Brenda, a fellow teacher, & me in the Feria Parade

Some of my students from Xenajtajuyup

Dulces

Pig

The Feria season in Totonicapán has come and gone (finally).  We had an entire week of parades and the town of Toto was transformed into an enormous crazy, carnival.  The streets were literally clogged with people and vendors selling just about everything, and the main terminal was converted into an amusement park with thrilling rides.  There were lots of delicious foods, like 3 for Q10 pizza and tacos.  I sampled most of the many sweets for sale and have to say that none were very good, except for the coconut cookies.  The candies were all excessively sweet. There were concerts in the plaza every night, but it also rained every night, so after enjoying the music last Friday during the Feria’s opening night, I took a pass on standing in the cold rain for the rest of the week.  As for the parade, there was an easy solution to my predicament – my schools from Chuculjuyup and Xenajtajuyup were one right in front of the other during the parade so for the first half I walked with Chucul, then the second half dropped back and walked with Xena.  I didn’t feel bad about not walking with Nimapá since I’d walked with them the week before.  The Feria was a lot of fun, but I am not sad that it is over. I have not exactly been the happiest camper this week.  Not only did I feel useless and bored not having any work this week, but it rained every day, and I appear to have had an allergic reaction to something because my entire body, from head to toe, has been covered in a rash.  I’ve been taking anti-histamine meds which has dramatically lessened my reaction, but it’s made me dizzy and lazy.

Feria Delicacies

I survived the Zipper