My Guatemalan Culture

My guatemalan culture consist of good food such as rice tamales. These tamales are usually made of chicken, pork or beef. They have a special tomato sauce on it that gives it that unique taste. It is wrapped in banana leaves and this is not only to cook the tamales in but to also add that special flavor as well. We eat these tamales on Christmas, birthday parties, and special family gatherings!

What do we like to drink in the winter times? My grandma’s delicious “arroz con leche.” This is a rice and milk hot drink perfect for fall, winter, spring and summer if you want to! It is so good, it leaves you wanting more! This is my grandma’s  go to drink when she has us grandkids over because she know we can’t say “no” to her “arroz con leche.”

Enough with food! The traditional instrument in Guatemala is the Marimba. Marimba is a percussion type of instrument. The marimba is played at different type of town festivals in Guatemala. Guatemalans love to dance to the tunes of the marimba during Christmas, parties, and gatherings.

You can learn a little bit of the marimba on this link :https://theculturetrip.com/central-america/guatemala/articles/marimba-how-guatemalas-national-instrument-is-a-symbol-of-resistance/

It is a instrument with a lot of significance.

Although, Spanish is the most spoken in Guatemala. There are about 21 mayan languages spoken in Guatemala. There is also two that are non-Mayan. In my family we speak a mayan dialect called Acateco. Although I am still learning to speak more of this dialect, I can understand it better.

Finally, fashion! Guatemalan clothing ranges from a lot of different colors, styles and textures. They are all beautiful and very traditional. The sad thing is that year by year some places in Guatemala are losing the tradition of wearing these clothing pieces and are exchanging them for more modern fashion. The fashion culture of each place slowly is disappearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaDs1duQOJI

This video shows and talks about my family’s traditional clothing.