It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding

Okay, a white wedding may not be the most appropriate title, being that the only thing that was white in the entire wedding was the bride’s veil.

For an afternoon activity, students at my school went to the town of San Antonio Aguas Calientes. I went there two years ago and visited again for a very short time when I went on my bike ride, but I got a much more in depth look at this pueblo this time around. This is also where my Spanish teacher is from, so I was curious to learn more about it.

We went to a place called Mananas y Tardes Mayas. Inside, the women of this town put on a presentation for us. Every woman in this village is a weaver. They start from a very young age and everything is done completely by hand. They showed us how they use different tools to complete the beautiful products they make.

Next it was time to demonstrate a traditional Mayan wedding. After a man proposes, they need to wait at least a year before the wedding because the woman needs to weave gifts for her fiancé, future mother-in-law, future-father- in law, future aunts, and all cousins. It sounds like an insane amount of work.

Two kids on our trip played the bride and groom and I got to be the mother of the groom. Just like last time I got to dress up in all the Mayan clothing. We acted out the whole ceremony, including the giving of gifts, the burning of incense, and, of course, the dancing. The mother of the groom has to wear the gifts given to her by the bride the entire time, and let me tell you, it gets really hot under all those layers of clothes!

After the “wedding” we were highly encouraged to shop for homemade products before going to eat. We ate the traditional Guatemalan food of pepian, and I got to use my newly acquired tortilla making skills. All tortillas survived this time around. The woman also gave us coffee. No grinders are used here. Everything is done by hand, including using a large rock to grind each bean of coffee! Not a job I would ever want.

On our way back to Antigua, we pulled over to a little park called Parque Mirador for a nice view of the mountains, volcanoes, and towns below. It was another very unique experience for me here in Guatemala.



"White Wedding" -Billy Idol