San Simón y Maximón

NPHG is really close to a town called San Andres Itzapa. San Andres is home to the temple of San Simón (St. Simon), also known as Maximón. Every year on October 28th there is a huge fair/celebration in honor of San Simon, and a lot of volunteers were really curious and eager to go, including myself. Let me preface this by saying San Simon was a pretty questionable dude. He is a folk saint and the Catholic Church does not approve his veneration. Nonetheless, this was a HUGE cultural opportunity that I did not want to miss. What an incredibly interesting blend of the Mayan religion and Catholicisim! So, a group of us headed out after work to check out the festivities…

When we arrived around 5:30 P.M. on a Monday evening, it was already QUITE the party. I felt like I was at a state fair. Food stalls lined the walkway, vendors meandered through the crowds hawking junk, and people were everywhere. One of the first things in the main fair area was a booth with about 50 types of tequila. Some were very exotic- one even had marijuana leaves in it! I just mention that to help paint the picture. (Let’s remember that we were at a fair to celebrate San Simon, a “saint” associated with debaucherous things, after all…) A few volunteers got a teensy bit excited about the cheap prices haha ;)

options.

We slowly squeezed our way through the masses and reached the shrine room of San Simón. Lots of candles, lots of people.

la gente...

burn baby, burn!

THE (creepy) shrine.

After snapping a few pictures, we headed back out into the open air… and made some new Guatemalan friends! They were very “happy”, if you catch my drift, and oh so friendly! All they wanted to do was dance with us… (One woman vehemently told me, “HE’S A MAYAN PRIEST!!!” And then she told me the same thing about seven more times hahaha.)

Dancing Mayan priest on the loose.

And hand us free beers… (The same woman opened the bottles with her TEETH! I cringed just watching.)

Double fisting. I did learn something in college... ;)

Overall, Maximón was a really cool, interesting event. While I do not jive with what San Simon is about, I am glad I experienced such a unique part of Guatemalan culture. I really appreciated the friendliness of our Guatemalan acquaintances. (So typical of them!) They were so open to talking with us and teaching us about this event. They really helped get us into the, ahem, spirit… ;) It was memorable, and that- making memories- is something I'm about!