"Looking Back" #4- Our Mayan Wedding

One of our favorite and most interesting field trips we took while living in Antigua was to the neighboring town of San Antonio Aguas Calientes. We visited there on January 25, 2007- just shy of our first month in Country. It was on that trip that we first learned much about the Mayan culture. The people group that live in that area are the Kaqchikel. You can see how the women dress in the photo below. (click HERE to see photos of our neices getting dressed up in Kaqchikel clothing)

They taught us many different things on this trip such as how they grind coffee beans,

how they make their fabric,

how they weave their mats,

how they tie up their babies, (some are carried in the front, some on the back)
(I love this next photo- he looks really interested, huh) and how to carry things on your head.

they let volunteers come up after each of these and practice. I was chosen to carry the basket. Our greatest memory from this trip was being picked to be the bride and groom in a mock wedding. They dressed us up in typical clothing and we went through the whole process. This is us during the ceremony-

after the "service" we had to do the traditional Mayan dance. We danced...

and they danced. (and everyone else laughed and took pictures, ha)

And here we are- the Bride & Groom!

It was soo much fun and very interesting! Afterwards they showed us all how to make tortillas and then we ate their typical food- Pepian with tortillas and drank coffee. This day will always be a fun memory of ours in Guatemala!