Village Church Dedication

(This post is from an experience on day two but we are just now getting around to posting it along with the photos. We hope you find it to be informative nonetheless.)
 Shortly after our arrival in Punta Gorda, the pastor, Fr. Perl, invited us to a church dedication in the village of Delores.  Delores is one of the most remote villages in all of Belize and just a couple of miles from the Guatemalan border.  They had just built a new church and were having a dedication ceremony.  Fr. Perl suggested that it was a unique opportunity and worth the trip.  So in spite of just having traveled 12 hours to reach our final destination in PG, Belize,  myself (Julie) and our 11 year old anxiously awaited our pick up at 7 a.m. the next day.
  While Delores is only about 45 miles away, it takes over 2 hours to get there via bumpy dirt and gravel roads.  Being so new to the country, that didn't bother my daughter and I as there were many interesting sites to take in along the way.
   We passed several villages with houses made of wood and thatched roofs.  To see bare breasted women was not uncommon nor was it unusual to see women and and children bathing in the river.  Chickens and pigs ran loose and we could even see farmers working in their fields (without the advantage of machinery).  The last few villages we passed had solar panels hooked up to their homes (enough to power abut 2 light bulbs) as their only means of electricity.  The village of Delores, however,  has fresh water but no electricity.
   Finally we arrived at Delores.  There is a town center where the church is located and about 300 villagers were waiting.  People had come from neighboring villages (some had literally walked 4 hours to get there) to participate in the celebration.
   The first thing we noticed were the people.  Delores is a Kekchi Mayan village.  Southern Belize is made up of mostly Kekchi Maya but also Mopan Maya.  The Kekchi women have a distinctive plaid skirt and a solid color blouse.  Most noticeable of the Mayan women are that they carry their babies (up to 2 or 3 years old) in a hammock style sling that they wear hanging from their heads (see pics).  Women are usually under 5 feet and by speaking with some of the children, we learned that they tend to run about 6 inches shorter than a typical child in the US.
   Then the festivities began.  They starting things off with a traditional Mayan dance called the Deer Dance.  Only men participated and they wore masks, elaborate capes, and several layers of clothing.  It was great to watch but looked to be very hot (see pics).
   After the dance came the procession.  Villagers, along with the priest, processed into the plaza carrying a crucifix, burning incense, and carrying a statue of St. Peter, all while members sang hymns in their Kekchi language (see pics).  They processed around the church several times, sprinkling holy water on the building and setting off fireworks intermittently.  After the procession was mass but because so many were gathered, mass was held outside.  About half of the service was in English and the other half was in Kekchi (including the Bible readings).
   After mass it was time to eat.  The village had killed 5 pigs 2 days earlier to prepare for the celebration.  The meal consisted of a traditional Mayan dish called caldo (literal translation is "soup") and pach.  Caldo is a spicy broth with large pieces of meat in it (usually one per bowl)--in this case, pork.  Pach is similar to the masa in a tamale minus the filling but a bit more firm and cooked inside a banana leaf.  Both are meant to be eaten with your hands.  Both dishes had been cooked in a communal kitchen over an open fire (see pics).  Being the adventurous eaters that we are, both my daughter and I really enjoyed ourselves.  Clean up was at the town's only clean water source--a spigot near the central plaza--though my daughter and I did notice some villagers drinking the murky water from the creek.
   For it being one of our first experiences in Belize, this was a true delight and a blessing.  Fr. Perl told us that this was probably one of the biggest celebrations he had been to in his 15 years in Belize.