37 huge kites

Last weekend I went to Antigua, a town near the capital to stay there two nights, meet other couchsurfers and go to Sumpango to see the big kites.

The 1st of November is a holiday in Guatemala, called ´Día de los Muertos´, ¨Day of the dead´. Families go the to cemetery to give their dead family members food and drink for the following year. So, in Sumpongo it seemed to be like a big picnic in a park. Families were sitting around graves, laughing, talking, eating, children played with their kites, and so on! Sad faces? No way!

Last monday I went together with 2 Japanese, one Finn, one Frenchman, one Guatemalan, one American and another German to Sumpango. From the chickenbus we could see the kites from Santiago Sacatepéquez. There are two villages with this tradition, but I think Santiago begun and Sumpango copied it.

It was absolutely amazing. There were 37 different groups with one kite. All had a different size, a different subject, but so many colours, so many ideas, so many pattern! I was impressed. In the backround, of course, Marimba music. The sizes of the kites were from 3 meter diameter to 12 meter! Long bamboo stabilized the kites.

How long do you need for one kite to build?
35 person work 6 hours daily over 45 days to build a kite with more than 10 meters! This costs around 44 690 Quetzales, around 3990 Euro.

First we walked through the kites, taking a lot of pictures. Then we went to the cemetery to see what is going on there. After we sit down on a meadow where people all ages let fly their little kites.

At two the show begun: The teams tried to bring their kite up in the air, only the 3-5 meter big kites. This means, 10 or more young guys in a chain holding a rope. At a command they begun to run, the kite shoot up! With enough wind, the kite was pending from on to the other side, the audience is screaming, amazed,  clapping. One curious step after another are they going closer to the kite, face to the air. Suddenly, no more wind, the guys running again to hold the kite in the air, but no chance. He comes down, getting bigger and bigger, you hear ´Ohhhhh´s and ´Ahhhhhh´s,  running people, screams, hustles, the shaddow of the kite and finally crash!
Every team had two chances with their kite, but one was broken after the first. Two teams were able to bring their kite really high in the sky. Conclusion: worth to see with the own eyes, run away with the own legs, scream with the own voice, burn the own skin in the strong sun!

3 meter kite

And, hey guys, what is going on in your lives?
Wie gehts euch so zu Hause, lasst mal von euch hoeren!