Chichicastenango

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  Chichicastenango, Western Highlands, Guatemala
Sunday, January 18, 2009

We paid a few dollars to hire a shuttle bus (collectivo) for the 45 minute ride up and away from the Lake to the village of Chichicastenango. Every Thursday and Sunday they have a market day here. It has been operational for years and years. It is, I believe,  the biggest indigenous market in the Americas. The ride was beautiful as it climbed up high above the Lake Atitlan, through the highland village of Solola. Once we arrived in Chichicastenango, we wandered into the maze of tented stalls. We tried to keep track of our location so we could find our way back into the parking garage where we left the collectivo.

Once in the maze of narrow walkways we encountered all sorts of shops selling masks, textiles, stone carvings. It is a very large market. For some reason, Barb has a penchant for buying heavy things while we are on the road. Not to break her pattern, she promptly bought a stone carving, some pottery pieces, and our load got much heavier. We have only a couple more weeks and are really enjoying this portion of our journey.   

We encountered a procession of religious relics being carried through the market. They were burning incense and firing more mortars. The crowd in the narrow alleys became really dense, and it was flowing with the relics like a river of lava. Hard to exit once you were in it, and forget about crossing the stream. Then the mortero began setting off a small canon in the crowd. He paid little regard where he set up his mortar. Where we were , next to him, there were wires all over the place a few feet above our head. Expecting the worst, we bailed out of the parade, and ran for it. We turned one way then another, and soon were totally lost. (We had arrived at the Lost City of Chichicastenango!)

We went to lunch on a second floor restaurant which helped us to identify a couple of towers that looked similar to ones near our garage. After lunch, we wandered around in search of our garage, with some difficulty, finally found it. Then, we were able to reenter the market more carefully, so we could re-find our way out at 2:00 PM.

We visited the church, where offerings are sold on the steps. Photos inside were not allowed. I was able to snap a dimly lit shot inside of a Mayan woman worshiping. They perform a mix of Catholic and Mayan rites here. Thirty three years ago, while I was here , the Mayans were VERY sensitive to having their pictures taken. In fact, several tourist photographers were stoned to death in the 80s, as the Indians believed that the camera and image actually stole some of their spirit/soul. They seem to be much less perturbed at photographers these days.  I took many of the photos în a style I call,  running and gunning. No set up, just walk, look one way and snap the other. More discrete, but less accurate. 

We had a great day and are heading across the Lake to Santiago de Atitlan after we watch Obama`s Inauguration on the 20th. You may need to zoom in the map on the top of the blog to view our locations as we move around Lake Atitlan.   

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A MAN WITH A VIEW	VIEW OF MARKET STALLS	PILLOW CASES	BAGS
ALL IS CARRIED TO AND FROM	ANOTHER KID	BOYS WITH A DRUM	WOMAN`S FACE 2
FLORAL BLOUSE	A MAYAN WOMAN AT WORK	ANOTHER MAYAN WOMAN	ANOTHER WOMAN AT WORK
SOME HEAVY LIFTING- note head strap	LIFTING CLOSE-UP	BABY ON BOARD	BLACK CORN AND WHITE CORN TORTILLAS
KIDS WATCHING DISNEY	FRIJOLES	BOA SNAKE SHOW 1	BOA 2
BOA 3 -THEY LIVE IN THE WOODS	BOA 4^- THEY EAT RATS	CARGADOR- CARGO CARRIER	CHILIES
PROCESSION NEARS	THE PROCESSION OF RELICS APPEARS	CROWDED SCENE WITH MORTARS	THE RELIC ON SHOULDERS
PROCESSION PARTICIPANT	CLOSE-UP OF PARTICIPANT	RELIC	RELIC CLOSE-UP
MORTAR MAN	MORTAR- LIGHTING THE FUSE	MORTAR -SETTING UP THE SHOT	MORTAR - DISCHARGE
BARB AT LUNCH	CHURCH IN CHICHICASTENANGO	SCENE ON THE STEPS	BLIND MAN AMONG THE OFFERINGS
I GAVE HIM A SOME QUESALES	FLOWER VENDOR	WOMAN AMONG FLOWERS	FLOWER GIRL
FLOWER BOY	FAMILY 1   Comments!	STEPS IN FRONT OF CHURCH	INSENCE HAS BEEN BURNING HERE 100S OF YEARS
MAYA AT PRAYER IN CHURCH   Comments!	KID	BARBIE IN THE MIX	BARBIE IN MARKET CLOSE-UP
I ATE SOME DODGEY CHICKEN IN THE STREET	CHICKEN HEADS   Comments!	MARKET SCENE	CERAMIC MASKS
MASKS WORN ON HEADS	MASK 1	MASK 2	MASK 3
MASK 4	MAYA 2	FAMILY 2   Comments!	MAYA WOMAN
MAYAN AT MARKET	MAYAN FACE	MAYAN WOMAN 2	MAYAN WOMEN
MORE CHILES	MORE MASKS	PAINTED MASKS CLOSE-UP	WOMAN IN MASK
WOMAN IN YARN SHOP	SIGN IN CHICHICASTENANGO STREET	GUYS WAITING FOR BUS	WOMAN WAITING FOR THE BUS
WAITING FOR THE BUS 2	BARB IS WAITING TOO!	BUS - 3 GUIDE ME LORD	BUS 2 -
BUS 5	SUNSET BACK AT PANAJACHEL	WE WILL TAKE ONE OF THESE TOMORROW	SUNSET PANAJACHEL
VIEW OF SAN PEDRO

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