| The day, Friday 13th starts off in a frustrating way as our driver arrives late. As happens each day we do a workshop we pile all the supplies and us into the van hoping to arrive by 7:30 am when the event starts. As we approach San Francisco Alto ( a village at the top of the hill (mountain) we find out that because it is a major market day we have to carry everything in from about .5 mile away through the stalls and throngs of people - uphill in altitude we are not used to on cobble stone paths - sometimes not being able to move without shoving- sometimes losing sight of each other. It would have been an incredible sight but unfortunatelynot a time or place for photographs. Although Wikepedia says that the market is a tourist destination we are the only non-Maya people that I saw in the market all day. The workshop followed the same format of the other two but with different facilitators. Starting with relaxing stress reduction exercises, self - esteem discussion and exercises, family planning techniques and family size experience, ending with a discussion of the human rights laws using the Leyes Para la Paz cards. During the break Linda and I decided to take a look around the market. This particular market is where artisans from the countryside bring their textile creations which are sold (sort of wholesale) to buyers who then resale them at shops elsewhere. I first noticed no one tried to sell us anything. Then I noticed that they did not look at us at all- either with curiosity or hostility. In other places if you glance backwards you can catch someone's eyes just before they glance away, smile or glare. But today - we were completely invisible. It was spooky because we do not blend-in in any way. It was just very very different.    |        |
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