Yesterday a woman in San Pedro with a large basket on her head approached us to buy some of her bread. In her basket, she had loaves of banana bread, coconut bread, chocolate "bread" and cinnamon rolls. We bought it all and in the process of the transaction, she pulled from the recesses of her clothing a small slip of paper on which someone had written a note. It informed the reader that the woman's daughter was interested in going to school but her husband would not pay for that and so she was selling the bread to help with the expense of education. I thought of the girl this morning as we cut into the loaves for a simple breakfast before our day began.
We were all together in the morning and then Chris, Susan and I left to get our shuttle to Chichi and Katy prepared for a day at the market and at the pool. We didn't know what she had in mind until we returned this evening and learned that she had outdone herself at the market and in preparation for dinner but I get ahead.
Our shuttle picked us up at about 8 a.m. and the trip to Chichi seemed shorter than when Chris and I went two weeks ago. The construction on the road is apparently done and traffic was not as bad. It is a beautiful ride up away from the lake and into a slightly different terrain, and I was glad for Susan to see it and also that men outside of Panajachel wear more traditional dress than they do in town.
Sunday market days are more intense than other days and I estimate that there were three times as many people there today as there were the last time we went. There were moments of gridlock and moments of shoving and moments of chill as the rain water that collected in the plastic draped over each person's booth became too heavy and broke from above to slide down our backs. There are parts of the market that cater exclusively to tourists and those are full of carved wooden masks and jade jewelry and rich tapestries and tee shirts educating the masses in Guatemalan slang. These are interesting to stop at and pick things up as gifts for our friends and family but I think the more interesting part of the market are those booths that cater to the other vendors and/or the locals. These are the booths that sell incense and homemade candles for Mayan rituals and Head & Shoulders and chickens and pig feet. You can get anything: used shoes, new shoes, tomatoes, razors, CDs, cassette tapes, oatmeal, sesame seeds, dried sardines, fresh shrimp, flashlights, soap, bras, name it.
On instruction from Katy and Jessica, we found an entire basketball court (literally) that was given over to the sale of vegetables on market day and it was a two-story structure allowing us to view the market from above. Something we couldn't have known from the main floor was the intricate and geometric manner in which the vendors laid out their vegetables; it was striking.
We brought Susan to the same place for lunch that we had eaten on our first visit and I wouldn't call it a restaurant by American standards but it was delicious. We sat on a long narrow bench at a long narrow table, all facing out with our backs against a corrugated tin wall. We had four bowls of soup (Chris had two!) and three tortillas apiece and an order of papas fritas and a soda for $5 and we sat there taking in the industrious action of the people working there for almost an hour. There was a woman across from us who chopped carrots the entire time we were there and her pile covered her table. We noticed this: when we ordered our soup, it was given to us in decorative bowls that were set upon saucers and we also were given napkins. None of our bowls or saucers matched, but each was patterned. A short time later, two women and a child sat at the next table and they were given their soup in plain white bowls and were not given saucers or napkins. Further, they ordered chicken and the chicken was handed directly to them and they held it in one hand and ate their soup with the other. I mention that our whole tab was only $5 because it seems like such a deal, but I suspect that we payed a great deal more than the other patrons.
I'm glad that Susan will be able to help Chris and I describe the church in Chichi that is shared by Catholics and Mayans when we return home. There were many more shamans performing rituals and saying prayers today than when we were there the first time and the candles burning in fields of rose petals were the primary light source up the main aisle of the church today. It is a special place and still, I think, my favorite of all that we have seen on this trip.
The shuttle dropped us back at the hotel around 3 p.m. and we all spent the remainder of the afternoon at the pool, sharing our stories with Katy and hearing about her adventures at the local market in Pana. She was after ingredients for a particular sauce and had to do quite a bit of research in order to get what she needed. She walked into town (a million tuk-tuks stopped to ask her if she needed a ride along the way!) and asked the women at the market about the ingredients she still had questions about and in the end got ingredients for a phenomenal meal, enjoyed by all. We sat at the table talking for an hour or so after we finished and people have been trickling to bed ever since.
Katy leaves in the morning and Susan, Chris and I have left the plans for our day up in the air until then.
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