When is the market in Chichicastenango, Guatemala?

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.