Although our primary operations are happening here in Xela (Spanish classes and speakers presenting various stories from the war), we also venture out often. Last weekend we headed to Chichicastenango – a smaller city about 2 hours from here. It was a good weekend trip; it’s so much easier to travel with this kind of operation than on the chicken buses, I’m getting spoiled quickly. We all stayed together in a hotel and it was great time for the group to process what they have heard thus far and just be together after a week apart in their homestays.On Saturday we got to visit a group of women whose husbands died during the war. They have formed a sewing cooperative and sell many of their items to groups like ours and through organizations like Ten Thousand Villages. I’ve been working on moving towards buying fair trade goods, and have talked about it with friends and family at home – but it can be hard sometimes for a ‘thrify’(/cheap) person like me to fork up the extra cash….Needless to say it was very encouraging to meet some of the actual people who benefit from such fair trade systems and will hopefully be something that sticks with me. (Shameless plug for them but…If anyone’s interested you can check out Ten Thousand Villages online at: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/)or visit their store in St. Paul.
It was also fun to spend most of the day on Sunday in the market – I was battling a cold and a headache, but didn’t let that stop me. I spent the entire morning just wandering, haggling, purchasing, people watching, it was wonderful. And now we’re back here in Xela, with four days to recoup until our next weekend adventure.
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