Día de los Muertos

This is the first year that I can remember that I haven’t dressed up for Halloween. I am really not sure what my parents did when I was a baby, but that can’t really count. It was strange how un-strange it was. Here in Guatemala we celebrate Día de los Muertos instead of Halloween, and I think I greatly preferred it, minus missing all of the post-halloween-on-sale-candy.

For Día de los Muertos families decorate and visit the tombs of their loved ones, and their own future tombs. My host siblings, who are 7 and 9, already have their own designated tomb space. I believe that wealthier families may build tombs for their children as soon as they are born, which is a strange concept for me- to be so conscious of and prepared for the inevitability of death. This tradition also reflects the importance of family and home in the culture here. Families are all buried together in their hometown; not as many people leave the towns they were born in, and even if they do, the town remains a center for ritual and family. Because of all who return to Patzún for this special day, the town was especially full. At night we went down to the cemetery, where Laura’s host family sells food and hung out in the festival-like atmosphere with the rest of the town.

Another important part of October and November and celebrating Day of the Dead is kite flying. This has to be the best way ever to celebrate a holiday. Better than a bunny, better than lots of presents, and better than green beverages. Tissue paper kites can either be made or cheaply bought, and the whole month leading up to Day of the Dead kids can be seen on the roofs of their houses flying their kites. I tried my hand at kite making with our girls group, and it was a lot harder than it looked (mine came out a bit crooked). All of the boys and some of the girls know the special sticks that are needed, how to measure and build the frame with these sticks and thread, and are more creative in decorating their kites than I have seen them in any other endeavor. I went out kite flying Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. I am addicted.

The kids from our world map project all made kites representing different countries that they chose and researched. I hopefully will be able to post some pics soon. They are very impressive. Almost as impressive as the kites that I saw at the kite festival in Sumpango, my training town.

Sumpango is nationally and internationally famous for the giant kites that are made and flown there for Nov. 1st. I had been looking forward to going to see them since training in January, and I was not disappointed. The kites were up to 25 or 30 meters tall and showed elaborate and beautiful designs made out of tissue paper. They are built on huge bamboo frames, and displayed all day for locals and tourists. Then come the attempts to fly them. Before we had to leave we saw maybe 6 or 7 of the smaller kites (my height) try to leave the ground. When one would start to rise everyone would scream and cheer, but most would quickly nose dive, causing a lot more screaming, and a lot of running to get out of the way. As fun as it was to see one of the kites rise way up into the sky and stay there, the crashes were pretty fun too. We left at 3:30 and all of the bigger kites still had to be flown, so I still have no sure answer on whether the huge ones can actually fly or not, but I bet those crashes are a lot more dangerous. Some of the huge kites fell over and were destroyed before they even got a chance to try to fly. Seeing as how it can take 3 months to build these kites, that has to be a disappointment.

I wish I had more information about where this tradition came from. I have heard that the kites come from the influence of Chinese immigrants. Where ever they come from, they fit the holiday perfectly, as November is a time of year with little rain and lots of wind. Since this wind isn’t used for sailing, I guess kites are the next best thing.