Lake Atitlan and Mayan dinner
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2008
1
65
77
Trip End
Mar 22, 2009
Panajachel,
Western Highlands,
Guatemala
Saturday, March 7, 2009
We saw the weaving being woven and a local woman winding a 20m long ribbon around her head to make a hat-like head piece. Most of the local women still wear the traditional dress, but many of the men have abandoned theirs. We also got to see the Mayan god Moshiman (??), who is given cigarettes and alcohol as offerings which was quite bizarre.
We stopped at one point on the lake where warm water bubbled up from the lake floor.
We were back in Panajachel by mid afternoon so Beverly, the two Daryls and I found a sunny upstairs terrace for a beer. When we got back to San Jorge it was already time to get ready for our Mayan dinner. A huge soup was being cooked over an open fire in the place we waited to be dressed in local clothing. My host sisters Laura and Carmen put me into a long dark blue/gold woven skirt and top and tightly wrapped a belt around my waist.
In the hall we had booked for dinner the mirimba (??, like a huge xylophone) was being played by three local men. For dinner we had a quite bland (no spices are used for it) chicken soup with corn tamales. The dish is typically only eaten at weddings, birthdays etc.
After dinner we were invited to dance. The style of dance was similar to how I used to dance at primary school discos - step to one side, feet together, step to the other side, feet together. We all danced around holding hands in a big circle.
After dinner Daryl and I realised we hadn't bought anything as gifts for our family, so we went shopping in the village, not sure of what to get. Surprisingly the shops were still open and we found some sweet buns and chocolate.
