Market Fever

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  Chichicastenango, Western Highlands, Guatemala
Sunday, December 7, 2008

So to begin building my bargaining skills I went to the Sunday markey in Chichcastenango, where I had no idea what anything was worth, and quickly got the sense that I was out of my league. That said, I didnīt get had completely--itīs just that I bought a couple of things that I wasnīt sure I even wanted to get rid of sellers who kept following me around lowering their prices. This is a tactic I will have to remember for my professional life. The good thing is that Iīm cheap by nature, so it was entirely believable when I told vendors that things were too expensive. They could tell I wasnīt just putting on a show!

The market is a maze of covered stalls with every kind of handicraft made in Guatemala. Near the center are the items less attractive to gringos like entire sacks of dried fishes and chilis, and other household items. Then in the dead center (I think, it was easy to get lost) are the cook shops with the rhythmic slapping noises of women making tortillas.

Even better than the market though, was the nighttime celebration that I happened upon, along with a handful of other gringos who were staying in the same hostel. It turns out that December 7 is the called Quema del Diablo day and the next day is a celebration for the Virgin. Each town celebrates it a little differently, but on the 7th, essentially they burn things to release evil spirits. Often people burn effigies of the devil or even trash. In Chichi, they burned some wood on the sidewalks, but most of the focus was on massive fireworks that were set off with no regard to standersby. Then, a mannequin of the Virgin was marched from a citizenīs home to the steps of the main church in Chichi (followed closely by a generator for her lights). From her vantage point at the top of the church steps, she watched the rest of the festivities. This is where it got good: a devil with a sort of cage structure built around him came into the middle of the crowd. Underneath the devil was a man who provided the devilīs legs, and danced with the men of the village. A closer look revealed that the devil was loaded with fireworks! After a little dancing, the fireworks were lit, and they went off in a timed sequence, dying down and then starting up intermittently. Following the devil was a similar structure that looked like a black and white bull, also loaded with fireworks. Once the fireworks were lit, the main objective for the men was to get as close as they could, while dodging the rockets that periodically shot into the crowd. It was awesome. Click on the video to see. Itīs a little shaky, from where I was dodging fireworks, but youīll get the idea.

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cemetery, Chichi	view from my hostel, El Telefono	Chichi church	man on Chichi church
market day, Chichi	market goers, Chichi	chilies, Chichi market	huilpiles, Chichi market
church steps, market day	the Virgin, Chichi	the Virgin close, Chichi	the Virgin overlooks, Chichi

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