Travelling Rituals: Azorean Holy Ghost Festivals in the United States

The scene is a large room. There are two laptop computers and a printer on a table between piles of printouts of lists and photocopies of maps downloaded from "Yahoo". Two cell phones can also be seen. The two computer screens have an Access file open with names, addresses, more names and credits and debits in English. Three men sit at the table; two of them are unshaven and blurry-eyed as if they had been up all night. The third has just come out of the shower – his hair still wet – and looks freshly shaven. Laid out on nearby tables are rows of raw meat hygienically sealed in transparent plastic bags, different types of breads and biscuits on small plastic plates and bottles of wine. This food is being loaded onto pick-ups and will be delivered door-to-door by teams of two men, who, equipped