Dobies See Central America: Chichicastanango

Cute child photo for this post.

Our first stop, after trying unsucessfully to attend services at an Episcopal church Stephen was hoping to see, was at the church of St. Tomas, one of the most famous in Guatemala and known for successfully combining Catholic and pre-Christian beliefs. The services reflect both. When we were there, the steps were crowded with people and flowers, including a few old women with bowls of rose petals to give away or sell (not sure which). They are used in the church with candles to arrange altars at which the devout can be seen on their knees at prayer. The air is thick with the smoke and scent of incense created by hand-made coffee-can censors being swung by the faithful.

Inside the church, family groups have brought their infants dressed in white as though for baptism, but perhaps it is a blessing ceremony instead. The guidebook tells us that, in December, the Feast of St. Tomas, patron saint of this church, is a two-week extravaganza culminating in a mass baptism of all the babies born in the past year.

Babies and young children are everywhere, at church and throughout the market, lovingly wrapped and cared for. Girls of what looks like elementary school age take care of the littler ones, and it is common to see clusters of ninos in stairsteps that would indicate lots of kids close in age. We learned later from a Common Hope volunteer that it's quite common for girls to marry in early teens and have several children by early twenties.

This is the view from the top of the stairs.

This little girl waits with her baby sib on the church steps.

The smoke and fragrance come from the can this man is swinging. He is one of many.

This woman and her family wait at the side of the church.

The costumes aren't just for the tourists' benefit, although the colorful and varied ones we see at the market aren't the pure form and hand-made products my books on weaving describe. Mayans' weavings--the fabrics people wear--tell others what village they are from, what position the wearer holds in the village, and something about the beliefs and history of the wearer and the village. Market days were (and probably still are) social events as well as a time and place to sell your goods and buy things you need. Some useful information is transmitted in those clothes before a word is said.

Originally, women wove the fabrics on backstrap looms, a craft that little girls learned by working alongside their mothers. A backstrap loom is fairly simple--not too wide, with one end fixed to a solid post on the front porch of the house and the other beside the woman, making it easy to set up and move around. When Europeans arrived, so did larger looms operated by foot-pedals. Men often used those.

Are all of these clothes hand-made originals. Maybe some are but textiles with Mayan design are also commercially produced and probably for practical reasons we are looking at a combination of both. It is interesting to me to see that within families, some will be in western European dress and some in indigenous dress, with no noticeable pattern--other than man are more likely to have Western and older people are more likely to have indigenous.

The market seems to grow from a central area where foods are cooked and the more traditional wares are on offer, often from vendors sitting on the floor with foods or useful items spread out on the floor. From there it spills out to what look like knock-down stalls, to what look like long-term street stalls that can be shut up and locked at night. The colors spill out everywhere and are just spectacular. Women and children seem to be the primary hawkers and will follow you along trying to engage your attention in any way they can. "Buy one for yourself! No? How about her? How about a friend? No? Then buy one for your enemy!"

One vendor offering huipiles (blouses) started at $250 and within five sentences had come down to $5 Sometimes their price is offered in dollars and sometimes quetzels. I noticed that some vendors had more trouble than others in figuring out what a dollar equivalent would be, which made me wonder whether they generally did business more with locals than with tourists. The guidebooks say it's a market for both populations, and that seems right. based on who was buying and what was being sold (everything from beautiful, original embroidery to shoes to whole-kernel corn for making corn flour).

This is Mark's photo and that's me on the left, walking away.

Hollister shirts are also popular with young men.

These little boys wait outside the church.

This is Julia.

Next to the market is an ancient site said to be sacred to the indigenous population that still observes pre-Christian rituals (supposedly, many do, usually in combination with Catholic Christianity). We hiked up to se--a climb that just about did me in-- and were lucky enough to find a local young lady who explained the site. On the main alter one might bring flowers and candles and, with a shaman, ask for a blessing or make a religious observance. At side altars one might wish for health, or good luck, or bad luck for an enemy, or an end to a loved one's heavy drinking, a good future for one's children, and some other things I can't remember. A wedding ritual might involve bringing two white chickens and at the appropriate time in the ceremony, cutting their heads off, dripping some of the blood on the altar, and watching the headless chickens "dance" with each other. If they danced close together than it would be a strong marriage. Anyone who can remember their grandparents lopping the head off the chicken for the family's Sunday dinner, as I can, can attest to the unpredictability of that chicken's direction.

Now, a general disclaimer. I'm not checking my facts and I don't have a guidebook with me so I apologize in advance for anything my memory blipped out on. :-)