Lords Of Atitlan

Chichicastenango`s bustling Thursday and Sunday market is said to be the most colorful open-air market in all of Guatemala. Chichicastenango is a favorite day trip for visitors to nearby Lake Atitlán and is truly worth experiencing. Overlooked by tourists, however, are other flourishing markets in the vicinity: the Sunday markets of Chupol, Nahualá, Panajachel, or Patzún; Tuesday or Friday in Atitlán or Sololá; and Tuesday or Sunday in San Lucas Tolimán. One of the best public markets takes place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in Godinez, an aldea of San Andrés Semetabaj situated at its juncture with the municipalities of Santa Catarina, San Antonio, and Patzún. Although tiny, Godinez is a vital crossroads. It has buyers and sellers from all over.

Godinez is a micocosm of my three favorite local markets. What separates Sololá`s Friday market and the Sunday markets of San Lucas and Panajachel from others in the area is their cosmopolitan flavor. Atitlán`s Friday market is as big, but there everyone dresses in the traje of Atitlán, and all transactions are in Tzutujil mixed with Spanish. Nahualá´s Sunday market is way bigger than anything lakeside, but, there too, both buyers and sellers speak Quiché and wear the traje of Nahualá. Such homogeneity, the coming together of a single community to pronounce its oneness and uniqueness, is a beautiful thing, and visually appealing as well.

Sololá`s market, like the city, is also largely homogenous. On market day, throngs of citizens crowd the beautiful park next to the market to take a break from the day`s madness. What you see more than anything is red, the predominant color of Sololás traje for both men and women. Sololá`s position as departmental seat ensures, however, that on any given market day someone from every town in the Department will be there, as will be visitors from throughout the highlands. Sololá thus contains the melding and clash of color and culture that I find so intriguing on market day.

Towns around Lake Atitlán and surrounding mountains often evolved in relative isolation from their neighbors, separated by mountain, canyons, and the lake. They became in many ways distinct nations, with their own cultural traits, mode of dress, and even languages. Market day in Sololá, San Lucas, or Panajachel is a meeting of these nations. I see people I know from everywhere, dressed in traje of their many lands. I´m at once feasted and assaulted by color, floral and geometric patterns, and bird and animal figures, not to mention the abundant produce being offered up for sale. I see women of noble carriage balancing upon their heads bunches of vegetables and long-stemmed flowers wrapped in colorful tzutes from Sololá, Panajachel, Santa Catarina, and Chichicastenango. I hear the steady clap of girls making tortillas. In the flash and flood of color and impressions everything clashes and at the same time combines perfectly.