Sumpango's giant kites: a workshop after class
Every 1 November, giant kites of cane and tissue paper are raised in Sumpango, Guatemala. An A2 Spanish reading about the group that builds one after class.
Después de clase, un barrilete gigante en Sumpango
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Eight young people meet in a courtyard in Sumpango after class to build a giant kite from cane and tissue paper. The text follows how they assemble it, why the biggest ones almost never fly, and what happens on 1 November.
El grupo de este texto es inventado. El pueblo y la fiesta son reales.
Ocho jóvenes se juntan en un patio, después de clase, a las cinco de la tarde. Empiezan en agosto, porque un barrilete grande necesita muchas semanas de trabajo. A Elmer le gusta llegar temprano y barrer el patio.
El esqueleto es de varas de caña. Las cortan, las miden y las amarran con pita hasta formar un círculo enorme. En este patio nadie usa clavos, porque el barrilete tiene que quedar liviano.
El papel es papel de china, muy fino y de muchos colores. Aracely dibuja el diseño en una hoja pequeña y después lo copia en grande sobre el suelo. Prefiere dibujar de noche, cuando el patio está tranquilo.
Pegan el papel con engrudo, una pasta de harina y agua que preparan en una olla. Van capa sobre capa: primero el fondo y después las figuras. Trabajan por turnos: unos pegan un rato y luego siguen otros. Llevan tres semanas pegando y todavía les falta la mitad.
Los barriletes más grandes miden más de diez metros. Esos casi nunca vuelan: los levantan de pie, con una estructura de caña, y la gente los mira desde abajo. Los medianos sí vuelan, pero necesitan viento y bastante espacio.
A los abuelos les encanta mirar los barriletes cuando ya están de pie, con sus colores nuevos. Muchos barriletes llevan dibujos y frases sobre el pueblo y sobre la familia.
El 1 de noviembre el grupo sale a las cuatro de la mañana. A Vilma no le gusta madrugar, pero ese día se levanta la primera y les prepara café a todos. Entre todos cargan el barrilete hasta el campo, despacio y con las manos abiertas.
Ese día muchas familias van al cementerio. Mucha gente cuenta que los barriletes llevan mensajes a los muertos. En Santiago Sacatepéquez, un pueblo vecino, hay barriletes gigantes el mismo día.
Al final de la tarde, cuando ya casi no hay luz, algunos siguen volando barriletes pequeños. El patio queda vacío y lleno de papel roto, pero en diciembre el grupo ya está hablando del barrilete del año próximo.
¿Y tú? ¿Qué te gusta hacer después de clase o después del trabajo? ¿Prefieres preparar las cosas con tiempo o dejarlas para el final? ¿Hay en tu ciudad una fiesta que la gente prepara durante meses?
About this article
What you'll learn
Preference verbs with the infinitive (le gusta llegar, prefiere dibujar, les encanta mirar), how they differ from the gerund after llevar and seguir, direct object pronouns, and workshop vocabulary: barrilete, papel de china, engrudo, pita.
Eight young people meet in a courtyard in Sumpango after class to build a giant kite from cane and tissue paper. The text follows how they assemble it, why the biggest ones almost never fly, and what happens on 1 November.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
capa sobre capa
newlayer upon layer
Literally "layer over layer". It describes work done bit by bit, adding one thin layer on top of the last. In the text it is how the coloured paper goes onto the frame.
Not limited to paper: people use it about paint, dough, or clothes on a cold day.
por turnos
newin turns, in shifts
It means people take turns: they alternate or work in shifts instead of all working at once.
It belongs to a family of fixed expressions with por: por turnos, por parejas, por grupos.
todavía les falta la mitad
newthey still have half of it left
Faltar names what is missing. The subject is la mitad, and les says who is short of it, so the verb stays singular: falta.
Same pattern in me falta tiempo and nos faltan dos sillas: the verb agrees with the thing missing, not with the person.
de pie
newupright, standing
A fixed expression meaning "on its feet", in a vertical position. In the text the biggest kites are raised this way.
It works for people too: estar de pie is to be standing rather than sitting. The phrase does not change in the plural: están de pie, not "de pies".
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
el barrilete
barrilete
kite
In Guatemala and several other American countries a kite is a barrilete. In Spain people say cometa, and in Mexico papalote.
A clear case of one object with different names by country, and all three are worth recognising.
el papel de china
papel de china
tissue paper
Very thin coloured paper used for decorations. This is the name used in Mexico and Central America; in Spain it is usually papel de seda.
It is the standard party material: garlands, paper flowers and piñatas are made of it.
el engrudo
engrudo
flour paste, homemade glue
Glue made at home from flour and water, cooked in a pot. It is used for paper and cardboard.
Handy for any paper craft. The general modern word for glue is pegamento.
la pita
pita
twine, thin cord
In Guatemala and other American countries pita is thin, strong string. Here it ties the frame of the kite together.
It goes with the verb amarrar (to tie), common across much of Latin America, where Spain more often says atar.
liviano
liviano
light in weight
It is about weight. Most of Latin America says liviano where Spain says ligero. It also works for a light meal or light reading.
For "easy" in the sense of not difficult, the ordinary word is fácil.
madrugar
madrugar
to get up very early
One verb for a whole English phrase. It is the verb behind madrugada, the small hours before dawn.
English needs three or four words for it, Spanish one, and it comes up constantly about work, school and travel.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
A Elmer le gusta + infinitive
A Elmer le gusta llegar temprano
Elmer likes to arrive early
With gustar the person is an indirect object: le. The name is added with a (a Elmer) and does not replace le. What is liked here is the infinitive llegar, so the verb stays singular: gusta.
This is the basic frame for talking about tastes: who likes it, then gusta, then the infinitive.
Prefiere + infinitive
Prefiere dibujar de noche
She prefers to draw at night
Preferir is built differently from gustar: the person is the subject, so no le is needed. The second verb is still an infinitive: dibujar.
Worth seeing the two frames side by side: le gusta dibujar and prefiere dibujar. The person moves, the infinitive stays.
A los abuelos les encanta + infinitive
les encanta mirar los barriletes
The grandparents love watching the kites
The people are plural but the verb is singular: encanta. The subject is the infinitive mirar, not the grandparents, and les marks who enjoys it.
Encantar is stronger than gustar. It is not combined with muy: say me encanta, not "me encanta muy".
Llevan tres semanas pegando: where the gerund does belong
Llevan tres semanas pegando
They have been gluing for three weeks
After gustar, encantar, preferir and odiar Spanish uses the infinitive: le gusta llegar, prefiere dibujar. The gerund is not banned, though: after llevar, seguir, continuar and estar it is exactly the right form. The text has "Llevan tres semanas pegando" and "algunos siguen volando barriletes pequeños".
The English pattern "likes drawing" does not carry over, but llevar or seguir plus a gerund is everyday Spanish.
Las cortan, las miden y las amarran
Las cortan, las miden y las amarran
They cut them, measure them and tie them
Las stands for the varas de caña of the previous sentence: feminine plural. The pronoun sits in front of the conjugated verb and is repeated with each of the three verbs.
It keeps the sentence from naming the same noun three times, and it shows where the pronoun goes with a conjugated verb: in front of it. With an infinitive it attaches to the end instead, as in dejarlas in the last paragraph.
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