Chichicastenango is very difficult to pronounce! So everyone calls it Chichi! There many other places in Guatemala that are pretty impossible for us Europeans to get our tongue round, luckily the locals shorten them all. If one is travelling around on the buses it is necessary to know the abbreviation, as these are on the front of the buses. The only reason to visit ChiChi is to see the ethnic craft market held on Thursdays and Sundays.
We arrived on a Saturday,
We had booked a hostel, we were a bit shocked at the exterior and nearly walked away!
Luckily we rang the bell, and this was the surprise.
The room was big, with a fireplace -it gets very cold in the wet season here.
The bedside lights were very creative!
The afternoon was spent with a local guide telling us interesting things about Chichi.
This village is a Mayan one - yes, they still exist! Looking at the profiles of some of the locals, one feels one is looking at those ancient Mayan paintings.
The Catholic Church was very lenient all those years ago, they allowed the Mayans' to keep some of their beliefs if they converted to the church, In Chichi, there are two churches a Christian one and a Mayan one - although Mass is performed in both!
The Mayan church is huge.
The Christian one facing it is small.
On our tour of the town we visited the cemetery.
Very pretty, but the colours have meaning. the colour depicts which day of the week you died .
Mayan ceremonies are carried out in the cemetery.
The shaman in the blue shirt was taking a ceremony to wish a safe journey for the family around him.
Our guide arranged or us to take photos. A small gift was necessary!
Candles of all colours are burnt and prayers said for the protection of the travelers.
The spirits placated with incense and food.
And finally everything is burnt.
Their God is a strange figure to us! All mixed up with Christianity.
We visited a home - the Mayans do not take showers or wash as we do.
They take sauna's twice a week, every home has a sauna like this.
We learnt a lot, so many of the old Mayan customs are still practiced as we witnessed on Sunday..
Offerings being burnt on the church steps.
Insense drifting to clean the air.
Flower petals specially prepared.
and laid at the entrance to the church.
Inside candles are lit.
One small boy was fascinated by me!
The interior of the church is black with all the smoke of hundreds of years.
Outside the market was a riot of colour.
Hand woven skirts,
Blouses,
And everything one could wish for stretched for miles
The women were shopping for their yarn,
The workmanship was fabulous.
Interesting faces were everywhere.
This old lady had brought her chicken to sell.
Women sat around.
It was all fantastic, but enough is enough here.The next day was clean up time!
An early breakfast in an empty market.
the tortillas were being cooked.
And were off on the bus again.
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