A bit of the tourist, a bit of not

Wednesday morning I boarded a tourist shuttle to Panajachel and the next morning to Chichicastenango, both heavily touristed but cool places. I struggled with these places and the means of arriving there but had good times all the way. The wow factor comes from the non-touristy thing I saw in Chichi.

Thursday's and Sunday's are market days in Chichi. Hugely popular with tourists but also regular market days for locals. Upon arrival I wandered the town streets before entering the market. The cemetary on a nearby hill attracted my attention for the brightly color tombs and smoke rising from its midst. And, wow, there were two Maya ceremonies happening, a funeral and something that looked like a blessing. Um, yeah, wow. There are no pictures and I didn't hang out long or gawk, these are pretty personal events and blessings and funerals in the US would not be so interesting, you know?

I feel very lucky. Lilian, my host here, feels the same. Here are some pictures of the cemetary and the market. There is a movie also which might be too big to post. Look for that at the slide show in August.











































This is a picture of the small church (?) where the blessing took place. The small orange glow is a fire tended by the man on the left. He would drag a crook, like a shepard's crook, through the fire while chanting in a mixture of Quiche and Spanish. The fabric in the right side is my pant leg. The picture was taken between my legs while sitting on a tomb.