Last week was the village fair, in honor of San Pedro (St Peter), its saint patron. It was a lot of fun, especially the beauty pageant. Out of the 3,000+ inhabitants, only four young ladies were willing to participate, one of them smiling so little that it looked like her parents forced her to do it. BF was nominated as a judge and I was designated a front row site just behind him. How long does it take to elect one beauty queen out of four teenagers you ask? Well it was supposed to start at 7pm, so we were there at 7 sharp, the music was too loud for our sanity so we escaped for a while, it really started around 830pm and lasted past midnight. The girls put their best effort into the show and it was really cute, but while they changed the council had decided on an hyperactive cowboy to provide cantina-like musical interludes and it was pretty painful.
Like, that painful. I made the videos 12 seconds long, we had 5 hours of it.
As we were sitting front row we didn’t hear that the villagers didn’t want the singers to perform anymore but we felt it as every time the singer asked “do you want one more?” no one answered, but he must have been paid by the song because he kept on singing even if the contestants had finished changing and were ready for the pageant.
Anyway, back to the show.
The ladies started with a presentation of the traditional local dresses
Then it was time for a cowgirls choreography
I don’t know what that was, some kind of cheerleading dance, their parents didn’t give permission for a swimsuit show so that was in lieu I guess.
My favorite were those flamboyant costumes representing some Mayan stuff.
It was the most festive and original. It was such a cool show that some people hung from the outside windows for the full 5 hours it lasted
Yes, admission was free but the place was crowded. It only happens once a year! 🙂
Finally, the ladies changed into their evening gown, to do a little speech and answer a question. The speeches were learned by heart, had been rehearsed at home for weeks, and were not very original, but how can you learn from something you have never seen? They had no idea how a pageant participant should act, they had a hard time smiling, standing straight, they were shy and very touching. They shared their dreams, “My biggest dream in life is to become a secretary”. One dared dream all the way to accountant. Their favorite pastime were listening to music or reading, not the Internet and fashion. Their favorite dish? Hen soup. My neighbor told me the questions were no surprises, and had been rehearsed as well, but again it was the first time they spoke in public and they did a great job. They were very natural and shy but it gave them a nice touch of authenticity.
It was a weird mix of American show, with a little bit of traditions, and very loud music. Then four boys appeared and they started dancing to the Spanish cover of Lady in Red. The boys had no idea there would be competing for the first ever Mister San Pedro title but played the game really well.
The Queen got crowned by last year’s Queen over a Spanish cover of My Heart Will Go On.
The Queen and King (one of our workers and her real life boyfriend coincidentally).
The festivities lasted four more days, one of the big events being the “pato encebado”. I will spare you the pics on that one. They tie a duck to its legs, head down, and hang it in the air. Then each villager gets to try to rip the duck’s head with his bare hands, standing on his galloping horse. The winner will take home a headless duck for lunch.
The fun wouldn’t be complete without a rodeo!
The bulls are awaiting their fighters
The North of Guatemala sometimes looks like the Far West. Lots of cow boys, cattle breeders, and the laws have a hard time being respected. It is illegal to carry a gun that can be seen by other people.
But if you’re going to do it anyway, better bring ammunitions. For a soccer game, 4 racks should suffice.
We left before they were all drunk and shooting in the air…
530pm, the 2pm rodeo is about to start. Bullfighters say a quick prayer
Time to get on the bull
Then out!
The doppelganger of some Mexican singer comes for an interlude
There were dances, a couple more live performers, and the traveling shooting stands you find in any small town fair. I was pretty impressed by the size of the event for such a small village.
We took advantage of the fair to meet more villagers, get known and talk about our land development. As BF was the beauty pageant’s judge, he became a celebrity and it was funny being invited to eat in houses of people we had never met or having random stranger calling him by his first name when saying hello in the streets.
Wow, sounds incredibly interesting. I personally only bring 2 or 3 clips when I go to the local youth soccer game, but that’s just me. 4 seems a little excessive. Did you try your hand at the pato encebado?
haha! I have not worked the courage to wring my chicken’s neck to have a roast so no, no pato encebado for me!
That looks like a fun little local festival to go to. It actually looks rather big compared to how I envisioned the nearby town.
It is a once in a year event but it was quite huge!
I live in a state where it is completely legal to open carry a firearm, so nothing really shocks me that much, but 4 extra loaded magazines seems a little extreme to me. Unless they were planning on the zombie apocalypse starting during the festival, in which case they don’t have enough…
Looks like a fun time! I’ve only been to a couple of Rodeos in my life and have always enjoyed them.
I think he was planning on killing the whole football team if it had lost the game. Good thing they won. I don’t know what they are trying to prove. The number of “accidents” because they couldn’t hold their liquor is staggering. Maybe in 10 years the law will reach the village. The current guardian of the law, the mayor, didn’t seem to mind too much.
Sounds like a heck of an experience! Glad you survived the singer for 5 hours. Not sure I could have taken that!
You got some great pics of the festivities! It’s impressive such a small village would put on such a big festival. My sister won the “Little Miss” pageant for our town when she was in like 3rd grade so I sat through my fair share of pageants when I was younger…
Sounds like quite the experience. My Dad live in Montana where virtually anything is legal gun wise and he takes FULL advantage of it so I am sure he’d fit in quite well. 😉 Like Mrs. Pop said, I am glad you survived the singer – not sure I could do that. 🙂
haha I can imagine your dad’s house with guns everywhere. I see the point to go hunting, or even to feel safe in a place like Guatemala. But parading guns and 4 racks is just a complex of some kind, it makes no sense.
What an interesting festival. I can’t believe the person with the gun has that many magazines. What in the world is about to happen where you would need that much ammunition.
Generally people that heavily armed are drug lords, so you don’t want to go and ask them that question. No one needs to carry enough to kill half the attendance..
I hope the drug lords don’t read this blog. They probably wouldn’t want you talking about them.
I would hope they are financially independent by now lol.
Looks like a wonderful experience not sure about people carrying a gun. I mean carrying the gun is one thing but to have that many extra clips its like you are expecting trouble and a lot of it. Its funny that the guy ask to you want more and no one said yes but he kept singing.
It has to be tough to motivate a crowd that doesn’t want you singing around! Poor guy, he did put on his show though.
That looks awesome! I would love to experience Guatemalan culture. Maybe we can come visit you some day?!?!?!?
sure! the most impressive are the highlands where people are still very traditional, then a few days by my little lake to wash off the dust makes for an awesome holiday!
OMG I would blow my brains out if I had to listen to that much Ranchera type music. lol!! I love the bright costumes though! Very entertaining post. 🙂
I was sitting front row next to the amps… my head still hurts lol.
You live such a fascinating life, Pauline. 🙂 I’m really impressed by the scale of their festivities for such a small community. The girls (I guess teenagers!) looked adorable (probably not what they were going for) and I loved their Mayan costumes too.
They were 15 and 16, which in some areas can compare to the maturity of a 11-12 yo in the US. They were going for cute, although probably in a year or two most of them will be married with a kid in tow, they switch to adult life real quick, but at least they had their princess-y night.
Wow, this is so cool! Colorful clothes, looks like you had a lot of fun. What are all of the guns for?
That sounds very interesting Pauline! A good way to experience the culture. I really like the girls costumes and formal dresses. They looked beautiful all dressed up.
I remember going to a bull fight in Madrid. I didn’t like it very much.
Looks like quite an experience you’re having there. I love the colorful traditional style outfits!
Haha, those pictures of the gun guy are amazing! I hope the referee didn’t upset that man.
Not that I heard of, but me taking pictures kind of did! I had to pretend I was taking the players.
I’m sure the majority of the people there were armed! I’v had many friends that lived there and they say it’s pretty crazy. It looked like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing with us!
thankfully, it was not the majority. and only outsiders, no one from the village. It is still pretty weird.
the village fair sounds like a fun festivity! but what´s up with the gun to a social gathering?? Glad you got to meet more of the villagers and getting info about your land development out there:-)
I don’t know what the hell goes through their mind. Something like “oh, there is a football game, I may get killed, let’s bring a gun, you never know”. Or they just want to play who is the most macho.
Cripes! This is darn good coverage of the event, Pauline. You taught us something about the Guatemalan culture. Thank you! In the second video of the singing cowboy, he went about a quarter step off key. Ouch for you – for 5 hours!
He was off key a lot but I think the background music was hard for him to hear so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he may be able to sing. My neighbor loved how he sang, I had a hard time nodding in fake approval.
You are a perfect mixture of honesty and sweetness, Pauline!
It wasn’t so bad up until the chicken hanging and the gun and ammunition. I’d be out of there as well before the alcohol kicked in lol. Thanks for sharing this with us Pauline.
can you imagine duck heads, blood and bullets going off haha thankfully it looks like it ended up peacefully.
I missed the fiesta celebration in our native place. I think we have in common with Guatemala people. We celebrate the feast of Young Jesus (Santo Nino). There are a lot of shows, events, parade and cultural shows.
It is also a culture to eat in the house of your friends or even stranger who invited you.
I like the eating out part! yes it is similar, they take out the saint patron for processions and all the village walks behind it.
That sounds like a like of fun….minus the singing cowboy though. How in the world did you last so long? I could barely even make it through the first clip!
haha, you get used to it I guess, 8 hour bus rides with that kind of music in the background give you no alternative!
Wow. I loved the traditional Mayan costumes, but I don’t think I’ll ever look at a soccer game quite the same now. It sounds like a fascinating opportunity to learn more about Guatemalan culture!