Dia Del Muerte

Day of the Dead. Banks and many businesses were closed today so that people could celebrate the Day of the Dead (um, not sure what it really is). We went and visited Santiago Sacatepequez (hard to spell? Try pronouncing it – Even the the bus driver just gave a sigh of resignation and said, 'Santiago, no mas') because they have a festival where they fly really big kites in the cemetery to “release the souls of the dead” (according to our Rough Guide to Guate). Having spent some fun times in graveyards during my misspent youth I knew I couldn't resist. So off we went on our adventure which gave the junior member his first Guate chicken bus ride. The senior members of the expedition have been on numerous such bus rides and had an idea of what to expect. Climbing out of Antigua, the road climbs and twists and turns and our chauffeur was determined to make the best time. At the back of the bus, the expedition members, along with locals, hung on and laughed knowing one way or another that the ride wouldn't last long. Ascribing to my supposition that the driver doesn't want to get in an accident any more than I do, we just hung on. And the ride was quick and incident free. There are no direct buses to Santiago Sacatepequez so we had to change buses at San Luis Sacatepequez. Received great directions and walked the block and a half to the San Luis (yeah, I am going to type the complete name again) bus station 

 and boarded our second bus to Santiago. Arrived in Santiago after a 4km bus ride and joined the procession in search of the kites. The whole thing is actually a town wide fiesta with the kites being the main attraction. But the road to the kites is lined with food vendors (Mmmm, fresh plantain chips!)

 and artesenia vendors and household item vendors – everything and anything you could want. 

We kept on turning corners along the main drag which wound through town and still never saw the kites. Stopped a gringa and sey said to keep walking and that it was worth it. After a bit, we came to a stage with a concert going (anyone need any BASS?). We could see the kites in the air though it was hard to gauge how large they were given the distance. Walked around the back of the stage and came to the cemetery situated on a slope and saw the kites.

Wow. I am not even going to try and explain since we have pictures and videos thus relieving me of coming up with descriptive language and you of slogging through such.

 

Just incredible to see these huge kites takes flight – sometimes successfully

sometimes not

and how a place of rest is so full of life for one day of the year. We took advantage of being in that space to think about and honor two special people in our lives.

I will admit it was a bit disturbing to see people walking across the raised mounds as it was the easiest path. And yes, I own that and my own conditioning associated with it. And, yes, I did it too.

Here is what the back of the huge kites looked liked to give you an idea of what actually went up in the air

Headed back to Antigua. First bus was a classic experience of learning just how many more people could actually occupy the space contained by the physical structure of the bus. Always amazing. Bus from San Lucas to Antigua was spacious. Hopped off on 1a Ave Sur and headed to Sky Bar so you could see these pics

Had dinner and then headed home in search of good rest before venturing in to the world of language school. Eeeek.