Spanish School Blog

On November 1st, Guatemala celebrates All Saints’ Day, a very traditional and colorful festivity in Guatemala, on this day the Giant Kites event takes place in Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepequez (click here to learn more about this date) and families and close friends get together to enjoy delicious national dishes, the Sweet Pumpkin (Dulce de Ayote) is one of them.

On November 1st of each year, on All Saints' Day in Guatemala, the well-known tradition of the Giant Kite Festival is celebrated. This colorful tradition admired by locals and tourists alike, takes place in Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala.

The popular Guatemala dish we all enjoy every year on November 1st, which is ‘All Saints Day’ (El Día de Todos Los Santos), a day before the ‘Dia de Los Muertos’. Some say that this dish is an offering for a particular date of the year. But the history tell us the real origin of this popular Guatemalan dish.

Guatemala tradition on handicrafts dates back to pre-Hispanic times. Handicrafts covers all work or work done by hand, without the support of any kind of machinery. These handmade works produce costumes or clothing, some decorative, but most of them are utilitarian objects.

In Spanish Language, we use diminutives to shorten the definitions of time and space. Although these are words that technically do not exist in the dictionary, they are widely used on daily basis and applied for many circumstances.

The traditional Guatemalan clothing is well known to be perhaps the most colorful of all the typical costumes in Latin America, in particular, the Highlands of Guatemala are the most popular ones. These costumes vary a lot and it depends on the region, each design has been influenced by history.

Guatemala is a multi-ethnic and multilingual country, the country is divided into four ‘Culture Groups’ with 25 ‘ethnic groups’, the four culture groups are the Mayan, Ladina, Xinca (Xinka) and Garífuna.

On September 15th Guatemala celebrates the Independence Day as an independent country from Spain (Guatemala became an independent country in 1821).

There are tons of common expressions we all use in any language as we all know, but in Spanish language and in Guatemala, this is perhaps this is the most used expression any day, the famous ‘NO TENGA PENA’.

Corn in Guatemala has been a vital piece in the history of this country, from ancestral times with the Mayans, until today. It is part of the daily diet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The famous tortillas are the eternal accompaniment at the Guatemalan table.