La Mini Griteria

Here in Nicaragua, August 14th marks the date of the mini Griteria (literally translated to-the mini Yelling), which is the baby sister holiday to the Griteria and the Purisima which take place on December 7th and 8th. Here is a description of the holiday from ViaNica.com:

During the Griteria, Virgen Mary is also venerated. It is a celebration used by people to thank the Virgen for miracles and it takes place before the official day. Faithful people decorate altars in their houses in the place where it can be seen from the street. In some neighborhoods, you can find more than 3 altars in just one block. Not only Catholics and religious people participate in this tradition. It is interesting to hear how people who do not know the song lyrics make up the whole song or just sing the end of each verse.

The Griteria is celebrated by Nicaraguan families building these massive altars-they range from John and my small, but impressive cross-cultural altar:

to tables covered with lights, flowers and Virgen Mary statues reaching 5 feet tall! (Unfortunately I do not have pictures of these amazing statues but promise to be more touristy in December.) Apparently these 5 foot tall altars are nothing in comparison to what happens during the actual Griteria in December. I cannot wait to see what the big one will bring. Anyway, how do you celebrate this holiday? You go door to door, mainly kids, but really everyone participates ( we had a few old women come by on their own), and things are passed out to them- similar to Halloween, you may be thinking. You are not completely wrong- it is similar, but at the same time totally and completely different. You may walk around by yourself or in groups, approaching the houses that are hosting altars. When the people come to your front door, they yell, "Quien causa tanta la alegria?" (who causes all of this happiness?) And you will then answer "La asuncion de la virgen!" (the assumption of the virgen(mary)). They then sing a song about the virgen mary and how great she is, while holding out their hands.

We gave out candy, but when John and I went Griteria-ing at the house next door, we were handed a small decorative bowl filled with 2 matchboxes, a bag of soap, 3 lollipops and a bag of M&M type candies.

The rumors of the December Griteria that I have heard promise pots, pans, full plates of food, shampoos, random kitchen supplies and more candy...wow. We are planning on having a Peace Corps sponsored altar next time, but it would be great to go home with new pots and pans, a blender or even a chicken!