Chichi-cas-te-nan-go!

Dear Readers,

Today I take you to the small town of Chichicastenango, Guatemala. While in Xela, I found a Spanish school that was organizing a trip to Chichi, so I payed them a little money to take me with them. Truth be told, I could have probably figured it out myself, but as I wasn't that comfortable with the chicken bus system, I decided it was best to follow a guide. Truth also be told, afterwards I decided the guide wasn't much of a guide, but I was still glad I went with a group merely for the company.

Chichicastenango is a small village in the western highlands of Guatemala. It is famous for it's large market on Sundays (and maybe Wednesdays?). On market days not only is a ton of stuff being sold, but the townspeople also perform some Mayan religious ceremonies, which I think may be mostly for the benefit of the tourists. The Sunday that I went happened to be a legitimate holiday in Chichi to celebrate Saint Juan, so the place was packed. As I mentioned in a previous post, Mayans adopted the Catholic religion but used varying saints to hide their worship to their real gods. I have no idea who Saint Juan is supposed to represent, but it sure produces some interesting celebrations.

It took about 3 hours to get to Chichi from Xela on the chicken buses. When we finally arrived it was already about 11 am, so we had missed some of the activities. Unfortunately, I missed the one where a couple of men attach themselves by their feet to ropes hanging from a very tall pole, and then swing around it. After getting off the bus we made our way to the main square, which was nestled between the town's two churches. Various stages were set up along one side, and a salsa band played music to the crowd. The only people dancing were a group in the middle of the crowd dressed up in giant feather headresses, masks, and sparkly costumes. Nobody else was dancing because they were all packed into the square like sardines. Our guide, who was not so much a guide as he was a warm body, had no information as to what was going on or the significance of the ceremony. Here are a couple of videos and some pictures.








After watching the mayhem, we wandered around the market for a bit, before deciding that we were hungry and that we wanted to eat lunch. Lunch went on far too long, so that by the time we were finished we didn't have much time to see many other parts of the market, including the ceramics and silver. Our guide led us aimlessly through the market and eventually we popped back out onto the main square. By this time the crowd had thinned out, which is a shame because that's when the really interesting dancing was going on. A group of people in furry animal costumes were dancing about like possessed stuffed animals. Creepy and cuddly at the same time.





Soon after, we had to leave Chichi so that we could get back into Xela at a reasonable time. I would definitely recommend the market to anyone going to Guatemala, but I would say to get an early start to give yourself plenty of time to look around.

Next Time: Zunil. The city of the children of the sun.

xx,
gwen