1/22/11
I need to try to paint a more poetic picture of our trip... Let me just say that we are surrounded by three volcanos, whose presence is nearly as consistent as the mountains of black refried beans on our plates at every meal. It is very beautiful here. The people are beautiful, too. Last night our group had dinner at the Lutheran Center, and several members of the group ventured out to enjoy some Guatemalan night life.
To quote from a member of this splinter group,
"Last night Tony, Nicole, LD, JoAnn and I went to a bar. A live band played the only two English songs they knew. Creep by Radiohead, There Is by Jason Mraz and a song by Jack Johnson. The Creep song was the last song before we left and part of the chorus goes "I don't belong here". So as we we're getting up, someone said it is time to go, "we don't belong here". It was strange as we were surrounded by teenagers."
We traveled to Santiago this morning for a cultural presentation by some of the women of the town. This is a town of about 1500 people, and is of indigenous origin. The native language is Kachiquel (no idea of the spelling, that is a phonetic approximation), and the women create and sell beautiful textiles and other hand-crafted items. They explained and showed us a traditional offering ritual, which involved burning incense and pouring whiskey and rum, and leaving fruits and vegetables and bread as offerings for a plentiful harvest or other request for prosperity. These women no longer believe in or participate in this activity, but explained that other people of the village still follow this custom. Inside, they showed us a traditional dance, taught us a few words of the native language, showed us how they weave a dried reed called "petate" into mats and fans, showed us the process of drying and grinding coffee, explained the customs surrounding the different textiles and showed how they are painstakingly prepared, taught us how to carry heavy loads balanced on our heads (women) or strapped around our foreheads (men). They even held a marriage ceremony to show us how this is done. As the only married couple of the group, Bill and Maurya were dressed as the traditional bride and groom of Santiago, incense was burned and flower petals were sprinkled, and they once again became hombre and mujer. The entire experience was really informative and fun, and we all learned a lot about the culture of this group of people.
