Day of the Dead in Todos Santos

Todos Santos, Guatemala

Monday was one of those days that I would re-live all over again if I could. I arrived in Todos Santos at 8:30 am after a three and a half hour ride in a van from Xela. There were 12 of us in total that made the trip with the goal of watching the horse race of Todos Santos. I’m not sure I could give a better overall description of the days events than my guidebook.

“The horse racing festival of Todos Santos is one of the most celebrated and spectacular in Central America – it is also a frenzied day that usually degenerates into a drunken mess. Quite simply, riders race between two points…When the day begins, the men are pretty tipsy…as the day wears on, they get completely smashed,disheveled and are moaning and groaning from the enjoyment and the alcohol which must easily have reached near comatose level.”

The racing had already started when we arrived and when we approached the race we could clearly see men on horses that were already wasted and swaying back and forth atop their horses. The entire town was clearly on it’s way towards drunkenness despite the fact that the mayor of the town outlawed the sale of alcohol on this day a couple of years ago. Luckily, I came prepared with a half liter bottle of Quetzalteca rum. Although banned, finding beer wasn’t difficult. Simply, walk up the main street, turn right at a dirt road, walk up the hill until you see a white truck on your left and ask the man under the shed for a beer. He’ll grab one out of a closet for you.

Half way through the day there was a break in the horse racing in order for the racers to get further boozed-up. We headed back into town where we found three men playing the marimba and a large crowd of men stumblingdancing in a drunken haze. They seemed to be having a good time so I joined in on the fun; much to the crowds delight. A month of Spanish classes paid off as I was able to make some friends for the day (from those who knew Spanish and not just the local Mayan language). One guy I was talking to randomly disappeared and came back a few minutes later to give me a rosary. I’m not sure why but I bought him a new beer and said thanks. Maybe that was his goal.

At 2:00 pm the horse racing started back up again. Walking back to the races we found out it was possible for anyone to race the horses. I wasn’t passing this up so I handed over 20 Quetzals to a guy standing next to a horse. Next thing I knew I was flying down the track with 8 drunk Guatemalans.

From Day of the Dead Xela & Todos Santos 2010-11

I didn’t think drinking and racing around on horses could get boring but apparently the men on the horses needed to mix things up a little bit. To add some further entertainment to the race a man grabbed a live chicken by the neck and used it as the whip for his horse. Watching a man spur on his horse with a live chicken flailing around was something that I won’t soon forget. Obviously, after one lap of being used as a whip the chicken returned to the starting line with a broken neck and was no longer alive.

From Day of the Dead Xela & Todos Santos 2010-11

The craziness of this day won’t be lived down anytime soon but the longer I stay in Guatemala the more I love this country. The people are incredibly nice and all previously conceived notions of what is acceptable have been thrown out the window. Want to walk down the street drinking a beer? No problem. Need to pee? Use the street corner. Need fresh milk? Go find the lady with the goat in the market.

All pictures from the Day of the Dead celebrations.