Mayan languages

Yesterday I went with the Tulaneys to a neighboring town of Antigua, called San Antonio Aguas Calientes (aka Meq'ën Ya' in Kaqchikel) to have pepián chicken, which is a traditional guatemalan dish. We ate in the store of a weaving cooperative, which I think are actually pretty common in Guatemala. Woman usually have to stay home to take care of their families, but they want to contribute economically and aren't able to. So since most of them weave, often they start cooperatives where they can weave things and sell them to make a profit to help support their families. It's always a great thing to see in my opinion, because it builds on the idea of the community, highlights women's contribution to that community, helps preserve a valuable part of the culture (weaving), and allows families to earn a little more money.

Today we had a discussion about languages and a little bit about the culture here in Guatemala. It's interesting because in the Tulane program there's an armada of teachers (14), so there are a lot of perspectives to hear. So for example, we talked about how there are 22 Mayan languages in Guatemala. Certain people have proposed that historically, a country that has more than one language is by definition "underdeveloped." So we discussed whether or not that's an accurate assessment in the case of Guatemala. I have an issue with the above assertion because the idea that the preservation of Mayan traditions has prevented the development of Guatemala has been used for a long time in order to justify the oppression of the Maya. Nowadays, most people agree that it's important to preserve Mayan culture, but the question is how do you achieve political representation for the Maya in a state that is totally multicultural WITHOUT assimilating, acculturating, or devaluing the indigenous. It's a very, very difficult and hairy topic, because there are so many problems, but there is no clear solution.

Here is a map of the Mayan languages and their respective regions in Guatemala. I think this map is missing one of them (one was just established recently):


Kaqchikel-wise, we've talked about some things that I've never learned formally and had been wondering about, so that made me really happy. I had also asked my teacher to explain reflexive verbs to me, but she wasn't sure she could. So she asked Judie if she would instead, and she did and made it crystal clear. So having the armada of teachers available has definitely been beneficial.

I already feel like my time in Guatemala is coming to an end, and I'm sad about it. I've been thinking that maybe next year what I'll do is do the Tulane class, and then have 2 additional weeks of private instruction. That way I get all the contacts through this class, but I still get the more intense practice from 2 weeks of study. Now the problem is... funding (this is why we have FLAS).