Talluah and I have been to church often enough to think that we’d be abled to understand what was happening during a Spanish mass. Oh, and the moon is made of cheese too.
The church bells ring an hour before mass begins. The problem is that there are many churches around us and we can hear several bells from our apartment. The exterior of the church is plain cement with fine mesh covering the stain glass windows. Many of the large cement buildings here sport some cracks in their exterior. I assume these cracks are from either the passing of earthquakes or the result of poor construction.
Once inside there was a stark contrast to the unassuming exterior. The domed ceiling over the altar was complete with a highly intricate stain glass picture of a dove. Stone, praying angels looked down from above and the entire ceiling was held up with stone columns, which would take two people to embrace.
Mass started at 12:30 so we understood the part when the priest said good afternoon. From there on in it was each Harper for his or herself.
Most people in central Valparaiso have no form of back yard but it’s not uncommon for people to have a dog. Dogs are allowed to wander the streets and subsequently do their business wherever they please. This makes walking through Valpo rather tricky. You have to keep one eye on the houses and the other on the footpath.
There are many stray dogs drifting about the streets and though none of them have ever appeared aggressive the girls are under strict instructions to not pat any dogs.
Half way through mass we heard the pitter patter of nails on the stone tiles. A dog, with a collar, wandered into the church. Which ever way you look at it, this was a place to either find God or dog.
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