Guatemalan Independence Day 2007 Slideshow and Video

How to make a Guatemalan is a recipe that have eluded the brightest Guatemalan minds and puzzles many newly adopting parents of Guatemalan children. My friend Ale, if I may call her that, from Congo Days and Desde Kinshasa spends some her time writing about identity while she can tell the forest apart from the trees. She pointed us toward a French film which touches these issues; below her exact words:

While thinking about these issues I remembered a great film I saw almost two years ago that touched upon many of these subjects. Sandrine recommended it first and I loved the movie. It’s title in French is Va, vis et deviens (“Live and Become“) and it is a beautiful story that touches upon identity, race, religion, adoption, history and love from one child’s perspective.

I haven’t seen the film yet, but the title alone is hauntingly enough, for me, to make me want to see it. Live and become could be the short answer for those searching how to make a Guatemalan from a newly adopted baby. With that in mind, I leave you a short slide show and a video clip of the activities around the Guatemalan Independence Day.

I dedicate these photos, video and sounds to all my Guatemalan readers living abroad; may these vistas bring you home for a little while.

Last year Guatemalan Independence Day activities:

20 Responses to "Guatemalan Independence Day 2007 Slideshow and Video"

westondailyphoto says:
September 16, 2007 at 8:14 pm
big parade & great pics!!
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Scott says:
September 16, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Rudy,
Just curious…what country are you from (what country do you claim as your “roots”)? Guatemala? Mexico? U.S.? Another?
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ale says:
September 17, 2007 at 3:41 am
Hey Rudy, I loved the picture and videos. Will bring my copy of Va vie et deviens with me to Guate next month. I’d love to know what other chapines make of this film.
We celebrated the independence of Central America with 5 Hondurans, some other Latinos and a few Americans last Saturday. I didn’t have a big flag of Guate with me (shame, shame) but brought the camisola de la selección with me 🙂
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Jerry T says:
September 17, 2007 at 6:21 am
This was a much grander scale than my Guatemalan Independence Day picnic. I celebrated Guatemalan Indepence Day in Fort Worth, TX at a Guatemalan picnic and finally got to eat Pollo Campero food. Yummy!
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Manolo says:
September 17, 2007 at 9:31 am
In another friend’s blog there are some pictures of the “desfile” in Xela. I’ve never went to celebrate the “15 de septiembre” ouside of la capital and I hope my brother posts something about our school’s band in this year’s parade.
thank you Rudy for this reminder for those of us who are not in the public plaza…
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Lessie says:
September 17, 2007 at 11:06 am
You’ve captured the enegry of the moment! Love the amber color.
Don’t know if you can turn an adopted Guatemalan baby — raised in another country — into a “Guatemalan.” By definition, once adopted, I would think the baby is a mescla. A rich and wonderful mix of cultures — and I would hope the adopted parents would do all they could to introduce the baby’s heritage into their family and lives. But make the baby “Guatemalan”? Not possible — and shouldn’t be the goal, I would think.
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Coltrane_lives says:
September 17, 2007 at 8:32 pm
With our adopted daughter from Guatemala we’re really trying our best to raise her in the truest fashion as a “Global American…Global citizen.” This means with a great understanding of her birth country as well as the country she resides. Of course, she is only 3 years old now and many things are a novelty to her, but she has such a curious mind and is asking many questions. We are open and honest with her and anticipate that she will one day want to return to her birth country. At present, she is thriving in a Montessori school (part time) and her teachers all claim she has such an extensive vocabulary for 3 years that perhaps one day she will be a writer. She’s always loved books and actually goes to sleep with a stack of them, so who knows. Imagine the power of the written word and how this little child may one day give back to her birth country in ways we can’t possibly imagine. In any case, we and she are proud of Guatemala and do what we can to honor her country, language, traditions, and its people. For these reasons, your site Rudy is indeed a blessing. Gracias!
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Jerry B says:
September 18, 2007 at 4:17 pm
This Texan got to celebrate the day just across the square from you, Rudy! Will be putting a lot of photos on Flickr this weekend. It was a wonderful day, and it was great to see the joy with which Guatemalans celebrated.
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ale says:
September 20, 2007 at 2:25 am
gracias manin, I spent the 15th in Germany, no to many Guatemalans theres but it was ok,
saludos
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Rudy says:
September 22, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Scott, I am from here, from there, from everywhere… really. Does it matter?
Ale, great to hear about your celebraciones de independencia.
Jerry T, see, resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. Well, this threat may be too late for you… you ARE assimilated. 😉
Manolo, heck I didn’t even know there was anything outside of la capirucha; much less that they even celebrated anything. 😉
Lessie, I wonder, like Ale from Congo Days, what will be of those thousands of thousands of children in twenty years… will they have an umbilical cord with their birth country? Time will tell, I guess.
ColtraneLives, I already answer this comment with another entry, right?
Jerry B, will be waiting for the link to see your photos of the independence day celebrations and next time you come by, let me know.
Ale, manín gracias for doing the field work in Germany. I will let the ministro de relaciones exteriores our plan to take over Germany next. There can be no place on earth that does not celebrate el Día de la independencia chapina… jaja… Independencia chapina, if at least it was verdad de verdadero.
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Scott says:
September 23, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Rudy,
I suppose that everyone could say the same thing. I could too, but I won’t. I claim the United States as my “roots”. It is too bad that you wish to keep the country of your “roots” secret from all your readers. You must have your reasons for keeping this information protected. I will respect that and not ask again.
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Rudy says:
September 23, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Scott, nel! I just think it is obvious if your read a dozen or so entries from the more than 523 entries available in this site. Besides, you know it!
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Scott says:
September 24, 2007 at 5:40 am
Rudy, with all respect I do not know what country you claim as your “roots”. If I knew for sure, I would have not have bothered you with such a question. Unfortunately I do not have time to look through all the postings of this site and it is your choice if you do not wish to answer such a question.
Thanks for the pictures and for the work you put into your website!
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brendan says:
March 5, 2008 at 6:12 pm
the pictures r ok but i need in formation on how independance day is celebrated in Guatemele!!!!!:]
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maryeth says:
September 18, 2008 at 7:20 am
esto es muy bonito mandenme videos de su banda porfavor gracias
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Guatemalan Independence Day 2007 Slideshow and Video

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