Día de los Muertos in Gutemala. Barriletes.

   A special day in Guatemala is Día de los Muertos, November 1st. During this day, the traditions of the Maya and Mestizo peoples center around ancestor veneration. People spend much time before November 1st cleaning up the tombs or graves of their ancestors in the local cemetery and buying items to decorate them, such as flowers and candles. Then comes the big day in which families spend most of the morning and afternoon in the cemetery, eating, socializing, and remembering their ancestors in different ways.
   Another tradition that has been incorporated into the festivities of Día de los Muertos is the making and flying of barriletes in two certain towns here. Barriletes are kites that range in size from small to gigantic, really huge. The oral history concerning barriletes is that Maya people would use them to send messages to their ancestors. They would attach a small written message near the face of the kite and then fly it very high in the sky, closer to their ancestors, so that it could be read. This practice has evolved into what we saw when we went to Santiago de Sacatepéquez and another town called Sumpango:

-A medium sized barrilete trying to stay up in the air.
These are probably the largest sized ones that can actually fly.

-Tomb with flower and wreath decorations.
The tombs are usually painted with bright colors to correlate with the happiness of the celebration.

-A GIANT barrilete (see its size compared to the people?)
The large ones like this are vividly decorated with colors and many often
portray social themes of Guatemala.

And in Sumpango...

Another important cultural aspect of Guatemala's Día de los Muertos is the food prepared and eaten on this day. A typical drink that I tried in Santiago is called Ponche, a sweet hot drink made from different fruits with fruit pieces in it..so delicious that cold morning! The most notorious food eaten this day and only on this one day of the year, though, is called Fiambre, a mixture of up to maybe 50 ingredients including many meats and vegetables. It is kind of like a cold salad mixture of all of these ingredients with a bit of oil dressing. I was able to try 2 different Fiambres and both were very rich but delicious.

   All in all, our experience of Día de los Muertos in Gutemala was great with the participation in its culturally rich traditions and festivities!