Post Tikal - Youth Dancers (3-24)

 After our intensive day at the ruins of Tikal we met the first of the many vendors 

and traditional artisanal craftsman we came across on our trip.

And this little girl was probably one of the cutest we met.

I bought a weaving from her mom.

She immediately wanted to see the picture, and then to show it to her grandma.

 This is her grandma and sister.

Aren't they all beautiful?

The blouse she is wearing is the typical weaving style of Guatemala.

Here's another lady I bought a weaving from.

The birds on the bottom are the beautiful long tailed quetzal birds that are found in Guatemala.

Their money there is called quetzales - after the bird.

Once we got back to Pentechel we spent some time by the pool relaxing.

In this ENORMOUS chair :0) 

(Lily Tomlin anyone?) 

We did not do any swimming in the lake for obvious reasons.

After dinner we were entertained by a group of young people that are taught by a local teacher who is working to make sure that the traditional/local dances do not completely die out.

The first dance was a girl carrying incense that smoked like crazy.

 She was very serious and represented the ancient religious ceremonies.

There were several different age groups and types of dances.

Some that were just boys.

 Some just girls.

Some just young girls.

 Some mixed dances.

 They did a beautiful job and danced for well over an hour 

going from very old traditional dancing to more contemporary folk dance.

At the very end they all came and got people from the audience to dance with them.

I think Chuck and Bob rather enjoyed it.

Aaannnd...

... this was the sunset on an amazing day.