Reflections on Stina Pope’s Guatemalan Adventure

“One very cool thing about this trip to Guatemala was the reactions we got when other folks asked where we were going and what we had seen. The typical touristy folks gave a rather puzzled look and said “oh,” and changed the subject. The folks who really knew Guatemala said ‘ah,’ with a big smile – surprised but pleased that we were seeing the real Guatemala.

Two very different examples are the textile museum and a tortilla demonstration. The textile museum was not simply a place to see wonderful textiles, although it certainly had them, it told the history of Guatemala through the textiles. Because of going there and having a wonderful docent, we understood the meaning of many things we would otherwise have missed for not knowing what we were seeing. Going to a woman’s house and being invited into her kitchen is always special. This was in a village, and the group of village women put together a demo of tortilla making beginning with dried corn on the cob and ending with us eating the freshly made tortillas.

It was a fabulous trip, very special.”

-Stina Pope