Today is the day Guatemalans are supposed to burn small effigies of the Devil in the road outside their homes, along with piles of household rubbish. (Recently piñatas representing Chupacabras have become a popular alternative.)Now, as you can imagine, environmentalists can be a bit boring about all this acute indendiary activity, especially as modern Chapin trash includes a lot of stuff that gives off noxious fumes.
As V reported this morning, La Quema del Diablo has become something of a day of license, with households able to create monster pyres with their 'colchones viejos' and 'almohadas pulgientas', with flames often rising so high that it is not uncommon for telephone and electricity wires to melt. Many people choose to go about on foot this evening because of the danger that their vehicles might unexpectedly explode.
Meanwhile, with the second cachinflin-free Christmas beckoning, the grinchudos are out in force raiding factories in various townships around the capital with a view to stifling the last remaining local resistance to the ban on these hand-thrown fireworks that was ordered last year.
1 comment:
I was reminded of this tradition today as well. Cachivaches. I like to pronounce that word. If I could, I would take all the necessary (or rather, unnecessary) cachivaches out of our place, make a nice and even mountain of stuff outside and after looking at all of my neighbors' stunned faces I would smile mischeviously as the pile would begin to burn. Someone would probably call the cops though. I would be taken to the station and I would probably be labeled as an "enemy combatant" and then, I would be invited to a nice, long chat with a man in a suit. No man. I rather do what I told another blogger. No need to piss off the neighbors.
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