Got out to 9th Street around 10:30 this morning. Attendance at the Italian Market Festival was down because the weather looked threatening. Sure enough, around one o'clock the rain started, then stopped for a few minutes, then began in earnest. I did run into some friends, which was cool, and then some old dude wanted to pose with me for a picture, which was creepy.
Prior running total: 32
Day 3 total: 11
Total to date: 43
Here's some really bad cell phone video of the Procession of Saints. (The files are 4-5 Mb each.) The local Catholics put these statues of their favorite saints on wooden stretchers or TV-cart-like things and take them around the Market. Draped on the statues are sashes with money pinned to them; bystanders kick in dollar bills which are added as they pass - that's what you see the women doing in the video. It's like New Orleans, only lame. This parade has taken place annually at the Festival for about umptyfuckingmillion years. No wonder people call Catholics "confused pagans" - I can't even keep track of all these saints, and I was confirmed in the Church.
I love the fact that, in the second video, two of the dudes pushing the statues around have to stop to get something to eat. (That's a mango on a stick, if you were wondering.) I also love the Mexicans in the second video - they sing! Catholics are usually such a listless bunch - you can't even rouse them with the news that the priest raped their kid. ("Just like when I was an altar boy," they say. Thanks, Dad.) Also, that Mexican Mary statue? With the sunburst? Much cooler than anything the whites have. Last year, there were more Mexicans, though, and they danced as well as sang. The whole Italian Market is really the Mexican/Vietnamese Market now, but they still need the dagos (I can say that, being one) to sell the fancy cheese and meat to the tourists. The regular produce, not so much.
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