No te tengo miedo.

That's what a 7ish year old told me on Friday night. There is a tradition in Nicaragua that is specific to Masaya called Aguizotes. If you landed in Masaya from almost any other part of the Americas you might think it was a chaotic looking Halloween celebration. And it is kind of like it; the date is always towards the end of October, people dress up in costume, and if possible they try and scare anyone that gets in their path for the duration of the festivities. But there are differences. Their original costumes and the purpose behind them is a bit different. There are only a handful of costume characters that were used until recent years. All of them had to do with some bit of history that usually happened in the years of the Spanish conquest -in the 1500's. One of the more unpleasant examples is called the Carreta Nagua in English that comes to Chariot of Death. One of it's modern expressions is a massive cart that is stacked high with metals barrels that are burning car tires and pulled by a team of motley looking ruffians. It gives the youngsters quite a scare. The original death chariot was a bit different and I think inspired fear not only in the kids but in the adults as well. It was an cart pulled by oxen and driven by the spanish conquistadors. It was used to haul the captured indians back to the spanish settlements as slaves. But, in recent years other characters have started to enter in the celebration and for the past two years we have been a part of that. For the past week prior to the celebration a few friends came came over for a few nights and joined Elliot and I in mask making. The results were the phantom of the opera, a japanimation character, a cyclops, and a couple of Blue Meanies. The night of Aguizotes we had a few friends join us at the house and then we took to the streets with about 10 or 15 thousand other costume clad locals and marched through the streets for a few hours. About an hour and a half into it a little kid of about 10 came up to me and said, "hey can you come scare my little sister" He pointed her out and I immediately tried to get out of it. I let him know that she was to little and that it wouldn't be a nice thing to do. He said that her size and age didn't matter and that i should "please try to sacre her." then she looked over the street and saw what her brother was up to and gave me a funny look. It might sound bad but for some reason at that very moment I felt compelled to scare the little kid. What a jerk right!? So I took off charging towards her with a yell. She crossed her arms and looked me straight in the eyes and said "No te tengo miedo!" Whether she meant it or was trying to convince herself of it I have no idea but I was seriously impressed. I ripped my mask off and gave her a hi-5 and then asked if I could take a picture with her. So in the pic you will find a blue meanie and one very brave little girl. Feliz Aguizote!