Sometimes we stumble across some pretty inappropriate (yet hilarious) stuff by accident. Two of the neighbor kids, Chalio and Alberto, come in to see us regularly. They’re helpful and kind, so we sometimes let them draw on our marker board as a thank-you. Usually, their drawings reflect themes of whatever has happened in town recently. Last week was Semana Santa (holy week) to celebrate the crucifixion of Christ. Being an extremely Catholic country, they really get into that stuff here. Anyways, here is what Chalio drew. I was able to identify the first three items (left to right): A steaming mug of atol (a local drink that is a lot like an unsweetened corn smoothie, yuck) followed by Jesus on the cross followed by a watermelon. I was baffled by the fourth item. “Is it you?” I asked, not quite sure what the pointed stick was all about.
“It’s a Jew!” he gleefully explained.
HAHAHA! Of course. In all their celebrations and reenactments, they make a point of remembering that the Jews killed Jesus. I don’t think it’s intentional antisemitism, but I don’t really know what to make of it. Drawings are a window into a kid’s mentality, and I am sure Jews are fresh on his mind, because I hear that one of the big events we missed while in Antigua for Easter was the local “Running of the Jews”, just like they had in Borat. One of our neighbors seemed pretty excited about it, and was disappointed when we told him we had to be out of town that day. “You won’t get to see it anywhere else,” he cajoled. I found out later that they indeed DO run the jews in other towns, but our region (Huehuetenango) is kindof famous for having the most elaborate runs. Our buddy Joe who lives in the south heard this from his neighbor, who went on the complain that “everyone wants to be a Jew nowadays” during the reenactment, and “that takes all the fun out of it.”
My friend Mark sent me this link that has a good, well-thought-out discussion of Judiasm and the death of Christ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/09-Antisemitism/section-10.html