Chichicastenango: Market Day

The third day of the trip was definitely one of my favorite because we got to go shopping! Chichicastenango is famous for its marketplace on Sundays and Thursdays. We arrived on Wednesday evening and had no idea what we were in for. We had a couple hours of free time that night to check out the town and as we walked around we saw people setting stuff up. I thought I had a basic understanding of what the place would look like the following day but I was very wrong.

When we woke up the next morning the town was completely transformed. We walked out of our hotel and every inch of the street was filled. People were selling anything you could imagine. From purses and headbands to flip flops and alarm clocks.
After breakfast Corey and I decided to check out the church. The steps were lined with people selling flowers. As we walked into the church there was an overwhelming aroma from the incense. Unfortunately I couldn't handle it for too long and soon left to wait outside. Once Corey was finished we met up with Julie and hit the marketplace ready to explore.

I was hesitant about haggling at first but once something caught my eye I began to make offers. Trying to negotiate a price with someone that speaks an entirely different language can be very challenging. It was fun seeing how low they would go. They'd insist you drove them down to their lowest price but as soon as you walked away from the deal they would say "Okay, okay, okay" and lower the price a little more. Everything was so unbelievable cheap because our dollar is worth so much more.

The marketplace is set up with material goods on the outside and food on the inside. We went to see what grocery shopping was really like in Guatemala and at first it didn't seem so bad. There were fruit stands, people making tortillas and a few deep fryers.
But as we made it closer to the heart of the market we started to see some pretty gross things. Once I saw this bucket of fish I decided to turn around. (Dead fish terrify me.) Apparently it was a good decision because when we met up for lunch people in the group were sharing stories of seeing piles of chicken heads. (Ewe!)



At one point a woman stopped Julie and convinced her to let her do her hair. Here's the video.

Overall it was a great experience. I got plenty of gifts and souvenirs and had a great time in the process!