Quiejel Homestay

Hello friends, family, and curious onlookers,

My name is Natalia Robinson and I am the new volunteer at Maya Traditions. I am a Fiber Arts major at Evergreen State College in Washington State in the United States. The next four months I will be interning at Maya Traditions, traveling to different communities to learn about their specific art forms, and may possibly teach felting to some of the groups here that are interested in learning. My first few weeks here have been incredibly informative and full of brand new experiences in Guatemala. However, the most enriching experience I have had so far was my homestay in Quijel with Yolanda and her family. Yolanda is a master weaver and the leader of our Chichicastenango weaving group. I came to live with her to learn how to use the backstrap loom and get a taste of life in the countryside.

       When I arrived at her home we immediately began working. I showed her pictures of the brocading technique I wanted to learn, and some of the things in the shop that we sell that I really liked. It just so happened that she had made the coin purses with intricate brocading work that I preferred most in the shop. Thus we were a good teacher/student match and began creating the warp right away. This process takes focus and is more difficult for intricate warping patterns.

       For the first project I had quite a bit of help and decided for that the second project I would do all of the work. This was much trickier than I anticipated and I had many problems creating the heddle (in Quiche this is called the chicoy). The Maya here have invented an ingenious way of creating heddles by hand using rayon string on a stick. This is how they are able to make such complex patterns on their huipils and control their brocading designs. Weaving her is truly done a mano (by hand). During my lessons, many members of Yolanda's family came to visit and assist in my teaching. I was very grateful for this, but found Yolanda to always be the most knowledgeable. When she was unavailable, I found myself struggling a little more. However, by the end of the week I had totally designed and produced a bufanda or scarf.

     Beyond my lessons in weaving, I spent my days in Quijel eating fresh made tortillas of corn that was grown on her land and consuming large quantities of beans, tomatoes, avocados, and atole. Her family took me in and I found myself teaching sword fighting with sticks while trying to speak Spanish and a little bit of Quiche to all the neighborhood children. When you do not understand a language, I have found hand gestures, smiles, and laughing to be a good substitute to words. I also had the opportunity to accompany Yolanda to the health center and witness the insane waiting time to receive toothpaste, a toothbrush, some soap, and a small packet of vitamins. She came in the morning, was wait listed as number 108 and ended up waiting for over three hours in line during the afternoon. She was patient, but I found myself annoyed for her. The health care situation in these communities is in dire need of support and I hope that more indigenous people here will be able to receive the education to return to their villages and help.

       I witnessed the strength these people have to cultivate their food in the mountains and maintain their language, art,and culture. They have an  incredibly strong sense of community and  it inspired me greatly to know that there are still cultures that maintain the care of their community and culture with so much laughter. Yolanda is a key person in the community and I never saw anyone shy away from her. She is a pillar of support to all of those around her and is always laughing. I hope to continue to build such amazing relationships with the people here and to seek funding for the health care programs at Maya                                                                             Traditions.