el chichigua

In "Dominican spanish" it certainly is "chichigua". If it was another country, they might say "papalote" or some other word. That word brings back memories from when I was younger, in front of my house with the kite flying in the air hehe

in English (KITES)

Don't people also say "cometa"?

that does bring back memories

Jon S. said:

In "Dominican spanish" it certainly is "chichigua". If it was another country, they might say "papalote" or some other word. That word brings back memories from when I was younger, in front of my house with the kite flying in the air hehe

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I remember chasing after my brother (always the tomboy) trying to get mine to fly as high as his. Ah, does were the days!

Re: that does bring back memories

Forbeca said:

I remember chasing after my brother (always the tomboy) trying to get mine to fly as high as his. Ah, those were the days!

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La chichigua

This is one of the objects that seems to have a different name in every Spanish speaking country.

Chichigua - DR
Cometa - Spain
Papagayo - Venezuela

...any others?

Chiri

..... una milocha, un volantin, un p?jaro bitango, la p?jara, la pandorga, una birlocha, un pandero.....and don't forget every kite has its tail - la cola, and string - la cuerda, el bramante.

i go down the malec?n (in sd) every now and again, buy one at rd$35 (the last time was about three weeks ago) and fly it..............sounds stupid, but it's great fun, honest.

Forbeca said:

....I remember chasing after my brother (always the tomboy)....

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- i'm still trying to figure this one out. who is supposed to be the tomboy here? you or your brother? when i first read it, i thought how could your brother be a tomboy.........so i guess.......it must be.........you.

bochinche said:

[B i'm still trying to figure this one out. who is supposed to be the tomboy here? you or your brother? when i first read it, i thought how could your brother be a tomboy.........so i guess.......it must be.........you. [/B]

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I hope it didn't take you too long dear.

Here in the D.R. it's ...

"fly a kite" ... "volar la/una chichigua"
"I fly a kite" ... "yo vuelo la/una chichigua"
"You fly a kite" ... "tu vuelas la/una chichigua"

Besides the "Chichigua" there's also "El Capuchin" which is sort of like a kite except that it is made completely out of paper (no sticks used; it also looks very different). It is sort of a novice's version of a kite as it is a lot simpler to make. I am not sure if Capuchin is the name used across all towns in the DR but at least it is the name I know from back in the days in Jarabacoa.

Because of their fragile nature (since they are made of paper only) Capuchines tend to fly at lower elevation because they would not be able to resist the stronger winds high above. Once in a while, a Capuchin would have special talents and would challenge the kites in terms of how far they could fly...only to find out their true origins in mid-air and disintegrate into paper....causing a phenomenon called "lo paitio" ("it broke"?) which means that the string holding the Capuchin or Kite breaks signaling to all the kids watching it to run after it, rescue it and become the proud owner of it....This is probably one of the only phenomenon in the DR where the violation of private property does not cause any disputes between the owner and the intruder as the owner (or ex-owner) of the Chichigua/Capuchin does not disagree with the possession of his property by a third party....

....sorry for the deviation from the topic but it definitely brought back great memories!!

chichigua

I can't believe after reading this post that no one mentioned what "volar la chichugua" really means in the DR??

Re: chichigua

jch58 said:

I can't believe after reading this post that no one mentioned what "volar la chichugua" really means in the DR??

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Volar la chichigua= to fly the kite.
I grew up near zona colonial. Back in the sixties I had a very small chichigua shop. I also made cajones (rectangular/square with no tail) -don't get confuse with cojones- and also I built chichigua picua (same chichigua but with a "bic" on top). Another chichigua I had a lot of fun with was the ara?a (no tail, paper only in the center ) with flakes all around like a spider.
Believe it or not during this period we put razor blades at the end of the tails (wich we made out of our parent's bed sheets with the usual punishment when they found out). The rule of engagement was that if I could tangle your kite's tail with my string I could cut yours and your chichigua was mine. Since nice tails (sometimes made out silk and other nice fabrics) had more value than chichiguas... you guessed, we cut their tail!
Some kids in my neighborhood got hurt when they forgot they were flying their chichiguas from a roof while backing up to get it aloft. Great memories!! I would do it again. Thank you for the post.

never mind...no one got it...I guess not even Hillbilly...