes down and it gets dark, the "Santisimo" of Antigua (or some high priest in the Roman Catholic Church here) takes a thirty minute long walk around the central park here in Antigua under a little tent that the parishioners carry for him, streaming incense around the street shooting mortar bombs in front of him as he takes his stroll around the square with everyone following him, maybe as a form of penance for the parishioners. This is his blessing of the square of Antigua and who knows what else it is supposed to do.