I spent about six months in Guatemala back in 1977. It is a beautiful country. I lived out of a backpack and tent. Traveled all over Guatemala. The native women are all taught how to weave on a backstrap loom. They make their own clothes. Every village has a unique motif. The women wear what is called a huipil (blouse), a faja (belt/sash), and the corte (skirt). In certain communities, the color and size of the faja can signify if a woman is married or single.

On market days people come from all over to sell wares, fruits, vegetables, and anything else that might sell. You can tell where in Guatemala each person is from by the clothes they wear. It is a beautiful display of woven colors and figures.

There is an undercurrent of tension between the indigenous people and the Latino Guatemalans. The Latinos look down on the natives. They are treated brutally. Not unlike how native Americans have been treated here. It is sad. Those people are just trying to survive. For the most part the natives live off the land. Yet they are displaced in their own country.

You did a wonderful thing to give your son a chance at a better life.