Giant Kites, Bright Colors, and a Graveyard: Guatemala's Day of the Dead
Giant Kites, Bright Colors, and a Graveyard: Guatemala's Day of the Dead
Submitted by Anders Bruihler on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 20:46
as the huge mass of bamboo poles and tissue paper plummets toward them. At the last moment, it pulls out of the dive and soars back up into the air. Everyone keeps a watchful eye on the giant kite. I’ve heard enough stories to know that these things really can hurt. In Central and South America, November 1st is known as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), an important holiday in remembrance of the deceased. Today is that special day, and I’m in Guatemala. This country has a very unique way of celebrating this holiday. My eyes follow the shallow steps up the side of the nearly vertical hill. Damp dirt sticks to my hands as I pull myself up the slope. At the top I see a path leading up the hill. Two women cook corn on a grill on one side of the path. Further up the hill, a man sells kites. His kites are quite unusual. They are either hexagons or octagons, very colorful, with streaming tails. The ones for sale here are only two feet across, but the big barriletes gigantes are what we are here to see.
Food vendors
We walk onto a green space on the side of the hill. Families are scattered throughout the field, and some kids are flying, or attempting to fly, the small kites. More vendors sell a rainbow of kites. All colors and designs, they flap in the wind. The reds, browns, oranges, and yellows of candy wrappers fill cheap plastic trash baskets. Traditional foods roast on black coal grills, and blue and yellow tortillas fry on large metal sheets.
More:
http://www.wanderingeducators.com/best/traveling/giant-kites-bright-colors-and-graveyard-guatemalas-day-dead.html#sthash.W7ekBJPT.dpuf
