November proved to be a very busy month here in Guatemala.
Halloween came and went without a trick or a treat. Although Tyler and I had bought a bowl full of Hershey Kisses and gum wrapped like gold coins, not one trick-or-treater found his or her way to our front step. Perhaps it was the scary music Tyler had playing outside through hidden speakers?
However, November 1st, All Saints Day, was much more lively. On this day we headed down to the local cemetery where we witnessed a sea of colors. Flower vendors, kite sellers, and fruit hawkers were lined up outside the cemetery while young boys walked around the graves selling cotton candy. Rather than a day of mourning, it looked much more like a day at the fair.
In Guatemala, as in some other Latin American countries, while All Saints Day commemorates the saints (as its name implies), November 2nd, All Soul's Day, remembers those unfortunate souls stuck in purgatory. During these two days, the souls of the underworld walk among the living. If family and friends don't bring offerings to their passed loved ones, the living may be punished by illness, crop failures, tax auditings, and a pimple on the end of their nose. (Okay, so I made up those last two.) People may also decorate their houses and leave a sort of offering of liquor, food, candles and flowers on a shrine. While I did see these shrines in Mexico when I lived there, I did not witness them here in Xela. Customs range somewhat from country to country and even from village to village.
In Quetzaltenango, it is a happy coincidence that the winds pick up in November, and as most cemeteries are flat and devoi
d of trees, the conditions are ripe for kite flying. The Maya village of Santiago Sacatepequez has become famous for the 10-20 foot bamboo and tissue paper kites that are flown in its cemeteries during these first two days of November. The tradition began back in 1940 when three young men built the first large kite to entertain the families as they swept the dirt off grave sites, trimmed overgrown grasses, painted weather-faded tombstones, and layed flowers on headstones. It has now turned into a competition to see who can build the largest kite. As is written in Culture and Customs of Guatemala, Kenneth W. Smith, an anthropologist who spent time studying the kite flying tradition in Sacatepequez, "believes that the practice became a way of attracting single, young women of the town, who were generally inaccessible during most of the year, as virtuous women should not be seen conversing openly or flirting with men" (Shea, 2001, p.42). For our single friends out there, forget Internet dating. Go fly a kite. It sounds like more fun.
The following weekend Tyler and I headed to Guatemala City for the NTC (National Teachers' Conference) put on by IGA-Guatemala (the administrative headquarters for the school I work for in Xela). The conference took place over the course of three days with
about 900 people in attendance. This made for 150-180 participants in each of my four workshops. Luckily Tyler was there to assist me as I tried to arrange the crowd into groups of four. However, it wasn't all work and no play. Tyler and I had the pleasure of sharing a cocktail or two and swapping stories with Monterey Institute professor Kathi Bailey who was also presenting at the conference. In addition, we shared a very nice evening at IGA's cultural center where photographs of Native Americans taken by Edward S. Curtis were on display. The exhibit, "Sacred Legacy", (of which there is a book of the collection by the same name) is sponsored by the Public Affairs and Cultural Affairs sections of the US embassy here in Guatemala. As I understand, one purpose for the exhibit is to celebrate the beauty and traditions of indigenous people and to introduce Guatemalans to the native people of the US. Examples of these incredible photos can be seen at the following website: http://spanish.guatemala.usembassy.gov/curtisfotos.html
Just five days after returning from Guatemala City, I began teaching a four-week, 60-hour teacher training course for 12 pre-service and in-service English teachers from Xela and the surrounding areas. The course covered topics ranging from first and second language acquisition, to cooperative learning, to grammar in context, to using authentic materials. Tyler even cameoed with two workshops on speaking and listening activities. The course culminated in each participant presenting a lesson plan and teaching part of the lesson to the other course participants. I am happy to report that everyone involved felt it was a very worthwhile, informative experience. I, personally, am thrilled to now know 12 more people in Xela.From left to right, back row to front: Brenda (Director of IGA-Xela, http://www.igaxela.org ), Jorge, me, Glenda, Irma, Tyler, Javier, Veronica (in pink), Ana, Lilly, Astrid, Rufino, and, Cesar. (Miryam and Claudia were not present.)
With the NTC and the teacher training course now under my belt, Tyler and I are leaving once again, on the 4am bus, to meet my father at the Guatemala City airport on December 12th. Our next posting should be of our exciting trip through Honduras and Northern Guatemala as we visit different Maya ruins and howler monkeys. Stay tuned, and happy holidays!
