Field Trip

These are two of my lovely students, Eulalia and Romelia, who traveled 2 days to reach Guatemala City from the remote mountain village of Avocate.

The girls have been working hard in the sewing room, learning to make cassocks for their priest.

We were also joined by Presvytera Reina Elisabet (whose name translates to Queen Elizabeth) from the town of Nueva Concepcion, a 3-hour distance from Guatemala City .This is Maria Cielo, a resident of the orphanage, who is in charge of caring for the sewing room.  A very bright and creative young lady, she has been a wonderful help to me.  In addition to the 3 women from out of town, there are 5 girls from the orphanage who participate in the sewing class.

On Saturday, I needed to buy more sewing supplies.  I decided to make this a class field trip and took along the 3 newcomers so they could experience the city.  We went to El Mundo de las Telas (The World of Fabrics).  This store has 2 floors of every kind of fabric imaginable.  In the photo below, Presvytera Reina who, like me, is fascinated by textiles, is enjoying her surroundings.  Eulalia and Romelia were also dazzled by the great variety.

We still needed to purchase a few more items.  To add to the excitement of the day, I also took them to Walmart so they could experience a U.S. style mega-store.  My friends were completely overwhelmed by the vast accumulation of food, clothing, and household products.  The store was crowded with Saturday shoppers.  The Guatemalan Walmart is rather upscale, peopled by well-groomed employees and well-heeled customers.  In this photo, we are taking a break from the sensory overload.  After this, we all headed back to the orphanage for a nap.  One might think that it was cruel to expose these women to a lifestyle that is not accessible to them.  On the contrary, they realized the error of excess and appreciated their simple, less confusing lifestyle where shopping is handled on an individual and personal level.