Nervous lakeside residents should not be alarmed to be roused from their sleep early Thursday, May 3 by a barrage of loud explosions. It will simply be the signal for the start of celebrations held on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
Construction workers all over Mexico customarily enjoy a long day of raucous celebration on this day honoring the most powerful symbol in the Christian faith, likewise associated with the building trade.
In this neck of the woods, building crews begin gathering just after sunrise to fuel up on menudo (tripe stew) before climbing to the highest point of the construction site to hoist a wooden cross bedecked with paper flowers, streamers and tricolor banners. Property owners and contractors call off the normal work schedule to host festive midday meals for the men. With plentiful food, liquor, music and regular intervals of ear-splitting sky rocket blasts, the parties may turn into unbridled benders that go on until the wee hours.
Meanwhile, faithful folks in every town will spread out to decorate the assorted crosses that are fixed at street corners, on hilltops and other points that will be destinations for the day’s religious processions and special services.
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