This is part 6 of a multi-part series written by Lee, the proud dad of a Guatemala-born son, who just returned from vacation in Guatemala with his family for the first time since adopting

Part 6

 For our last full day up at Lake Atitlan we went to visit a Maya Works project in San Marcos, specifically a group of women who make kippot (yarmulkes). Since we're Jewish, and actually have had some of the kippot for several years, we wanted to meet the women who make them and learn a bit about their lives. I'd emailed Maya Works-Guatemala a few weeks before our trip and they were very accommodating (I'd been advised by the Maya Works office here in the US to write them in Spanish, if at all possible, which is what I did and our communication was all in Spanish). We were asked to bring some soft drinks and snacks for the women and to try to buy the kippot from the women directly (rather than through their "leader").
  
 We took a public lancha to San Marcos (which the boys loved), hailing it down from the dock at the house we were renting, much like you'd hail a taxi! San Marcos is an interesting place. The lower town is a retreat/spirituality center. In fact there was one such center right by the dock offering services I had never ever heard of. My favorite was "Partnering with Your Inner Child." I've heard of getting in touch with one's inner child and I suppose that partnering is the next level of that relationship.
 
 Maria, the leader, and her assistant, Marta, met us at the dock about 15 minutes after we arrived. The lower town was dotted with massage places, restaurants, hotels etc. It was very pleasant, with lots of vegetation and solid sidewalks. There was also a bilingual Kakchiquel-Spanish preschool in this part of town.
 
 Soon, we were in the upper town, walking past the school, various tiendas, and along a dirt-and-rocks street until we came to a building where there were about 15 women present, some of them weaving Kippot. A few of the women's children were with them. We served them the soft drinks and cookies as we talked - I'm sure they were amused to be served by men!
 
 Some of the women didn't speak Spanish and we carried out 3-way translation between Kakchiquel, Spanish, and English. Maria started by asking us if there are particular colors or sizes of kippot that Jews like (they'd been told that red and green might not be a popular combo, LOL!). We talked about that and we asked about the women and their lives. Maria indicated that these women typically get up before dawn, do their domestic chores, and then start weaving to support their families. They're often the sole support. Most of the women there were married, but a few were not and are looking for husbands. Maya Works tries to encourage the women to keep their children in school as long as possible, but it's a challenge, especially with respect to the girls. She said that because of the pull of Maya tradition, girls are not able to leave their communities to go to university, although this is slowly changing. It's a bit easier for boys, but not by much. My partner asked Maria about the men in the village, and she laughed a bit derisively and said that they basically are just "chupando" (sucking down drinks). We asked about the design of the Kippot and whether they were influenced by Maya art/design (in fact, they are).
 
 Sonia and her friend Abby were on the sidelines trying to establish a price for the kippot. A delicate dance ensued. They reached a price, but the leader then tried to get more, saying that Maya Works provides the materials to the women, etc etc. Another issue was that the supply of Kippot at first seemed to be restricted, but more and more appeared as we talked/negotiated. We stuck to our price and we bought 15 for our son's preschool class at our synagogue, while Sonia bought 30.
 
 We then walked back toward San Marcos and I saw a store right by the school called the Libreria Iris (Rainbow Bookstore). I went in and found they had school supplies and some school books. I bought our son some Spanish readers, and a basic Guatemala geography book (maps of Guatemala that could be colored in, with lined paper for taking notes).
 
 School had ended for the day and our kids joined the school kids on the playground. The girls were almost all dressed in traje, while the boys wore western clothes. It was great to see our kids playing with these school kids (pretty much just alongside them). There were more stores along the school selling snacks and the like, and I found a mini-Spanish dictionary called the "Diccionario Bella Guatemala", complete with pages of info about Guatemala.
 
 We eventually left and headed back to the dock, and then the house, to just hang out. Late in the afternoon, a rainstorm approached on the other side of the lake, but didn't get to our house -- it produced a magnificent rainbow however. We just took it as a sign that we hopefully will be back!

To be continued

Image Credit: wikipedia

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