For never having heard of pumpkin carving before I think they caught on pretty quick.
One of the three main goals of the Peace Corps Guatemala is teaching Guatemalans about American culture. So tonight I carved "pumpkins" with my host family. In the capital and other large cities with a lot of American tourists I have heard that some people celebrate Halloween and some dress up, but out here in the campo it's mostly unknown. My host family had heard of Halloween, but not of carving pumpkins or trick-or-treating. I first showed some pictures and explained a little about Halloween traditions then we got right to it. I haven't seen pumpkins here but they did have a similar gourd-ish object in our market. They turned out to have a harder shell and interior than pumpkins back home, but we still managed to cut through them pretty well. One plus was that they were much cheaper than pumpkins in the States. I bought 5 good sides gourds for 45Quetzales (around $6). Everyone seemed to really enjoy this activity and really get into it. The younger kids who couldn't cut or scrape the pumpkins drew possible designs. My favorite moment was the sound of oooos and aaaahs when we put the candles in the first pumpkin and turned off the light. :)
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| She was the best at cutting and carving the pumpkins out of everyone |
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| "Make a face like your pumpkin" |
So many happy faces - including the pumpkins! Did you carry all five pumpkins back to your house at once? What a nice introduction to Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI did actually carry them back all at once plus some vegetables for the week. They were definitely very heavy but I was able to fit some in my backpack.
DeleteTrue talent. The green gourds are an improvement over pumpkins, I think. PS I'm sitting in doc office waiting to get vaccines for GNG.
ReplyDeleteMy host sister asked me if we were going to paint the pumpkins afterwards (because they were all orange in my photos). I told her no - that they come that way back home. I do like the colors and patterns on these gourds.
DeleteCan't wait for you to come to the GNG!
Hi Megan, In the campo its "unknown" due to many religious considers this tradition as "something related to devil or worshiping the devil". In the capital their influence (religious) is not that strong.
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