A 30-minute boat ride to Panajachel and an hour car ride (or 4-hour multiple transfer bus ride on public transportation as some from our group experienced) got us to Chichicastenango known for its enormous outdoor market on Thursdays and Sundays (as well as the church in which the Popol Vuh was found.)

Walking for several hours through the windy paths of the market with vendors on either side of us, we confirmed that the competition in the Guatemalan arts & crafts market is fierce. We found everything from antique guipiles, to westernized adaptations of the typical outfits, to bedspreads, wooden items, and even leather goods.

It is critical that our group be able to develop innovative products to be able to enter the market, and this week we begin the process of figuring out what some of those could be.