Last Tuesday, November 1st, was All Saints Day in Latin America - and other places, I´m sure. Contrary to what would think, it is a day filled with good food and a festival atmosphere - but at cemeteries! One of the traditions associated with the day is kite-flying. Two nearby towns have taken that tradition and mega-sized it with GIGANTIC kites, drawing crowds of people. The kites serve several purposes: to raise the souls of the dead to heaven, to express memories of past suffering and hopes for the future, to take messages to those in heaven, and to turn away evil spirits. Pretty heavy responsibilities. They are created using bright colors in intricate artwork.
We traveled on a bus filled with other curious gringoes to the nearby Mayan town of Sumpango. The event was taking place on a soccer field, not in a cemetery. It´s apparently easier for the kites to be set up and judged there. Oh, yes, in Sumpango, there is competition involved. There was definitely a festival atmosphere with small kites for sale, other trinkets, hand-made Mayan crafts, and lots of ¨fair¨ food, including grilled corn on the cob - served on a piece of husk with salt and a wedge of lime - grilled meat, tortillas, bright yellow ice cream, other sweets, popcorn. The only thing missing was bloomin´ onions! It could have been the Common Ground Fair except for the huge kites looming over everything.
I took lots of photos, and then, because the sun was fierce, Bruce and I took refuge on a high bluff covered by an open-sided tent. It turns out that this was a VIP area and who should Bruce meet there but the new American ambassador to Guatemala, Arnold Cochon. Arnold was wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and Bruce commented on it, thus beginning a chat. Only part way through was it revealed that he was the ambassador and head of the US Embassy. He is of Cuban descent, we learned later, and his son attends Phillips Andover, thus the Sox cap. We talked about some of the challenges that he is facing, as well as our work at Safe Passage. He seemed like a nice guy with a big job to do.
After a refreshing local Moza beer under the big tent, we ventured down to some covered bleachers and spent time just people-watching. By mid-afternoon, the kites began to be prepared for flight. They look quite heavy with their bamboo frames and huge size, despite the tissue paper interiors. (But then, I never could imagine how humungous jets can take flight.) They were sent up one at a time. Most were unable to soar very high and came plummeting into the crowded field in a wild, drunken trajectory, veering from side to side and sending the crowd running. One or two kites managed to escape the confines of the sheltered field and catch enough wind to climb into the sky. They were a beautiful sight, then, and joined many other smaller kites being flown by individual families on a hillside, dotting the sky with happy splotches of color and hope and tradition. We arrived back at the Morales home in Antigua, early that evening, dusty and tired and a bit sunburned, ready for a shower but glad to have experienced this piece of Guatemalan culture.
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| detail from a kite design |
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