We stand under the sun, a blue clear lake and 3 majestic volcanoes to our back. In front of us, at five feet tall maximum, stands our guide for the day. Her smile, in contrast to her stature is large and proud, to match her voice. We all pile into the back of a pickup truck and are jostled through the streets to the square where the church stands.
And here is where I must rather regretfully intrude a moment on my own narration because admittedly, this day made small impact on me. I’ll admit further that really only two things even linger in my mind anymore almost a month home from my journey, the first one is this guys pants:
The birds and the purple are a style specific to this town. Most beautiful piece of clothing i've ever seen
The second was our guide for the day. I have never seen so much love or light coming from a single person. She smiled ten feet wide. Short as she is, I would never have noticed if I didn’t have to look down to speak to her. She stands and walks and talks like someone much taller. She is free from the limitation of her flesh and her confidence was invigorating.
Near the end of our day, i am looking through a box of pins and neat trinkets made by local women and an especially lovely piece caught my eye. A pin with a purple glass bead set among little beads, with three small faceted dark purple stones set above it. I turn to our guide for the day and ask her what sort of crystal they are.
“You like crystals?’ she asks, removing a small pouch from her belt. She opens it, revealing several crystals. I take out my own pouch and we show each other our crystals. She is fascinated by my malachite, apparently it’s not common in Guatemala. I feel instantly close to her, like i’ve known her forever, like we have many many stories to share.
The rest of the group is shouting at me, the truck is waiting.
I turn to tell our Guide goodbye,
“Keep them with you, they will keep you safe” she says, and points at my crystal pouch. They haven’t left my side since.
