We had a triple play of festivals this weekend. Friday was Good Samaritan Day. Yeah, that's what I said -- Huh? It's all part of Mexico's Lent festivities. I don't know if it's a station of the cross, though it's in Mel's movie. Anyhoo, to commemorate when the woman gave Jesus a drink of water on his way to Golgotha, folks all over town hand out water and fruit juice, often from doorways and stands decorated with palm fronds, bouganville, and paper flowers. People even brought cups of juice onto the buses for the drivers and route callers. We personally had some horchata (rice) and jamaica (hibiscus) and chilacaota (squash).

Saturday was Primavera, or the first day of Spring. Big holiday in the US, right? Like Good Samaritan Day. The kids in my Saturday class demanded we do some Primavera arts and crafts, which took me by surprise, but I busted out the colored paper, stencils, and markers and we made Spring Day posters. After school -- all weekend really -- we saw a parade of little kids all dressed up as animals, flowers, and bugs. Mostly. A few kids stretched the meaning of springtime a bit by parading dressed as Snow White, a sailor, and Bob Esponja. (Click here to see and/or download the quicktime movie.)

So what could possibly be left for Sunday? Why, the birthday of Benito Juarez! Brass bands everywhere, and a half dozen dignataries giving a speech in the Llano Sunday morning. I couldn't tell if one of them was the governor or not. There certainly were a lot of police around.