The market at Chichicastenango

The market at a glance

what

A market where Maya women sell huipiles, the woven blouses, each town with its own patterns that people can tell apart: this one from Chichi, the red one from Nebaj. A huipil takes about three months on a backstrap loom, a while each day.

when

Thursdays and Sundays.

where

Chichicastenango, which everyone calls Chichi, in the highlands of the Quiché. On the eighteen steps of the church, people burn copal and pray before going in and afterwards; the steps are said to stand for the eighteen months of the Maya calendar.

who

The stallholder speaks K'iche' at home and with her mother, Spanish with customers.

why

Bargaining is normal, but knowing that a piece took three months changes the conversation.

• The market is held on Thursdays and Sundays.
• A huipil takes about three months to weave on a backstrap loom; every town has its own patterns and people can tell them apart.
• Copal, a tree resin, is burned on the church steps, where people pray before entering and afterwards; the steps are said to be eighteen, for the months of the Maya solar calendar.
• The stallholder speaks K'iche' at home and Spanish with customers; K'iche' is the largest Maya language of Guatemala.

Tres meses, más o menos, en telar de cintura. Se trabaja un rato cada día.

Three months, more or less, on a backstrap loom. You work at it a while each day.

En k'iche'. Con los clientes, español; con mi mamá, k'iche' nomás.

In K'iche'. With customers, Spanish; with my mother, K'iche' only.

Es copal. La gente sube a rezar allí antes de entrar, y también después.

It's copal. People go up to pray there before going in, and afterwards too.

Bargaining with respect

• Bargaining is normal, but asking for half price gets you shown a simpler piece.
• "Me llevo este" is the usual way to say you are buying something; payment is in quetzales, the currency named after the bird.

Adelante, joven. Pase, mire con calma.

Go ahead, young man. Come in, take your time looking.

Puede pedir, pues. Pero si me pide la mitad, mejor le enseño otro más sencillo.

You can ask, of course. But if you ask me for half, I'd better show you a simpler one.

Gracias. Me llevo este, y le pago en quetzales.

Thank you. I'll take this one, and I'll pay you in quetzales.

The village square

Almost every town in Central America is built around a square, with the church on one side, always big and white, the alcaldía with the flag on another, and shops and a café on the other two. In the morning it is quiet; at midday it is too hot and there is nobody; in the afternoon the children arrive in school uniforms, and ice creams, elotes and fruit water are sold; at night it is full. Nobody arranges to meet: if you are looking for somebody, you do not call, you go to the square.

• Central American towns are built around a square with the church, the town hall, shops and a café on its four sides, and benches and trees in the middle.
• Nobody arranges to meet: to find somebody you go to the square rather than phoning.

En Centroamérica, casi todos los pueblos tienen una plaza.

In Central America, almost every town has a square.

Nadie hace una cita. Todos saben dónde ir.

Nobody arranges to meet. Everybody knows where to go.

Si buscas a alguien, no llamas. Vas a la plaza.

If you are looking for somebody, you do not call. You go to the square.

Words of Guatemala

el huipil

the woven blouse worn by Maya women

el telar de cintura

the backstrap loom

la rebaja

the discount

pues

(at the end of a sentence) a softener

nomás

just, only

las gradas

the steps of a building

el copal

tree resin burned as incense

el quetzal

the currency, and the bird

Ese es de Chichi. El rojo es de Nebaj, allá por el Quiché.

That one is from Chichi. The red one is from Nebaj, over in the Quiché.

Así se cuenta. Súbalas despacio y no se ponga en medio, que están rezando.

That is how it is told. Go up them slowly and don't stand in the middle, because people are praying.