Quiché home, and traditional weaving

Today I journeyed to a nearby town of Momostenango, generally known as Momos. All of the towns here seem to have short nicknames that make it much easier for a foreigner to get around (though I am sure it is not the purpose!). I arranged my homestay here in Xela through ICA, one of the local Spanish Schools. On the weekends, they offer trips to nearby towns, and allowed me to tag along.

One of the weavers from Momos showed us around her home where she does the weaving, with the wool, yarn, dyes, looms, and finished products all in one place. She was kind enough to let us try it out, too. All of their dyes use natural leaves, berries, and rocks, adhered with ash (remind anyone of tie dye, using soda ash?). The work area is a part of the home, so you can see the clothes drying right next to the yarn hanging. And naturally, the children hang around during the work times.






We also got to snack on some tortillas cooked over a wood stove. The photo doesn't do the process justice, because the smoke was so thick and so strong that you could smell it from far away, and EVERYTHING on my smelled like smoke even after walking in the rain. Despite the potential respiratory difficulties, I was anxious to help out, and practice making tortillas by hand. My tortilla press at home is great, but leaves me without a seemingly vital skill. I have to admit my handmade tortillas are looking better and better these days. : )


And naturally, no town in Latin America is complete without a church, and this is the one place our guide took us. The thing that amazed me about the church, though, was that it had a Mayan flare, with beautiful carved stone at the back where hundreds of candles were burning, and people were gathering for silent prayer. I didn't photograph that out of respect for the people praying there.