A Little Bit of Culture: Preston Palm

One of the more odd cultural traditions they have in Honduras is the Mujiganga. Our last week in community overlapped with Feria, the catholic week of celebration. Every day during Feria the Mujiganga these cross-dressing men in creepy masks would dance in the street and scare the children, sometimes to tears. I never really understood why they held on to this tradition or even began it in the first place.

Another tradition related to Feria was this competition called “India Bonita.” Various schools would enter “Indias” or little girls dressed in these beautiful dresses. It was much like a beauty pageant in that the girls would walk down the runway, walk back, and then recite a short speech and answer some questions relating to Honduran culture and their community’s history. Each dress is hand made from burlap, beans, corn, banana leaves, and various other organic materials that represent the flora of Honduras. My host mother and her friends made the dress for the India that their school entered in the competition and ended up winning first place.

Everyone participated in the festivities of Feria, even the high school kids. These guys were roughly the age of freshmen, but they could perform the traditional dances like pros.

Honduras had many unique traditions, which was especially evident during Feria, but due to the rising exposure to American culture through their media and various outreach groups they are adopting many American traditions as well. For roughly 40 cents a bottle, coke in the glass was always a welcome treat. Ole Miss, the Braves, and Fort Campbell were also represented. Additionally there were a large number of Titan’s jerseys. I saw at least three Titans jerseys while I was there and only one other NFL jersey.