Gotta Love Those Saints!
Posted on June 28, 2010 - Filed Under Fun, Guatemala, Kids, Simple Life | 12 Comments
Here in Guatemala, they enjoy any reason for a celebration and there are days for all the saints, which are considered holidays. Since most of the towns seem to be named after some saint or another, all the towns with that name celebrate on the saint’s special day. Our town’s patron saint was recently celebrated.
This year, our fair was HUGE! We even rated actual rides this time!
Usually we miss out on that because the big feria in Antigua (otherwise known as Santiago) is in July and they have all the good stuff there from mid June onward.
I will apologize in advance that my pictures are not of great quality. My poor little camera does NOT like twilight.
Our town square is actually on three levels, with the school and basketball court on the upper level, the church parking lot on the second and the third is the actual square in front of the church, with a fountain and cross. This is what you get when you build a town on the side of a volcano!
The rides were on the first level, along with the “professional” food booths. The third level was where all the women who make tostadas and tamales were hanging out. There was even Q5 mole, but I missed it.
This is looking down from the edge of the first level.
This family was watching the ferris wheel go around.
Here are all the people waiting for the music to start.
Finally, the band!
We headed to see the altars set up first.
Looking up from the lowest level of the park.
Then we hit the rides. We told the kids ahead of time that they could have two rides and a game.
Dante has watched too many action movies lately, so we enlisted the help of his cousin to keep him from throwing himself out of the car on the second ride.
Right after this, we got the boys down and Dorian and Zanelle headed for the games, holding hands.
Dante got off behind them and started screaming as we led him toward the games. I was disappointed that he didn’t remember our deal and reminded him, only two rides and a game. I told him we were going to the game, but he kept pulling back to the car and screaming his head off.
Finally, through the tears, I made out one word, “Dowian!” and promptly realized that he didn’t know where his brother was. He thought we’d left Dorian on the ride! We hurried up ahead where Dorian and Zanelle were and the boys hugged, Dorian gave his brother a kiss and assured him he was right there, then grabbed his hand with his free hand and all was right with the world again.
The boys played the marble game and then we headed for some food. This is my absolute favorite street food, the gringa!! Which brings on no end of jokes about how I’m a cannibal. 
It’s layers of meat and onion on a metal stick that is roasted over a long period of time. They cut it off and fry it on the hot grill, then melt a chunk of cheese (that’s what really makes it!) and slap it all on a couple of flour tortillas. Then you dress it up with the goodies in front. They are absolutely delicious! Though I did get an upset stomach not once, but twice from eating them this year. Oh well. It was worth it!
The boys weren’t interested in gringas. They wanted churros and these odd fried . . . things. I have no idea what they are. But they liked them!
Dante was more interested in his game winnings.
We actually managed to bypass the peanuts this time around!
As it got dark and the band started up, we sat down in the lowest level of the park and ordered atol (a thick, warm drink) de elote (corn) and a round of tostadas. The girl thought we were a bit odd since we ordered one tostada with avocado and salad on top, as is the norm, one tostada with just beans (for Dante) and one with absolutely nothing (for Dorian, the master of plain food). Irving had dobladas.
When we’d finished and it was about 7:30, Dorian suddenly got up and said, “Ok, let’s go home. I’ve got to get to sleep.”
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12 Responses to “Gotta Love Those Saints!”
Talk to Me, People!
Love the pictures! I would love to be there! Your boys are adorable!!!
It SOOOOO looks as though the boys didn’t enjoy their day and the fair…
AND, how cute that Dante was looking out for his brother…
Haha! I can’t believe he was ready to go at bedtime! That’s great! It looks like you guys had a blast.
Oh, and Grayson is my plain food eater. We go out to eat Mexican about once a week & he orders a taco with only meat and cheese every time. Grant doesn’t care what’s on it, as long as he gets beans to go with it!
Oh I saw the ferris wheel in Antigua but didn’t head that direction yet. What town are you in again? I love learning about things from you!
We’re in San Juan del Obispo. I’m going to post a video of the ferris wheels here . . . they go wicked fast!
Just catching up… loads going on. Loved the picturesque tour around the fair – and can’t wait for your travel-adventure (to the other side of the galaxy) to start. I’m totally exited and I’m not even going, he, he.
xx
The wierd fried things are called chicharrines and they´re made from wheat flour.
Those tacos look delicious! The ones you eat are called gringas because they use flour tortillas instead of corn ones.
How dare you bypass the peanuts??? that´s almost like saying you didn´t go to the fair! There´s nothing like getting a black face and fingers while peeling and eating these peanuts.
Love your pictures! I noticed that at the altar it said: Dejen que los niños vengan a mi. How appropriate!
I´m so glad the rain let up so that you and your family could enjoy!
Thanks, Cristina! I still lack some vocabulary.
Normally the boys are going NUTS over the peanuts and we buy a huge bag of them. Then we have peanut shells all over our floor, couch and somehow, even in the beds, lol. So I prefer to buy them pre-shelled in the market. We always have a good supply of unsalted peanuts on hand for snacks.
great pics Genesis! had a great time meeting you and your family this past weekend…
We had a great time with you, too, Michele. Irving said, “That was actually fun, everyone spoke Spanish, there was meat AND they were all as shy as me.”
mmm… gotta admit that carne asada with chirmol was so good. And everyone raved about your salad too! yeah, we all speak Spanish so I am sure Irving felt right at home. I will tell ya though, it felt great to talk some English down here for a change lol. hope you can make it on Sunday-although I did not get a chance to stop by the restaurant to meet Ann and Max, they are welcome to come to the party as well as I would love to meet them!
Great pictures. How I would kill to have a proper tostada here in Denmark?
I was asking my husband if he had ever eating a dish called gringa. He wasn’t sure, so I “pointed” to your photo with my “lips”. Then I just realized what I did.