Day of the Chapin

Day of the Chapin                 February 22, 2017

To our surprise, yesterday was the Day of the Chapin, which is a name that Guatemalans call themselves.  At public schools, children dressed in typical dress, put on dances and musical performances, all to celebrate the indigenous culture.  The indigenous Mayans make up 60% of the Guatemalan population and are especially visible in the area surrounding Lake Atitlan.  Around town, marimba music could be heard floating through the air;  bombas (firecrackers) exploded now and then.  A public performance took place on the church plaza.

At Jabel Tinamit, our Spanish School in Panajachel (pana-ha-shel),  the female teachers - which is most of them - had organized an amazing display of the typical Mayan dress.  Each staff member wore a different outfit, because each Mayan town has its own pattern of dress, rather like a uniform.  Most women still wear the outfit of their own town, making their origins easily identifiable.  In fact, I read that the tradition began during colonial times when the Spaniards required each town to have its own distinct outfit so that residents could be identified more easily.  Although the tradition included men, as well, most men have stopped wearing tipica as time has gone on.  But the women still do - and the custom is one that makes Guatemala so colorful and visually charming.

The brief show yesterday involved each teacher naming the town where her outfit is worn and an explanation of the significance of the designs and colors.  These trajes (trah-hays), as they are called in Spanish, include a skirt, a blouse, and a woven belt/shash to hold the wrap-around skirt in place.  There is often a headpiece, too.  The whole outfit is VERY expensive to buy, costing hundreds of dollars, though many women weave their own fabric and make their own trajes.

Since this is a Mayan staff, all of these teachers wear trajes every day.  It doesn't matter what the job is, from menial cleaning jobs to professional office or teaching jobs, the traje is still worn.

This event was especially exciting for me, as it gave me an opportunity to take pictures to my heart's content.  Out on the street, where I see trajes being worn in daily life, it is not polite to take photos.  Here, photos were welcomed.  I have a lot!

            Candelaria, the school's co-director, is on the far left.  Carmelina, my teacher, is second from the right.  

It is amazing and wonderful to me that this tradition is so strongly maintained. While homogenization of the world's cultures often seems inevitable, the Mayan women of Guatemala are proving that it doesn't have to happen.  No Levi jeans for these proud women!