Meanwhile, back at Doña Martha's house on Friday night, preparations are underway for big events on Saturday.

30 kilos (66 pounds) of pork have been delivered to be turned into asado de cerdo along with many kilos of rice and pasta for the neighborhood reliquia on Saturday afternoon.

Gabi is making banners to decorate the  street for tomorrow's danza and neighborhood activities celebrating Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

There will be a neighborhood Rosario (Rosary) before an altar set up on the sidewalk, a danza performance in the street in front of the house, and the feeding of the neighbors and the danza team.

9:00 AM on Saturday the clothes line patio is turned into a temporary kitchen as Doña Martha begins to cook 30 kilos of pork.

Friday night Martha cooked the chiles and other ingredients for the chile colorado sauce, but her home-size blender was not up to the task of processing this huge pot of chiles.  First thing Saturday morning we took the pot to the neighborhood tortilleria where they have a machine that can do the task.

It's almost  2:00 PM and the asado is ready.  Some of the family gathers around the cauldron for a blessing.  Served with rice and two kinds of pasta, it is a fine meal.  There was just time for the family to eat quickly before the neighbors would start arriving.  

At 2:00 the neighbors began arriving for the religious service before the altar set up by the front door.

After the Rosario, the neighbors file into the patio/kitchen to receive food.  Each family brings a container which Gabi fills with rice and two pastas.  Then Doña Martha adds a generous helping of asado.

About 60 families received food this day.

Martha has been doing this for 15 years.  Other ladies in the neighbor-hood do a similar thing for other religious holidays.

Then the Espíritu Santo Danza arrived.  This danza is made up entirely of young people from this neighborhood.  This is their home dance.

Before the dance began, each member of the team knelt briefly before the altar.

This 8-year old boy is the number two lead dancer.  His solo perfor-mance was truly remarkable.

The three Valdepeñas dancers -- Gonzalo, 6-year old Armando and Chico.  

After the dance, the team finished off the asado.  

With the table full, the rest of the 20-member team moved to the sidewalk to eat with many neighbors who had stayed to watch the dance. 

Not a morsel of food was left.  Only the exhausted feeling of a day well done.

On Sunday morning in a near-by neighborhood, folks line up for food being cooked in 4 wood-fired cauldrons. 

In the afternoon, Espíritu Santo comes marching down the street to Las Casas.

In the courtyard of Las Casas, we are treated to a private perfor-mance.  Many family, friends and neighbors line the balcony, windows and roof.

Following the dance, the troupe eats asado de cerdo and rice just like yesterday prepared by Doña Martha's daughter Rosa and friends.

After the meal, the danza left for their next dance on their marathon schedule that will be 12 hours long.

La Danza Espíritu Santo

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