what's that on your shirt?

when i first arrived here, cori told me that the local indigenous folks get upset if they see non-mayans wearing mayan clothing. i understood to an extent. there's not much in american culture i would feel upset about people casually adopting. i've seen plenty of people wearing nfl clothing, who probably don't know who joe montana is, and i could care less. if i saw someone using an american flag as a dishtowel, i wouldn't even care that much, though i don't imagine it'd be very practical.

i didn't really understand how connected the mayan way of life is with their clothing until today. i hate talking about these things, because i feel like the vocabulary we use for ''religion'' and ''culture'' is completely incapabale of fully describing other... cultures, but i don't really know how to broach the intersubjective on the internet, so here we go. i'll employ plenty of idiot quotes, most likely.

everything, from the way the cloth is made to the colors of the cloth to the ''symbols'' used on the clothing ''represent'' different parts of mayan ''culture'' and the ''earth.'' (i'll stop now.) the shirts are connected to the orbit of the earth, vegetation, animals, love, lifecycles, etc. etc. while they are doubtless also designed in a way to be visually appealing (vanity is part of nature, not just human nature), seeing someone wearing it solely for that reason must be like a diehard catholic seeing a stripper in a nun's outfit.

also, today i had the most declicious squash ever for lunch. two different kinds. with a soup, tortillas, a carrot, and a potato with two flavors of agua fresca. lunch is the central meal of the day for guatemaltecas, although the portions were still a little small for me. rather than frequent snacking, i'm going to try and adapt my diet to eat smaller meals, which is supposedly better for you anyway.

tonight. movie about buena vista social club.

love,
ben