One of the cultural excursions I did in Guatemala was to go to a cooperative employed by local women who teach skills like weaving, cooking, and jewelry making, and they also make things to sell in the shop there (I bought a pretty bracelet). It was an enjoyable experience, even though I wasn't very good at weaving. 😅 But I think with time and practice, it would be something I'd enjoy. It really helped me to recognize and appreciate a lot more how much work and effort goes into handmade goods.
The weaving room
Linda and I were paired up with the same weaving worker woman (ah, the alliteration!) because we had chosen the same colors and pattern for our scarf.
Here I am trying to figure out how to weave. 😆
P.S. The headband I'm wearing is a handwoven one that I bought at a market earlier in the week! And the bracelet is the one I mentioned earlier, which I bought at their shop just before the weaving lesson.
The finished product! 
After we were done weaving, we went upstairs to a lovely open-air cafe where we enjoyed a delicious lunch cooked by some of the people in our group who had chosen to do a cooking lesson. It was a lovely lunch and our last one in Guatemala (we left the next morning).
The fruit drinks in Guatemala were refreshing and so tasty!
This chicken dish was so good!
I'd never had a rose made out of a tomato. Very nice!
The surrounding scenery from up on the cafe balcony was a mix of beauty and relative poverty, but I have to say that the people there seem happy and content. This is their way of life, and they seem to be satisfied with it. I know I'm massively overgeneralizing, but that was my impression after spending a week there. And those who live around Lake Atitlan live in such beautiful natural surroundings! In many ways, they are blessed with natural beauty and a simpler, less complicated lifestyle.
