Bank Holiday no. 13


It's been a Bank Holiday weekend to celebrate the Ascension of Mary. The local supermarket opened a beer tent and encouraged tango dancing in the forecourt.

Otherwise it's been quiet enough: a gambling entrepreneur was assassinated and boys are flying kites. The Seminary was shut for the day.

In Colombia there are 18 bank holidays, equivalent to nearly 4 weeks of work. They interfere with the ordinary rhythm of study and students get disorientated. On today's return to classes, I was in early, got set up and waited. The class eventually arrived in a bit of a confused state.

At the end someone asked if we were always going to be in this room Only then did I realize I'd gone up one floor too many, and taught in the wrong place.

One of the first things the Reformers did was to chuck out saints' days. Great, life's confusing enough without the bodily ascent of the Virgin Mary getting in the way.

Photo: Latin America is a confusing place

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