October 19 , 2005 - page 3

 

The merging of their traditional religion and culture and that of Catholicism was all too evident and, to me, fascinating.  In Zinacantán, we were able to visit an artesanía workshop. We observed the workers weaving cloth goods, played with the children there, sampled some fabulous tortillas with crushed pumpkin seeds, and tried on traditional Chiapaneco wedding clothes.

Shortly after we arrived in Guatemala on Monday morning, it began to rain—nonstop drizzles and downpours that to a group accustomed to the sunshine and heat of Mérida were totally foreign.  The first night was spent at the Rancho Grande Inn in Panajachel, and the next morning we took a boat across volcano-ringed Lake Atitlán to our hotel—Posada de Santiago—in the town of Santiago Atitlán.  It was here that we lost cell phone service, electricity, running water, and most communication with the outside world.