Kite Festival in Sumpango

I've been learning about the Latin American celebrations of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) since I started studying Spanish in middle school.  Last weekend, though, was the first time I had the opportunity to experience the celebration authentically.

We had no classes on Friday, November 1st, in honor of the tradition.  My friends and I took advantage of the day by going to Sumpango, where each year they hold the Festival de los Barriletes Gigantes (Festival of the Giant Kites) next to the cemetery.  

We walked first through the cemetery.  It really is true that el Dia de Todos Santos (Nov. 1) is a celebration.  The above-ground tombs were freshly painted in bright colors and covered with pine needles and flowers.   At some graves, family members still worked to decorate even that morning.  Ice cream vendors pushed their carts up and down through the pathways, ringing their bells and selling cones of bright yellow ice cream topped with a crimson jelly.  Kids ran past, their small home-made kites flying high above them.  




After we had experienced the cemetery, we moved through the growing crowds to the main attraction--the open field where all of the kites were set up.  



The kites were set up in rows, with the smallest--the children's kites--in front, and the largest in the back.  We meandered through the rows and watched as some of the kites were erected on giant bamboo poles.  It took a team of people and a bit of engineering to get the crepe-paper kites from their spots on the ground to leaning on the tall poles, and that was an event to watch in itself.  






As we moved towards the tallest giants, I was amazed by their size and detail.  These kites wouldn't fly, though from what I understand an attempt would be made at dusk.  But their beauty looking over the festival was unmistakable.  

The tradition of flying kites on All Saints Day dates back hundreds of years.  Flying the kites, which so easily are ripped to shreds in the October winds, is symbolic of life and death, or perhaps a way to communicate with the dead somehow.  Today, many of the kites also bear important messages in their designs.  Some cautioned us to care for our natural resources.  Some reminded the people of their heritage.  All were intricate and very beautiful.  




We only stayed for a few hours in the morning, before the crowds became too insane and before any kite larger than 6-8ft in diameter took the sky.  But it was worth it.  Truly a unique and gratifying experience! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia: Reflections and Highlights

Image
I was really excited to visit Cambodia for a few days and hit up Angkor Wat and the other temples in the area.  Cambodia felt like my kind of adventure--and I can’t even really say why.  But I was excited.  I was excited for our hotel there--a full-out boutique hotel (not a hostel), with AC, a swimming pool, breakfast included, and airport pick-up for free--which cost us a scant $20 per night.  And we’d read about a lot of great tours we could take with local guides.  Flying in and flying out, this leg of the trip would be a breeze, and hopefully everything would be as cheap as the hotel.   The Mango Rain Boutique Hotel Our flight to Cambodia was unlike any other I’ve ever been on.  There were only about 20 of us on the flight--which would not have been strange, except it was, because we were on a full-size plane that could have seated 200.  The 20 of us were mostly grouped together towards the back of the plane.  Second impressive t...
Read more

DI Globals 2016: A Tale of Two Teams

Image
For the past 3 years, I have acted as a team manager for Destination Imagination at my school in Guatemala, and each year, my team has earned a trip to Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.  This school year, I was blessed to manage the exact same team I had last year—the Aguaguates, the most wonderful group of kids any DI team manager could wish for.  This group, all 7 th graders this year, has everything needed to not only excel at DI, but also make a team manager’s job almost unnecessary.  They have amazing team chemistry, and they understand the importance of teamwork.  They’re crazy creative and hilarious and amazing actors when they get on stage.  They push themselves to improve their performances.  They know what they need to get done for DI, and they create their own practice schedules.  In short, they are a DI dream team, not to mention really, really great people .  This year though, I took one look at the school calendar and deci...
Read more

Yearly Update: The Journey to 30

Image
Over a year has passed since my last “update.”  And the year I was 29, despite the fact that I lived close to home rather than abroad, was anything but boring, so there’s no real reason for the lack of blog posts.   The year I was 29, I survived what may have been my most difficult year of teaching yet.  Many overseas teachers say, “Teaching in the States is so much different than teaching abroad.  You’ll see.  That’s why I went overseas; I’d never go back to teaching in the States.  It’s just...too much.”  Well, they’re not wrong.  I admit, I thought that with five years teaching experience under my belt, my first year in the US, my first year at the high school level, would go rather smoothly.  While in a sense it did (no concerns about the quality of my work from administration or complaints from parents), it was mentally and emotionally very taxing.  Even this year, my 2nd back in the States, I’m still adjusting to and coming t...
Read more