A little more culture please.

Today is your (and my) lesson in culture.  I thought I was going to write a post today about the clinic in the Mayan village where Dr. Jim volunteers on Tuesday mornings, and you'll get a bit about that, but this is primarily about the Mayan culture.  Errrr- a microscopic fraction of said culture.

TRAJE (pronounced trah-hey) is the traditional clothing worn by the indigenous people here.  It is beautiful, colorful, full of patterns and textures.  I've been trying to figure out if the patterns are related to familial decent or just random, creative beauty. At some point, I'll have that conversation with Reyes (Dr. Jim's translator at the village clinic), but I need a few more vocabulary words to ask and understand!  After a quick google search, I did learn this-those patterns and colors have rhyme and reason.  "Moreover, in Guatemala, Maya traje is village-specific or language-group related."  Which then leads me to question, what specifically makes you aware of the village or language group???  Color?  Style?  Pattern?  Flowers?  Birds?  Here are a few of my encounter…I have yet to see a man wearing traditional garments.

Maria, looking beautiful in her traje, with Miss Kay at the clinic. 

Virginia displaying her traje.

A baby's beanie (sorry for the blur, snapping pics while driving on dirt roads) and Maria (dos) on the left wearing her traje and a sweatshirt.  SIDE NOTE:  Maria (dos) is new to Prince of Peace.  She arrived a few days before I did.  I was told about her, "You'll recognize her.  She has hollow eyes, still wears her traje, and cries all day long."  I intend to share more about her, not in this post, but let me say this, she has made progress-I've seen her smile and she does in fact speak Spanish!

IDIOMA And did you know, Guatemala has 23 languages and 30 different dialects.  I believe most of the individuals in the mountains who travel to this particular clinic for medical attention speak Kaqchikel.  Reyes, a lovely lady who works at the clinic interpreting, speaks both Spanish and Kaqchikel.  Today, we had three languages going on as Dr. Jim explained some of the patients' conditions to me and Reyes interpreted for Dr. Jim!  I asked Reyes if she grew up with both languages in the home.  No, her mother spoke Kaqchikel and her schooling was in Spanish.  Same for her daughter.  Reyes taught Dr. Jim and I how to say Buenos Dias-Good Morning in Kaqchikel, but I'm afraid it just wasn't happening.  It was close, and she was kind, but they make sounds with their throat that we are not accustomed to.  Anyway, close, but no!  I also heard a lot of clicking in the back of their mouths…hard to explain, easier to hear.  Here is an audio clip of the language.  I wanted to try and get a video, but didn't want to interrupt the ladies speaking.  If you listen carefully, you can hear a lot of "sh" sounds.




There you have it, a little culture for both of us today.  I'll end with this photo of the back of the vehicle trying to leave the clinic today.  In total, 10 adults, 2 boys, 2 babies…not bad!