Chichicastenango...A cool market, a crazy festival and my first turkey bus

Some days I wish I could be invisible. These are also the days when it seems impossible to put the camera down.

After meeting people, my favorite thing to do while traveling is taking pictures. Without the ability to paint, draw or scribble and a voice worse than Harry Caray I've often said that taking photos is the closest thing I can do to actually being artistic. And it is a day like today in a place like the Chichicastenango market where would-be photographers like myself salivate. The colors, layers, textures and sheer differentness (for lack of an actual word that i like better) of the market's wares are gimmes that could make my 2 1/2 year old nephew look like a good photographer. But it's the people that I really would love to shoot. The bright, elaborate clothes. The pensive expressions - perhaps wondering if enough money was made to feed the family. The worn faces and deep lines indicating a lifetime spent working in the sun. Ahhh, to be invisible. For now, I'll have to settle for the less invasive cut-fruit shots.













Another place I would have loved to have taken photos was on the bus into Chichi which was perhaps the most crowded I've ever taken. At some point, the cramped discomfort turns to humor. Just when you think it is physically impossible to fit one more person, the stops keep coming and people keep packing in. On this particular ride, there were NINE people filling the row (and aisle) in front of me - we could have fit all of the American League and half of the National League if we kept going - when a woman got on with a live turkey bobbing its head out the back of a blanket/backpack tied around her neck. Chicken buses are famous here in Central America, but this was my virgin turkey bus experience.

Finally, the wonderful day in Chichi was topped off with a procession/parade followed by a bizarre fireworks display that included people dancing around in a pyrotechnic costume that sent light and fire in every direction - including into the scurrying crowd. All in good fun for the Quema del Diablo (burning of the devil) festival. Time to hurry back to the "hotel" - our curfew there has been extended to 10pm for this special night - after that, the doors are locked.