San Antonio Weavers Co-op

07 March, 2019

Today's after school activity was a trip to a traditional Mayan weaver's coop in nearby San Antonio.

It is owned by five families and their mission is to maintain their Mayan customs, of Eric, for women, the most important is weaving and embroidery of traditional garments.

I struck up a halting conversation with the clan matriarch, and she then insisted on putting different blouses, called huipil, on me. 

This particular huipil was made by her, taking six months to complete, from weaving the fabric to embroidering the embellishments. The doves indicate that it is for a wedding. It is open at the sides, and is worn by overlapping then and the huipil and wrap skirt are held in place with a belt (also hand woven).

The women of this pueblo specialize in creating weaves that are double sided, which they said is unique. The design is the same on both sides and there are no visible thread ends.

Once the other group had arrived, we were seated in a semicircle for a weaving demonstration and mock wedding.

Here, the woman is showing the double sided fabric.

Below are two devices. On her right side, the skeins of thread are put onto the winder in the order they will be used. For an actual fabric, the colored threads on the winder would be the size of a basketball.

Next, the threads are transferred from the winder to the pegs to create the warp (lengthwise threads of the fabric), and transferred to the belt loom.

Here she is demonstrating how the belt loom is used. The threads are quite fine. Girls begin weaving at age six, and women do this all day long, sitting in the same position.

They tapped for volunteers for the Mayan  boda (engagenent/wedding ceremony).

The couple's heads are sprinkled with flower petals symbolizing fertility.

The demonstration went from engagement, to wedding, to children. 

After the ceremony, we went down to the traditional kitchen to try making tortillas. The mortar and pestle with the masa (cornflour dough) is covered with a total. On the right is a large flat ceramic griddle over the fire to cook the tortillas. It looks so easy to pat the tortillas between the hands, but in reality the dough is sticky if you are too slow, and it takes a lot of practice to make them smooth and round.

A brief walk in San Antonio pueblo. You'd kind of pop up selling is common here, from fruits to fabrics.

Our bus, we had a little time so we went down to the church.

Once again, my phone camera is inadewuaye to see that there is a real person in the tower ringing the bells.

The church as seen from the square.

Lovely water carrier fountain, but it wasn't turned on.

UNESCO recognized site. 

The washing well... Isn't it pretty ?

The basis on the side have built in washboard and drain. The more fortunate women have a large sink in their home, which is used for everything from laundry to dishes to shaving. The truly lucky have a washing machine.

Typical local pottery used for cooking. The camera almost captures the sparring gold of the glaze.

These colors!!!

Heading home by bus.