jueves, 23 de agosto de 2012

Feria in San Pedro Jocopilas!


So much for writing more often, huh? Instead of opening Word to write a blog I was instead, writing one of many essays required for PA school applications. Luckily, all are now submitted and I can focus my attention on other matters. Such as reading more and watching more moviesJ.  Within the past week I finished The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw, The Kite Runner by  Khaled Hosseini and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The last one was a very interesting read from the viewpoint of a clone who grows up leading a normal life with all other clones but with the realization that they were created solely to donate their organs. Anyway, so I want to share what I’ve been doing recently at work BUT back two months ago in June we had our town’s feria and I feel that is definitely worthy of sharing.  Next week I’ll post another blog about work activities.

Sooo, every town has their own feria which celebrates their saint.  For example, I live in San Pedro and therefore we have a fair when it’s the week of Saint Peter.  It was a very fun filled week and I felt like every time I was in my room I was missing out on something happening in the streets.  Venoni (my boyfriend) got quite sick of me jumping up and down like a little kid wanting to participate in every single activity. I’ll post pictures from the week and explain a little about that activity.

Day 1
The first night of feria was the “Indigenous queen contest”.  About 7 villages of San Pedro nominated a queen.  Each girl had to give a speech in both the Mayan language of K’iche and Spanish.  Six of the girls talked about the environment while only one talked about the importance of preserving their culture by continuing to wear their traje and speak their native tongue.  Unfortunately, she did not win. However, Primavera (the village where I work) actually won. Later, I heard she gave the exact same speech as last year’s winner though.  Slightly unfair, but that’s Guatemala.




Day 2
The second night was the “urban area queen contest”. Unfortunately, only one girl ran for queen so the night was cut short.  However, they did have two singers come from other departments that put on a little show.  It was a much different evening from the night prior but still enjoyable.




Urban Area Queen
Indigenous queen

 Day 3

The third day started off with a parade. Each class from the elementary and middle schools dressed up as something or played a sport. 


 

 


Beautiful faces at the parade. These two are adorable.

The parade was led to a field where each class did a performance for the mayor. This was followed by lunch provided by the many food vendors and a soccer game 

Lining up before the soccer game.
Check this awesome peanut
 vendor out!
Cooking carne de res and platanos


After the soccer game we passed through the park where there was a "comvite." This is a dance by either a group of men or women who spend around Q10,000 on their uniforms.


Day 4
Day 4 consisted of the men's group comvite and "torritos?" in the park that night. About 8 or 9 houses in the community were chosen for the men to do their dance in front of. Therefore, the men started their dance around 9am and continued until late that night where they did a final performance in the park. 

 


This afternoon/night activity was my favorite event in the feria. Boxes with fireworks attached were placed on top of boys/men while they ran around the park while these fireworks randomly shot off. Venoni and I had to use an umbrella to guard us from the falling fireworks (with sticks attached) and also from the fireworks that shot off directly into the crowd.  The whole time I thought, how is this even legal? But, considering murder here goes unpunished it's not surprising they don't have a rule about fireworks. Also, there were two drunks that kept chasing after the little "bull". One drunk laid passed out in the corner. I tried posting a video but after 15 minutes it said only 2% was uploaded and to upload these pictures I had to leave my computer on overnight. I'll try to post it once I get faster internet so the explanation is a little clearer! It was truly incredible. 

The "Little Bull" running around the park with fireworks
shooting off into the crowd and into the air
                                   
These two men danced with those sticks for the entire activity. 
                                         
Day 5
Day 5 consisted mainly of comvite, comvite, comvite but only with the women.  There were two women's groups who also performed all day with a final performance in the park.
Venoni clearly tired of me dragging
 him to the different feria activities :-)




                                  


       
Performance in the park

Overall, feria was an awesome experience and I really 
enjoyed the entire week.  Hope this helps explain a little more about what "feria" is!