Off to a Mayan Pueblo

Saturday January 23, 2016

San Antonio, Guatemala and Mayan Traditional 

The trials of traveling at odd hours, not sleeping so well and being in a very dry climate have caught up with me and I'm coming down with a cold. It's 5 AM and I'm stiffing and coughing. I'm going to be making a trip to the farmicia today for drugs. Hopefully there is something that will knock this out of me quickly. In the meantime, I sniffle and cough as quietly as possible so John won't wake up. 

Our lessons on Thursday and Friday were in the afternoon. On Monday and Tuesday our lessons will be at 10:30 and after that we will have our instruction at 8 AM, which is what we sighed up for. There have been students who have decided to stay on longer and that makes the schedules for everyone rather chaotic until Wednesday. 

For two days now I've been having wonderful conversation with my instructor, Meribel. She isn't a verb drill sargent and this kind of learning seems to work for me. My homework so far is great quantities of writing and some conversation our host, Ernesto, who has been kind but is somewhat cold. I'm looking forward to moving to our new family this morning. 

Since our teachers were not available until 1 PM yesterday, we took advantage an opportunity to hop  onto a chicken bus with fellow students and go to a Mayan pueblo in the town of San Antonio. 

I'm not certain of the reason that the standard mode of transportation here is called the chicken bus. In years past, the buses hauled everything, including livestock. I'm assuming the name is a hold over from those days. The drivers are fearless, the buses are immaculately polished on the outside and woe be upon the poor pedestrian who may not get out of the way fast enough. It's a bumpy, crowded ride and for me, this will be the only way to travel from town to town. All of the people who ride the chicken bus are kind, smiling and ready to share their stories. I look forward to having the language to truely understand and reciprocate. 

The women in the home we visited live in the old traditional ways of the Mayans. They produce beautiful woven fabric, some of which can take up to two years to weave. They sit on mats, on their knees, using a leather strap around their lower back to keep the tension correct on the loom.  Their products are spectacularly intriquite and beautiful. I'll be posting photos of their work during the course of our stay. Most likely I'll be sure buy some also. 

The coffee that is grown in the mountains is hand picked, roasted in a small fire heated oven and ground in a rock grinding flat. One of our fellow,students took a hand at grinding. 

When the student finished, our hostess finished up the job.  In the courtyard of Casa Ernesto there are three of these grinding rocks. Since this home has been in the family for over 90 years, I'm sure they were, at one time, used daily for coffee and maize.  

We were on an educational tour through our school, and the ladies of the village set up a story of the matrimonial processes. How we got roped into this is beyond me, but it was quite fun to be the mother in law for this young woman. We were dressed in traditional clothing and our 'son' and his wife to be were having some fun too. We progressed from the matrimonial setting to the matrimonial fiesta to the new grand baby in a matter of minutes. 

My traditional wardrobe. Thank goodness I had help. There are no button, hooks or, obviously, zippers. It's all held together with a belt. 

As part of matrimonial tradition, I gave my new daughter in law a lovely apron. Welcome to the family. Now get to work!  The Mayan women do an incredible amount of work and have lots of babies.  Currently, many of the girls elect to go to university instead of living in the traditional Mayan way. I don't blame them, after seeing the ardious lives these women have. But everyone of the women we met were happy and most had not only their native Mayan languages but Spanish and some English. After the fun of dress up, we ate some traditional Mayan food...chicken and beans in a red sauce with tortillas. Then it was back on the chicken bus for our ride return to Antigua. 

I'm looking forward to more tours and education ventures. But first and foremost is school. Hasta la juego.