Chi Chi market is short for Chichicastenango. It is the most famous market in Guatemala holding it's market days on Thursdays and Sundays. The city itself is a small mountain region with a largely indigenous community.
In the market, vendors sell handicrafts, food, flowers, pottery, wooden boxes, condiments, medicinal plants, candles, incense, lime stone, grindstones, jewelry including granite and amber, different types of masks used for traditional dances, comedores (small eateries to have food).
With my visit falling on a Sunday, the first place I had to visit was the Church of San Thomas
Next to the market is the 400 year old church. It is built atop a Pre-Columbian temple platform and the steps originally leading to a temple of the pre-Hispanic Maya civilization remain venerated. K'iche' Maya priests still use the church for rituals burning incense and candles. In special cases, they burn a chicken for the gods. Each of the 18 stairs that lead up to the church stands for one month of the Maya calendar year.
Another key element of Chi Chi is the Cofradia of Pascual Abai, which is an ancient carved stone venerated nearby and the Maya priests perform several rituals there. Writing on the stone records the doings of a King named Tohil(Wikipedia).
I arrived around 830 to the Chichi Market and I was hurrying along asking each local where I could find the church. This one older gentlemen on my path looked he had been living in the village his whole life. Of course he knew informing me that I could possibly make the 9am. I quickly ran through the market and up the stairs to see women selling flowers and a beautiful ritual is occurring in front of the church door. The men were dressed traditionally and the women had towels on their head. They stayed outside while I walked in ready to see a bunch of people and the Pastor about to come through. Instead I saw a baptism to my left.
It was not my preference, but I decided to sit in and watch their traditions.
The babies were dressed beautifully with big, white fluffy dresses-adorable.
When you arrive at the Chichi market, there are a couple things that stand out in the aura of the market. 1.) the colors 2.) the energy 3.) the desire to sell
In general people are not very pushy when selling in Guatemala. They are friendly and helpful and if you don't buy they don't have a fit about it rather they have grace and dignity and say "Thank you."
This is not really the case for Chichi as it is a touristic place to sell and make money. Rather than learning about the culture and how they make their product, they just want to talk money and prices. When I asked a man about the significance behind his art piece, he kept saying, "How much you pay?" "How much you pay?" I have no interest in buying artwork that someone can't share their ideas or thoughts about for one minute. This is clearly not the case for all vendors, but most had their agenda to sell. Mouths to feed and money to earn. It's understandable especially when with tourists.
What is outstanding about the market is the colors and how beautifully they blend together in their different bright shades of pink, purple, blue, orange, and yellow. The tribal patterns are very common whether on blankets, table cloths, purses, belts, bags, sheets- they make literally everything. The quality of the product can vary from vendor to vendor, but overall they have incredible hand work and beautiful patterns.
In the market, I met a lovely, lovely young lady and her kind family. It was her Grandma and Grandpa, who initially caught my eye. They were innocently sitting and eating their lunch. No one else would think this is such a sight, but I just love people and especially older generations, especially older couples. The elderly of new cultures with their kind smile, wrinkles, and unawareness to what is going on-it's adorable. Her Grandma was enjoying her lunch and asked me a couple questions. One included: "Why am I traveling alone and not with my husband?" That's a good question. I just told her that I have a distant love and I hope he can travel with me one day-truth. She looked at me quite puzzled probably not understanding why I was traveling alone.
Their granddaughter Marissa was not so different from me as she studied abroad in Brazil for her MBA and she enjoys traveling as well. She went to the US two times and plans to go again soon. She helps with her family business selling different colors of yarn for sewing, but her passion is Aesthetics.
She was helping out with their family business, but she was working in aesthetics with foreigners. She received her MBA in Brazil. She is currently learning how to speak French and she already speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English. She has a 7 year old boy who stands behind her in a shy manner. His name is Omar. She is also interested in philosophy and multi-cultural studies where she works on a project for the indigenous community. She stimulated my mind and made me question my own theories and beliefs. She gets the Stamp of Inspiration approval from Pris. She truly is a independent woman who cares for her family while taking care of her child, educating herself, traveling, and involved with the rights of her people. It is empowering to meet a young Guatemalan woman with such passion, motivation, and charisma.
Along with this woman, I met another man who sells handcrafted belts and I bought one for a friend. I also bought a $1 handmade eyeglass case and was tempted to purchase a $25 hand crafted backpack. My eyes were open for the perfect designed backpack, but this backpack had a weird flower design at the top, which did not interest me much. The man wearing overalls and a cowboy hat was so sweet and eager to sell it. He kept showing it's best features like Vanna White selling a car. It made me sad to say, "No gracias." But it was just not the bag for me. The perfect bag will definitely speak to me.
As for food, well I had two glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice at different times.I drank one cup and it was so good I had to spin around the market again to get another. I was feeling a little under the weather so I also took my chances on some homemade chicken soup. I sat with a police officer and shared my soup asking him about the local crime. He said there are problems with youth and robberies, but it was not such a bad city. I wanted to take a picture with him to remember the moment, but he got a phone call and he had to leave quickly.
Being dropped off at 8:30, we only had until 1:15 and of course I cut the time a bit close because I was wondering around and talking. I had to be at the bus at 1:40, but I forgot where they parked it. In a panic, I was asking where the tourist bus is and how to get there. People lead me to a main area, but this was not where they parked. Fortunately, there was a man who knew the direction and pointed about 2 streets down where I was suppose to go. I was literally 5 minutes away from it and I was in a panic-ridiculous, but I did not want to say goodbye to all my stuff as they left to Guatemala city without me!
Always an adventure, especially at the markets!
Eating, shopping, talking, listening, learning, locals!
In the market, vendors sell handicrafts, food, flowers, pottery, wooden boxes, condiments, medicinal plants, candles, incense, lime stone, grindstones, jewelry including granite and amber, different types of masks used for traditional dances, comedores (small eateries to have food).
With my visit falling on a Sunday, the first place I had to visit was the Church of San Thomas
Next to the market is the 400 year old church. It is built atop a Pre-Columbian temple platform and the steps originally leading to a temple of the pre-Hispanic Maya civilization remain venerated. K'iche' Maya priests still use the church for rituals burning incense and candles. In special cases, they burn a chicken for the gods. Each of the 18 stairs that lead up to the church stands for one month of the Maya calendar year.
Another key element of Chi Chi is the Cofradia of Pascual Abai, which is an ancient carved stone venerated nearby and the Maya priests perform several rituals there. Writing on the stone records the doings of a King named Tohil(Wikipedia).
I arrived around 830 to the Chichi Market and I was hurrying along asking each local where I could find the church. This one older gentlemen on my path looked he had been living in the village his whole life. Of course he knew informing me that I could possibly make the 9am. I quickly ran through the market and up the stairs to see women selling flowers and a beautiful ritual is occurring in front of the church door. The men were dressed traditionally and the women had towels on their head. They stayed outside while I walked in ready to see a bunch of people and the Pastor about to come through. Instead I saw a baptism to my left.
It was not my preference, but I decided to sit in and watch their traditions.
The babies were dressed beautifully with big, white fluffy dresses-adorable.
It was beautiful to witness these babies coming into the World of Christ. The family members looked beyond proud standing and watching. While I was not dressed for the occasion, I tried to stay in the back.
As usual, tourists were sitting on a tour listening to the history of the church and taking photos-no attention to their surroundings. It´s fine, but I can only hope these people explore their surroundings better other than photos and shopping.
When you arrive at the Chichi market, there are a couple things that stand out in the aura of the market. 1.) the colors 2.) the energy 3.) the desire to sell
In general people are not very pushy when selling in Guatemala. They are friendly and helpful and if you don't buy they don't have a fit about it rather they have grace and dignity and say "Thank you."
This is not really the case for Chichi as it is a touristic place to sell and make money. Rather than learning about the culture and how they make their product, they just want to talk money and prices. When I asked a man about the significance behind his art piece, he kept saying, "How much you pay?" "How much you pay?" I have no interest in buying artwork that someone can't share their ideas or thoughts about for one minute. This is clearly not the case for all vendors, but most had their agenda to sell. Mouths to feed and money to earn. It's understandable especially when with tourists.
What is outstanding about the market is the colors and how beautifully they blend together in their different bright shades of pink, purple, blue, orange, and yellow. The tribal patterns are very common whether on blankets, table cloths, purses, belts, bags, sheets- they make literally everything. The quality of the product can vary from vendor to vendor, but overall they have incredible hand work and beautiful patterns.
In the market, I met a lovely, lovely young lady and her kind family. It was her Grandma and Grandpa, who initially caught my eye. They were innocently sitting and eating their lunch. No one else would think this is such a sight, but I just love people and especially older generations, especially older couples. The elderly of new cultures with their kind smile, wrinkles, and unawareness to what is going on-it's adorable. Her Grandma was enjoying her lunch and asked me a couple questions. One included: "Why am I traveling alone and not with my husband?" That's a good question. I just told her that I have a distant love and I hope he can travel with me one day-truth. She looked at me quite puzzled probably not understanding why I was traveling alone.
Their granddaughter Marissa was not so different from me as she studied abroad in Brazil for her MBA and she enjoys traveling as well. She went to the US two times and plans to go again soon. She helps with her family business selling different colors of yarn for sewing, but her passion is Aesthetics.
She was helping out with their family business, but she was working in aesthetics with foreigners. She received her MBA in Brazil. She is currently learning how to speak French and she already speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English. She has a 7 year old boy who stands behind her in a shy manner. His name is Omar. She is also interested in philosophy and multi-cultural studies where she works on a project for the indigenous community. She stimulated my mind and made me question my own theories and beliefs. She gets the Stamp of Inspiration approval from Pris. She truly is a independent woman who cares for her family while taking care of her child, educating herself, traveling, and involved with the rights of her people. It is empowering to meet a young Guatemalan woman with such passion, motivation, and charisma.
Along with this woman, I met another man who sells handcrafted belts and I bought one for a friend. I also bought a $1 handmade eyeglass case and was tempted to purchase a $25 hand crafted backpack. My eyes were open for the perfect designed backpack, but this backpack had a weird flower design at the top, which did not interest me much. The man wearing overalls and a cowboy hat was so sweet and eager to sell it. He kept showing it's best features like Vanna White selling a car. It made me sad to say, "No gracias." But it was just not the bag for me. The perfect bag will definitely speak to me.
As for food, well I had two glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice at different times.I drank one cup and it was so good I had to spin around the market again to get another. I was feeling a little under the weather so I also took my chances on some homemade chicken soup. I sat with a police officer and shared my soup asking him about the local crime. He said there are problems with youth and robberies, but it was not such a bad city. I wanted to take a picture with him to remember the moment, but he got a phone call and he had to leave quickly.
Being dropped off at 8:30, we only had until 1:15 and of course I cut the time a bit close because I was wondering around and talking. I had to be at the bus at 1:40, but I forgot where they parked it. In a panic, I was asking where the tourist bus is and how to get there. People lead me to a main area, but this was not where they parked. Fortunately, there was a man who knew the direction and pointed about 2 streets down where I was suppose to go. I was literally 5 minutes away from it and I was in a panic-ridiculous, but I did not want to say goodbye to all my stuff as they left to Guatemala city without me!
Always an adventure, especially at the markets!
Eating, shopping, talking, listening, learning, locals!
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