Go Fly a Kite

I am horribly late in posting these pictures from Sumpango, Sacatepéquez’s Kite Festival on Nov.1, pero mejor tarde que nunca. Besides I’ve been thinking about kites. I’ve been thinking of them in the obvious revived Maya custom of using giant kites to send messages to ancestors during Day of the Dead, but also in the way Guatemalans often fly kites with their children as a pastime on Sundays or wherever there are open spaces with even the slightest bit of wind. And so I catch myself staring at how teaching a child how to fly a kite here is a central image, incredibly captivating, about teaching a child individuation and independence. While similar teachable moments exist in the United States, I can’t say that it’s as common a sight to behold as it is here.