Chichicastenango

No I didn´t just sneeze, but thanks for asking.

Chichicastenango is the name of a city two and a half hours north of Antigua that has one of the largest outdoor markets in the world. Vendors from all over Guatemala travel to sell their textiles, foods, carvings, and crafts. Consequently, if I knew any Mayan languages, I would be able to hear many different dialects at the market. And, if I was able to distinguish between the different textile patterns, I would notice that there were weavings from villages all across the country. However, what I saw was a complete claustrophobic and cacophonous array of colors, smells, and sounds. It was wonderful!
The streets are so narrow and each one is lined with vendors on each side, with children weaving between the aisles of shoppers, chanting prices at you over and over again until they´re so low you decide you really do need an embroidered chicken shaped pot holder. (Sorry mom, you now know what your present is when I return.)

There were rows and rows of gorgeous weavings, more hackysacks than I ever thought could exist, and so many bags that I didn´t know where to start to pick one out. I eventually just walked into a stand at random to make a sale. The vendor thrust multiple bags into my hands, exclaiming how each one is so beautiful. If I even glanced at a different one, she pulled it down from the wall so I could see it up close. I was quite hesitant while trying to decide which one I liked the most. (For those that know me well, decisions often don't come without much deliberation.) She interpreted my tentativeness instead to be a displeasure at the price, and demanded that I make up my own. Any price! Once I did, she looked over to the corner of her stand and exclaimed: look at the poor baby!

So, my bartering went like this -
Guatemalan: Q 250
Me: Q 200
Guatemalan: Pero mi bebe necesita comer! Q 240
Me: Que tenga un buen día.
And I gave them Q 250.

I should never buy a car.