Una Adventura en el Mercado
Yesterday I ventured to Antigua´s market in search of a pair of jeans tipico de Guatemala. Not only do i need warm pants for the frequently cool evenings, but the rain has brought mosquitos which have been feasting on my ankles. Several of the small tiendas in town sell american jeans (at american prices), but i was determined to shop like a Guatemalteca. Also, since the youngish guatemalans all wear jeans, and at 5´2 I am actually tall compared to Guatemalan women, i figured that at the market i would find jeans that weren´t 6 inches too long. Weaving my way through the maze of clothes venders inside the sweltering market (Yesterday happened to be unseasonably warm- perfect for trying on jeans in stuffy market) I found a booth with women´s blue jeans. Two traditionally dressed guatemalan women sized me up and one of them began pulling jeans out of plastic bags for me to look at. They were all very long. I used my broken Spanish to ask to try a couple of pairs on and the woman promptly enclosed me in the corner with a cloth. i barely had 2 feet of space to maneuver in. I quickly realized that guatemalan jeans were old style rip-off tight- legged bell bottoms from the US. not my style. the first pair i tried was skin tight. "Esos son Bonitos" commented the woman. when i looked a bit dismayed, she asked "Que es el problema"? I tried to explain that my thighs were being strangled. "Es el estilo" she relplied. She was right i guess, and four or 5 pairs later with just as many plastic bags strewn around me, i realized i wasn´t going to do much better than the first pair. I peeled off the jeans i had tried on last, bargained the woman down about 60 quetzales and sought out the tailor a few booths away. He agreed to shorten my jeans for 10 quetzales (1.25). However i had no way to try them on for him to mark. He handed me a marker and i returned to the tiny store to mark my new stylish jeans. Not sure if i will ever have the nerve to wear them, but at least the mission was a success!
Here is a link to a site with good pics of Antigua´s market: http://www.abiyoyo.com/guate/antigua/mercado/mercado.htm
