Friday, April 20, 2012

San Jorge Feria in Guatemala

Hi, today we attended the parade to mark the start of the San Jorge Feria.  It was a beautiful day....the kids from our pre-school were all dressed in their traditional clothing.
The teacher from San Jorge had invited the kids from the San Antonio Pre-school to come and participate in the parade. Those mothers and teachers were amazing, they were in the pick ups at 7.am. and got to San Jorge, marched all the way down the hill...you who have been there know this is a long hill, they waved little plastic flags all the way, got to the end of the parade and stood in the hot sun listening to speeches.......it was hot by then,.....one of the older boys, a young teen who was holding the flag, did a very dramatic, staggering faint right across the people doing the speech....it was so lucky that he did not roll off the steps ....but he did hit his head so the ambulance took him to the hospital....but fortunately, he fell more on his back and his head did not get a very hard hit....he even managed to hang onto the flag all the way down.  Gloria thought that he probably had not eaten and that was why he fainted....often kids faint at school from not eating.

But apart from the young boy fainting ...it was a very colorful, happy event... loud fireworks, a band , and the Junior High did a gymnastics demonstration that they have been working on.

The young girl who is in the princess of the village has to turn in her crown this week ..and she asked us to help her with a gift for the village. She wanted to give either a first aid kit to the local Bomberos ( First Responders) or a guitar to the church music group.  Not having any guitars made it an easy choice to help her with some basic first aid needs.   Susie was able to get a small kit together for her to pick up tomorrow and she will present it to the Bomberos.
There are two young women in the competition to be the Princess of San Jorge and they are both our students sponsored by Mayan Families....I don't know who they are yet but I will let you know  they are and who wins!
They wear the traditional San Jorge outfit for their Princess duties and they have a wooden carved crown that is really beautiful....and carry a wooden carved Quetzal.   I really liked seeing the crown and the Quetzal that the Princess was carrying.

San Jorge will be celebrating over the week end and also on Monday and Tuesday. Our pre-school will be closed on Tuesday so that they can go to watch the dancing. Every day there will be different dances, activities such as a running race....from San Jorge down to Panajachel and back up to San Jorge...phew....you who have been here know how hard that will be!
There are two rickety Ferris wheels , arcade games, a trampoline that you can jump on for 25 cents for 5 minutes and lots of food stalls being set up.
The saints from the church are being dressed in their finest robes and will be carried around the square in a procession.
Today the men were in the church sewing mirrors and feathers onto the fabric that will surround the saints. ...it was interesting to me that it was all men doing it and not women.
Sharon
Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity
Website: www.mayanfamilies.org

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