San Juan, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

San Juan doesn't feel like a town of 10,000. Walking the streets at night looking for my favourite street food - elote loco (corn on the cob with mayonaise, picante sauce and dried cheese) - I feel perfectly safe. I can leave my purse hanging over the back of my chair in a cafe and not worry that a pickpocket will snatch it. I haven't seen any drunk men laying around or anyone who looks homeless. The biggest concern in walking home at night through narrow alleys is that I may trip over a sleeping street dog.

Most of the population here (95%) is Tz'utujil Mayan. The women wear the traditional woven wrap skirt with lovely embroidered blouses held in place around their waists with a wide woven belt. With their long black hair, brightly coloured clothes, and ready smiles they are gorgeous. I asked my Spanish teacher why none of the older women have grey or white hair and she said they all dye their hair! The adults usually converse amongst themselves in their native language.

San Juan seems to be the place to find women's weaving cooperatives. My Spanish school provided a tour that went to the Casa del Tejido (house of weaving) where they showed us how they processed the cotton and spun it, dyed it with natural plant dyes and then demonstrated the weaving process using the backstrap loom. The photo below shows small backstrap looms for tourists to buy.

A demonstration of the process of winding the yarn.

I saw this sign in the Mercado, so went up the stairs to see what was there. The rooftop looked quite empty, with a few small shops with displays of weaving. The women explained that they couldn't afford to pay the fee for a shop along the main street. The municipality must make this space available to them. They were quite eager to get the word out that they could offer demonstrations and workshops as well, but obviously none of the regular weaving tours came to them.

I wonder who helped them create their sign. . .

Coffee is another of the main products of the area - and all of Guatemala. It has the perfect conditions for growing coffee, being at about the same latitude as the original coffee plants that came from Ethiopia. Coffee likes to grow in the shade at a relatively cool temperature and the rich soil from thousands of years of volcanic activity here in Guatemala make for some of the best-tasting coffee.

Here, just down the street from our apartment, is a little patch of coffee drying. One assumes that the family grows a few trees in their back yard and this is how they dry it. I love the yellow mustang in the background!

A little farther down the street is a drying area for a larger farm. The beans are spread out and left for a couple of days and then they are gathered up and the next day another batch is put down.

Many of the murals around town depict the importance of coffee in the people's lives.

Corn is also depicted in the murals as corn is a food staple and also an important gift to the gods in ceremonies.

I had asked my Spanish instructor, Katy, about the significance of some of the murals around town, so we used one of our classes to look at some of the murals. Here is Katy beside a large cut out of a woman wearing the traditional dress of San Juan.

I couldn't quite figure what this mural was depicting, but Katy explained that in the Mayan culture you do not talk about the reproductive process. Here it is being taught, but many of the Mayans are not watching or learning. I forgot to ask about the significance of the doll in the pregnant woman's hand.

Below, on the left, depicts a Spanish conquistador and on the right a Mayan with the Mayan horoscope symbols on his arm and wearing a Jaguar mask.

Every year in villages and towns around Guatemala, there is a competition for Indigenous princesses and queens. In San Juan they are chosen just after June 24 when they celebrate their patron saint - John the Baptist. The competetors must speak an indigenous language. The first mural depicts the young princeses that are selected and the second is the crowning of the queen. I intentionally took it with a family walking in front to give you an idea of local dress. The National Indigenous Queen is chosen in Corban at the end of July during the National Indigenous Folklore Festival. I'm sure it would be a very colourful festival to attend!

After our tour of the murals, Katy took me to the cemetery. This mural is at the entrance and shows the gifts one leaves for a relative who has died.

Katy beside the tomb of her grandparents.

Entrance to the Spanish school that I attended for one week. I guess my Spanish improved, but I prefer to learn in my own haphazard way! The lessons were one on one and for 2 hours/day.


Everything in San Juan seems to be under construction. Here are the blocks that will be laid on a road near our apartment.

The nearby town of San Pedro is referred to as the hippie town. They have lots of cool cafes and shops. Here is the view across the lake while drinking coffee. San Juan is just around the point to the left.

You don't see many men in traditional dress, but I managed to capture a photo of this man walking up our street, swinging his machette behind him.

Just down the hill from our apartment was a bar/cafe that we liked to go to for an evening drink. In the background you can see a good view of Indian Nose. You can see why it is called that!