My trusty LP guide tells me that there is a Feast of Santa Tomas in Chichicastenango during the week before Christmas and I was drawn to the idea of witnessing a live fiesta and merry making by the local indians! Oh...merry making they did...every night since I arrived in Guatemala, there have been nightly displays of fireworks and firecrackers and it never seems to stop! Firecrackers seem to be free in this country cos every corner of the street there will be some going off, be it day or night.
Taking the "chicken bus" for the first time, I was amazed at how the Guatemalans can actually squeeze into the bus with such a narrow aisle(can only fit 1 person really) and into the seats(3 on each side, with half a butt hanging out near the aisle) and I gave silent thanks for the fact that I am a small Asian girl and not a huge gringo-size tourist.
Chichcastenango is also famous for their Thursday and Sunday markets where the streets get jam packed with stalls hawking embroidered tablecloths, bed draperies, bags, pillow cases, clothes, table napkins, etc. The riot of colors really sets you in the mood for shopping...you just can´t help it cos the prices are really good and everything looks so beautiful! Just cut the price into half and bargain your way up from there and you`ll go home a happy tourist.
The Feast of Santo Tomas is amazingingly colorful and noisy... 4 live bands play right next to each other or maybe 50m away from each other´s stage and nobody seemed to mind the awful clash of music! The processions were really chaotic as feathered and masked dancers took their place in the square and shook their maracas while trying to dance in all that elaborate and albeit cumbersome costume. The "moving" marimba band follows the procession and it is really amazing to see them moving the huge marimba every few steps with 3-4 guys banging away at the keys without missing a beat! As with most festivals, there is much drinking and by the final day of the festival, it became a common sight to see drunks lying unconscious in the streets, some right next to the firecrackers that are going off next to their ears! Droves of indians came to pay homage to Saint Thomas in the town´s main Iglesia of Santo Tomas. The whole town is simply buzzing with marimbas, live band music, firecrackers and hawkers selling their wares and tamales or atoles on every corner of the streets. With christmas only a few days away, everyone is in a damn happy mood! Every night, the crowd was treated to a very elaborately designed fireworks display that would last for about 30mins.
The atole served at the street stalls were a welcome relief from the numbing cold that embraced my hands...a hot, thick drink made from corn, they have it in yellow(corn), white(rice) and chocolate. I love the chocolate version, of course. Tastes a littel like hot chocolate but a richer version..almost like a meal by itself! You can mix the rice and chocolate version together and it is really very filling! When the winter weather sets in, I wish I can have atole every night before i sleep...mmm.....
Watching the indigenous women make fresh tortilla was very entertaining for me. First they slap the small mound of dough between the flats of their palm and then clapped their hands together in fast continuous actions till the dough flattens evenly. I could stand there and watch 2-3 women slap their hands together at the same time around the grill, creating this funny sound effect "Piak! Piak! Piak!" and silently wish I am one of them. What a bond between the tortilla women....
Finally satisfied with my bargains from the market and with my atole-filled tummy, I headed back to Antigua to avoid the plague of the marimba music hurting my ears after 3 days of merry making...I shudder now whenever I hear marimba music from afar....brrr......
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