So this is what a rock star feels like

After Coban, we headed to the Ixil Triangle which is a region of 3 town that are comprised of all indigenous people who mostly speak Ixil. It´s the first place we´ve been where more people speak Mayan (in this case Ixil) than Spanish. We head to Chajul, because this is the town where a family friend runs a non-profit. Not only are we the only gringos in this small town (without a supermarket, internet cafe, or restaurant), but everyone obviously stares at us. The kids follow us in the street (or run away giggling), every single person says ¨hola¨when we pass, and we are really the biggest show in town. All the women wear the traditional Ixil clothing consisting of a hand woven wrap around skirt (usually red) and an intricately embroidered cloth blouse. Even the baby girls wear this outfit. However, none of the men wear traditiona clothing, opting for jeans and t-shirts with WWF stars.



The non-profit has been closed the past 2 days since the directors are in Xela for a conference, so we´ve mostly been milling around town, watching women weave on their front porches, and taking pictures of the beautiful mist that comes down around this mountain town. We´re also incredibly happy to be in a mouintain climate again where we can wear jeans and fleeces. Our hospedaje is a beautiful wooden building with a large kitchen so we´ve made mango-banana smooties, pasta and tomatoe sauce, and our very own milk from powder (yummy!). We also have bought a few pirated DVDs from the local market (all 4 Indiana Jones movies for $2-- but we later found out the 1st 3 are in Spanish and the 4th one is crap!). We also bought a beautiful texile from a local women who ushered us into her house to see all her woven goods. We probably payed too much for it, but it´s hard to haggle with a little old lady who lives in shack with a dirt floor-- especially when you have a month´s worth of her wages in your pocket.



Today and tomorrow we´ll help out with the non-profit which provides education and assitance to Mayan families. I think we´ll mostly be playing with the kids and helping them learn Spanish (a funny idea).



On Saturday we´re heading to Guatemala City to meet Shana´s parents and do the whirlwind tour of Guatemala and Belize. Greg and I are both really excited to go back to Antigua, to have other people to talk, and to be able to play 4 person card games. We´ve just about exhaused our cribbage, gin, and egyptian ratscrew.