Today was San Blas day here and a full schedule of fiesta and celebration was planned for all: first a folk parade at noon to kick things off, then blessing of the fishing boats which were to be loaded to overflowing with people going out to pray to San Blas' statue out in the harbor. And in the evening a participatory fireworks extravaganza was set with a great 125 ' tower built in the center of the plaza and covered by dozens of big pinwheels, whizzbangs, glowing pigs, luninous fish, sparkling crabs and smiling saints, all firing off quickly, right at the feet of perhaps 10,000 people crowded in as close as they can get to the sizzeling kinetic action. Fireworks and arial bombs will continue till dawn, sent up by priests, kids and drunks, many of whom dance through the night until they drop. The music is so loud from so many places that few in the pueblo get any sleep till the next day.
At least that was the standard plan for this year's fiesta carried over from the past, in a history that goes well back to the 17th century.
Then the 2010 global warming demons arrived, carried in by El Nino winds which brought 3 days of unremitting hard rain, electrical outages and flooding everywhere. The winds never got to hurricane force but were close. Old timers reported, "It never rains here in February. The last time we had rain for San Blas days was decades ago" Techies who still had electricity, pulled up satellite weather maps that showed the storm continuing for days to come.
That was the scene as participants in the kickoff parade gathered in this morning's rain. Neither God or any of his representatives had signaled that the day's events should be cancelled, and since the parade was still clearly part of the Divine plan, the march of mostly young people and the faithful rolled forward. Here is a short video of that parade captured by a friend and shared to youtube.
Then, as the day and the rain continued, it was clear that boats full of people best not be out on the water, and no fireworks were going to happen today under any scenario. It is not exactly clear how God's will on these matters was communicated, but everyone knew sorta knew it in their gut. Folks went home to dry out or to their favorite fishermen's cantina to drink beer and eat free ceviche and fish for as long as they kept ordering beer. By dark, rumor had it that God has rescheduled the remaining San Blas Day's events for Friday or maybe it is Saturday, but no one is really sure. This has never happened before.
Global warming has surely blurred God's plan here in San Blas, at least for the time being.
Jim
