Highlights from the 2014 Giant Kites Maya Guatemala Cultural Tour

I have been leading tours in Guatemala and to the Giant Kites of Sumpango since 2011.  It is always a highlight of my year to witness this amazing creative community achievement of giant kites and to go behind the scenes of this festival for the Day of the Dead.

            We began in colonial Antigua, where I lived for eight months in 2011 - 12. For several of those months I lived in a charming small hotel where I was able to house tour participants.  The courtyard featured roses, there was a small kitchen and the balcony granted us views of  Volcano Fuego puffing in the distance.  From the ancient statures of the maya to the etching of Jade, to the cathedrals, to the labrynth of the renowned museum Casa Domingo, to sampling pepion and playing flutes with vendors, the streets and cuisine of Antigua are an endless discovery in the blue skys and pleasant temperatures of this “land of eternal spring.”

            An undisputed high point of our time in Antigua was the Choco-Museo’s chocolate making workshop with Pablo.  It is probably the most information packed and participatory workshop ever, as in two hours, we were entertained, educated and made both Guatemalan drinking chocolate and our own custom fine chocolate candies.  They were best chocolates I’ve ever tasted!

From Antigua we proceeded to Sumpango, for the Festival of the Giant Kites.  The making of these enormous kites from tissue paper and glue for the Day of the Dead is a tradition in this Kachiquel Maya pueblo.  The kites are believed to deliver messages to the ancestors as well as protect the pueblo from evil spirits.  The artistry of these kites is amazing.  Using fine brightly colored Chinese tissue paper (papel de china) and glue, the kites themselves look like giant painted murals and mandalas but are actually mosaics of cut paper that take months of volunteer labor.  Around 600 people in Sumpango participate in the making of the kites.  While many people visit Sumpango the day of the festival, enduring many hours of traffic to do so, this tour provides a “behind the scenes” look at the festival.

I must admit that the skies were cloudy and slightly threatening when we arrived in Sumpango the day before the festival.  Kites made of tissue paper are of course, highly susceptible to moisture.  This was my fourth year at the festival and it had never rained.  We toured the market and then the municipal building where the largest of the giant kites was in it’s final stage of being assembled.  Because some of the kites are the size of a six story building, they are created in parts and then glued together.  It is always thrilling to see these huge works of paper and art and indeed it is easier to see them close up on the floor than after they have been mounted and are looming above us.  Though I have witnessed first hand the early and late stages of making these kites, I am always moved the dedication and months of volunteer work that each kite requires.  And also, even though this is a collective work, with groups ranging from a family to 45 members, each group member takes incredible pride in their kite, made to shine for this one day.

Sumpango is normally a bit chilly in October and this year was no exception, especially when it started to rain, ever so lightly at first.  Guatemala is known for it’s rum and so it was easy to procure a large, warming bottle for hot toddys before we proceeded to the cemetery for the shamanic blessing of the kites. The rain was pounding when we reached the palapa in the cemetery where the ritual fire had already started and the Maya nanas were reciting the naguals.  I slipped in the mud and fell gently toward the fire, and those of us in the outer circle were welcomed beneath the woven roof while the fire glittered with offerings of sugar, seeds and colored candles and the nanas chanted in Kachiquel, sitting with legs folded beneath them, impossibly near the fire and we threw candles into the flames which had been given to us as the ceremony progressed.  The rain dripped in sheets from the edge of the palopa while the fire illumined the huipiles of the Mayan spiritual leaders of Sumpango.  By the time we left the ceremony to make our way back the short distance to Betty’s house, the rain was pouring steadily.   We nibbled on our chocolates and had another toddy and said good night to Betty’s family who as always, were welcoming, friendly and seeming glad to give their rooms to us for a couple nights and include us in their family.

            The next morning it wasn’t raining!  In fact, the sky was almost clear.  I thought about the fire the night before.  But while there was no rain, there was plenty of mud.  The largest kites (over 6 meters) are not flown but are exhibited, their structure dependant on a network of bamboo poles which support the paper.  Each kite has a large central bamboo post that needs to be firmly installed in the ground.  But before the kitemakers could even make the hole, they had to shovel mud until they reached solid ground.  And some of them hadn’t slept for several nights finishing their kites and working at their day jobs.  Still the kitemakers went at the job with determination.  Another aspect of exhibiting these enormous kites is the need to fit the frame correctly to the folded kite.  There is no room for error as one unattached corner than cause the whole kite to rip when caught by a breeze.

            The mounting of each kite is a cause for applause and sometimes firecrackers.  For most of the kitemakers this is the first time and the only day they will see the culmination of their months of labor.

But the true excitement of the festival is in the flying of the kites under 6 meters.  These are also it’s bulk to a current which will support it.  For the first time in my four years, there were four kites in the sky at the same time.  We yelled with the crowd as if our enthusiasm could keep the kites airborne.  And sometimes we moaned as a kite fell into the crowd unable to gain altitude.

            The next day we got the chance to make our own kites with Julio and then to fly them in the cemetery in the traditional celebration of the Day of the Dead on November 2nd.  We also joined Julio’s family in eating lunch in the cemetery, one of the traditional activities honoring the dead on Nov. 2nd.

From Sumpango we headed to San Pedro la Laguna on the shores of Lake Atitlan, where tour members enjoyed a fabulous view of Lake Atitlan and hammocks waiting outside their door, with wi fi too.  In addition to the spectacular scenery, the lake hosts the contemporary culture of the living Maya people who settled in this area around 4000 years ago.  Many women still wear handwoven clothing, there are murals on the painted walls and young people from South America selling handmade jewelry in the streets.  Nearby San Juan specializes in medicinal herbs and weaving using natural dyes while Santiago boasts an intricate embroidery of birds and is the home of the Maya diety, Maximón.  San Pedro boasts a variety of excellent restaurants, artists who depict Mayan life, and many Maya artesans as well as solar hot pools, live music, and a lively market up town.  It is always a joy to share San Pedro and the lake with visitors, as I have lived in this area for three years and have contacts with many people here.  One of the great workshops we enjoyed was making natural shampoo with Hilda.  Starting with local plants we scraped, plucked and boiled the ingredients to make a conditioning, luxurious all-natural shampoo.  There was a lot of laughter too!

It was hard to say goodbye after enjoying so many experiences together.  On our last night we had a birthday party for Jane and lit candles to light our journeys – the kind of candle that can’t be blown out.  This year I am looking forward to leading this amazing tour once more.  I hope you can come.