We positioned ourselves outside San Jose Catedral on the parque to watch the preparations for the children’s procession. We saw young girls fixing each other’s scarves, mothers pinning lacy headdresses on their daughters. We watched boys clustered around the steps as they waited, pulling on their gloves and adjusting their hoods. We saw tiny children and teenagers – some with sunglasses and cell phones – some with their parents and some with peers. Amazingly, I didn’t see a single child crying or racing around, and if there was any whining, they were quiet about it.

As 3 o’clock arrived, the first wave of children accompanied by their parents came down the steps and turned north. There were hundreds of them! Big ones – little ones – some taking turns to carry the floats and some walking solemnly along the route. The boys were dressed in purple robes and hoods, and the girls wore white dresses and head coverings. All wore white gloves.

Just like the adults, the carriers were given cards that told on which section of the route they would be carrying the float and what their position would be. First came the boys – 44 of them – carrying Jesus Nazareno del Desamparo, followed by a band, and then by 24 girls carrying the Virgen de Dolores, and another band. They had to pay close attention to what they were doing – keeping in step, sharing the weight of the float on their shoulders.

As they passed, we turned back toward the square to see what had become of the carpets we watched being constructed earlier in the day. There was nothing left but a muddy pile of sawdust being gathered up by men with shovels. But on the walk home, we came across more people creating more carpets for more processions