The Setting We Never Got to See

Beautiful vendor at the Chichicastenango market in the Highlands.

Beautiful vendor at the Chichicastenango market in the Highlands.

Today I’m sharing some photos of my trip to Guatemala, all from our visit to the Chichicastenango in the Highlands on market day. Last week I explained that the trip was research for Endless Chain–just reissued–book two of the Shenandoah Album series.

The trip was a bit unusual since I traveled there after the book came out. But that’s when the opportunity arose, and how could I miss the chance to see if I’d gotten some of my back story correct? The trip was transformative, and I fell in love with the country and the Mayan people.

The church in Chichicastenango on market day.

The church in Chichicastenango on market day.

You can see more photos I posted right after my trip if you click on “travels” under categories to your right and scroll down a bit to the posts on Guatemala from 2009. My husband went back in 2010 and actually witnessed kite flying on the Day of the Dead in Sumpango (which is part of the Endless Chain story) and brought back photos which I shared. You can enjoy those, too.

Cemetery in Chichicastenango

Cemetery in Chichicastenango

And where in the world is Emilie Richards right now? Well I’m between homes, moving slowly northward as you read this, first to visit family and friends, then to speak at the Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus on May 11th.

The final stop will be in Western New York where I’ll finally get to view the renovation of our cottage. I promise photos of that, too. I have many of the work in progress, taken by our contractor, but even I can’t figure out what most of them are.  So we’ll wait and see the product when it’s closer to the finish line. (Check the Renovation category for photos and renovation blogs up to this point.)

By the way, try to imagine me writing once I settle in while workmen are banging and clanging around me to finish the work. I once visited an author whose house was in the middle of renovations. She had rigged a plastic tarp over her computer to avoid leaking pipes and was writing away. This is the definition of the term: Good Sport.  I’m determined to be a good sport, too. But if you don’t see quite as much of me for a while, you will understand, right?

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