Day of the Dead

Nov 1st and 2nd are the Day of the Dead celebrations in Latin America (also coresponding with All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day in Catholocism). Those days have never held any kind of significance for me, so I was excited to be exposed to something completely new. I had heard about the celebrations in Santiago and Sumpango, two towns about 45 minutes away from us, and I had been looking forward to going for months.

Katie, Steph, Charlotte and I crammed into the chicken bus and made our way to Santiago. The bus could only go so far, so we ended up walking about a mile into town. The town itself was nice, very small and rural like our neighboring town of San Andres Itzapa. We walked clear through Santiago until we reached a large hill which led up to the cemetary.

The trip up the hill was really rough. There were thousands of people trying to climb up to the graveyard and it bottlenecked really quickly. Our pace was a step a minute for a good deal of the walk. It took us over an hour to cover about a quarter of a mile.

I see...white people. So many tourists!!

At least there was food to keep us distracted while we were being herded. Here's some fresh fish being fried.

Some grilled tamales

And some grilled elotes

Making blue tortillas

Churros still reign as my favorite Guatemalan fair food!

Here are some traditional Guatemalan sweets. I've tried a few of these things, but not all. It's a lot of candied fruits and coconut stuff.

Another sweet snack are these sugar canes. I haven't tried these yet either, but the kids have told me about them. Basically they cut the rind off of sugar canes and slice the core into sticks. You suck/gnaw on the sticks to get the sweet sap out.

There were lots of general market stands selling kites and whatnot

And no fair is complete without some Jesus pictures

The graves are beautifully decorated by family and friends.

Marigolds are traditionally used on this day

The point of the celebration is to spend time with your loved ones and show them that you're still thinking of them. Unlike the States where we tend to be pretty somber about the dead, this is more of a happy celebration. People dance on the graves, have picnics, tell funny stories. It's a huge party. And of course, there's lots of kite flying.

The highlight of the day (and the reason Santiago is famous) were the giant kites. People fly kites in order to communicate with spirits of the dead. They send the kites (representing their well-wishes, prayers, etc) high up into clouds (heaven) as a way of reaching out to their dead family members. In tribute to this tradition, artists come to Santiago and nearby Sumpango to make giant kites with intricate patterns. These kites aren't for flying, they're more show pieces. They were absolutely incredible, well worth the hour and a half climb up the hill.

Most of the kites that the kids fly are made out of tissue paper. These bigs guys are made out of some kind of woven plastic. The designs were so beautiful

Katie and I

Posing

This translates to "For the dignity and rights of immigrants, we are... America." Wish people at home remembered that a little more often.

The festival was absolutely amazing, definitely my favorite activity so far in Guatemala. We were exhausted after spending the day in the sun, so headed back home. The next day we continued the celebration, but on a local front. Stephanie and I hung out with the Especiales at the cemetary in Parramos.

Here's Juan Carlos with the kite he made.

Walking into the cemetary

Leo, Delmi and I in front of some nicely decorated graves

Some folks praying. The sign says "I believe in the resurrection of the dead"

Leo

This was an incredible holiday for me and I'm so glad that I took full advantage of the celebrations. If any of you ever decide to come to Guatemala, try to do it around the Day of the Dead!