On Thursday morning we met our guide, Sam, at the hotel in Panajchel. Sam is a Mayan man from the Kaqchikel people. His wife is an American woman and they are expecting their first baby in September. He is a great guide and taught us a lot about the Mayan people,Guatemalan history, and current day Guatemala. The next time we come to Lake Atitlan we will be sure to support him in the tour guiding business he has begun (you can find info at Sam's Tours Atitlan on Facebook).
The point of the day was to go see the large open air market in Chichicastenango. In the center of el mercado is la Iglesias de San Tomás. There are many photos of the steps of this church during market day out there on the internet. It is here on the steps that the women sell their flowers and candles for the ceremonies that the Mayan Shaman practices on the upper steps. Interestingly, it is the only church in Guatemala that allows Mayans to practice their offerings. We learned that the church is built on a sacred place for the Mayan people (some say a Mayan pyramid). It is a simple, beautiful place to witness the peaceful practice of two religions.
St Thomas church in Chichicastenango.
I have only a very few photos from this day. First, because the market is crowded and keeping track of everyone even when trying to stay together was difficult. Stopping to take photos meant losing track of someone (seriously this made sticking together at Disney World a breeze!) Second, while this market place certainly had items catering to tourists it is definitely the market for the people of the community. Most of these people are Mayan and do not like their photos being taken (can't blame them, I'd freak out if tourists were taking my photo at my grocery store too!). Wanting to be respectful, we did not take many photos. As it ends up, the most important part of the day was not something that could be captured in a photo anyway.
The colors in any market in Guatemala are amazing. The shear size of the Chichicastenango market adds to that intensity. Before entering the market, Sam explained how to bargain. And so we had a go at it. What fun! Sam helped the kids but simply watched Rob and I as we stumbled through our Spanish and the uncomfortable feeling of not having a set price. I think Americans make one of two mistakes when they shop here. Either they accept the stated price and pay (what fun is that? And totally not expected by the vendors) or they try to "get a deal" for themselves. Personally, we were not here to try to get a bargain but to experience a culture and to pay a fair price. And so we learned the fun in reaching the fair price and had many laughs as I can not get my numbers correct above 100. The people were always gracious and sometimes just grabbed a calculator to show me the number. :). It was a day of working past being uncomfortable with a different way of doing business which led to lots of smiles (and some items I'm not sure we intended to purchase but the people here are great sales people!).
Sam asked what we wanted for lunch and we asked for typical Guatemalan food. I think that surprised him but it makes sense to us that we wanted to experience Guatemala not Italy (there are lots of Italian resteraunts here). So Sam walked us away from the market through some streets to a very small comerador. We each chose one of the four menu choices and waited for our meal. We were in a back room which we had to ourselves. And we were the only foreigners there. It was a good experience to be away from the tourist piece. The food was amazing. The fresh vegetables and simple but tasty preparation along with the staple of freshly made corn tortillas was great. We had a leisurely lunch for maybe a couple of hours. And there was more food than the kids could eat just sitting on the table (we couldn't do take out).
A Mayan woman probably in her 40's came in with her sweet baby boy strapped to her back in the traditional style. She spoke to Sam and he gave her money (he himself is not well off). Rob of course gave her money as well. She then asked for our leftover chicken. It was this moment that can't be captured as I think it taught us all more about what poverty is like. For her to ask for money and then our leftovers (some would call scraps) took courage. We gathered our plates of left over food and put them on the table behind us. J made faces at the baby and had him smiling and playing peek a boo as his mother ate. As we left the restaurant I spoke to her in broken Spanish I hope saying may God bless her and her baby. She thanked me and explained that the food would help her be able to continue to nurse her baby. She set aside her pride and came to not just strangers but foreigners to put the good of her child first. She was eating for him. God blessed her with a meal that day but He blessed our family with so much more. We came away as witnesses to what true hunger is, what true love of a mother for her child is, and deeper understanding what it means every time we throw out food. I pray we take this lesson with us to the USA. Surely we can waste less and share more. Surely there are people just like this woman in my own backyard and while society and politicians are busy judging whether they are worthy of this or that, surely my family can put aside our greed and wastefulness to share all that we have with those that have nothing.
On a side note as I have been reflecting on the experience, I wish I would have done more. By that I mean that I don't think we respected her dignity as we should have. Rather than place the food on another table, we should have welcomed her to our own. We should have treated her as a guest at our table. We are growing and learning. So next time perhaps we will have the courage to reach out more beyond our comfort level.
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