THE TOWN OF CJRTJGO AND ITS LIFE 47 



About five on Wednesday there was a procession consisting 

 of a life-size Veronica carrying a large cloth on which were 

 painted three thorn-crowned faces; St. John in blue with his 

 cup; a Christ with red velvet robes embroidered in gold, an 

 immense head of curls reaching below the waist and crowned 

 by a huge nimbus, and the Virgin, followed by the band and 

 the usual accompaniment of men, women and children. It 

 was noticeable that in these processions very few hatted 

 women were to be seen. Many of the poorer women do not 

 usually wear hats, although the custom of doing so is grad- 

 ually spreading. During Holy Week, however, all hats seem 

 to be laid aside by them and the rebosa — here either black 

 or some very light color — is draped tightly and closely around 

 the head and shoulders. The women of the upper classes 

 always wear hats but these women do not appear in the 

 processions, only as spectators. 



Holy Thursday seemed to be the greatest gala day of the 

 year! All day long, country folk in their cleanest and starch- 

 iest, city people in their newest, brightest, gayest, most 

 ballroom-y attire strolled up and down the streets, visited 

 the churches and generally enjoyed themselves. In the 

 evening A. went to see the decorations in some of the nearby 

 churches. All were beautifully and tastefully decorated 

 and all were full of people, particularly the great Franciscan 

 church from which the evening's procession started. The 

 people were sitting all over the floor so that if we had cared 

 to approach the altar we could not have done so. There was 

 much subdued gossiping and visiting about from group to 

 group and the frankest criticism and discussion of the gor- 

 geous costumes and huge picture hats of some of the Costa 

 Rican young ladies, who did not hesitate — as we did — to 

 force a way through the crowd and rarely ran the risk of 

 soiling their fine dresses by kneeling on the floor. In the 

 afternoon the governor of Cartago and his staff, in black 



