Salcaja

More photos from my adventures

street in Salcaja

playground in Salcaja

weaving

this guy was amazing!!

in front of the oldest church in central america

supposedly the oldest spanish church in central america

circa 1524 during pedro de alvarado´s conquest of the region

ok, this isn´t salcaja, it´s Xela - main cathedral in the parque central

Yesterday our school went on an excursion to the pueblo of Salcaja. It´s about 7km from Xela and we took el camioneta ¨the chicken bus¨again. It´s always so fun to see the reaction of a first time rider. One of the new girls at school this week hadn´t ridden one yet and I think it freaked her out.

Salcaja is famous for a few things. First, it boasts the oldest Spanish church in central America - established during the conquest of Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. It was a beautiful church and is still in use today.

Salcaja is also one of the 4 or 5 pueblos that does the textile weaving for the mayas and indigenous peoples of Guatemala. It was amazing to see this little guy weaving such beautiful fabric. I don´t know how he keeps track of how many times he´s sent the thread back and forth to keep the pattern even. There are 1000 threads across that he sends the colored thread across and he makes 8 meters as a time! He says it takes about 3 days to make all 8 meters, working 8-10 hours a day. It´s back breaking work and my understanding is that while the fabric is expensive to purchase, the weavers only make about 15 quetzales a day, which is just about 2 dollars a day.

The pueblo is also famous for producing a drink called Caldo de frutas - fruit soup - it´s a brew of fermented fruits and rum or cane alcohol. It´s apparently illegal to produce alcohol in Guatemala, however, the police turn a blind eye to it as it´s been something this town has been doing for hundreds of years. My friends from class said it tasted pretty good, but was super strong.

We then walked around the mercado and checked out the local wares. It was a fun trip and nice to do something fun at school. I still don´t quite understand the differences between the past tense: imperfect and preterit, but I´m plugging along - and LOVING the future tense - es muy facíl para mí!!!