A Word in Your Ear, a fantastic travel blog that I adore, started a fun travel and photography challenge called “A Word of the Day”. Basically she lets her dictionary open to a word and voila. That is the challenge. Her recent challenge is “colorful” similar to a recent photo challenge I did.
I adore colors, especially on a gray, dreary day like today. They brighten my mood and make me smile.
These photos were taken back in April in Xela, Guatemala on the International Women’s Day. The entire town was involved in a grand celebration and a huge, colorful parade honoring women and advocating for women’s rights. In a country in which domestic violence against women is a significant, unspoken problem, it was wonderful to witness so many people coming together to share their voice and fight for women’s rights.
Here are some of my favorite colorful pictures from the event.
Guatemalan clothing is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit last summer and always marveled at the beautiful colors of the clothes, buildings, and scenery around the whole country.
~Kay
Yes it is so gorgeous isn’t it? I wish I would have had time to go to see the locals making the fabrics by hand! Guatemala truly is a special place!
I love all the colours in the clothing, such amazing fabrics and patterns. And so great to know these events exist. Thanks, Nicole.
makes me want to pull out some authentic linens and garb myself with guatemalan color!
z
Spectacular! I love Xela. And how inspiring to see the gathering of women standing together for women’s rights. Thank you for sharing. Your photos are just stunning!!!
There is so much to love about Guatamala ! I totally fell in love with this country and it’s people and culture….. Great photos 🙂
Me too! I want to go back but then again there are so many places I want to go! 🙂
Same ! I have a never-ending list. Years ago I banned myself from reading the travel section of the sunday paper as I would drive myself crazy with wanting to go everywhere haha !!
Wonderful colours and such an important topic – thank you Third Eye Mon for bringing it to our attention. – Sue
You’re welcome Sue! Thanks for prompting the challenge! Nicole
What brilliant colors – true saturation!
Thanks! I edited them a bit and purposely put in more intensity of the colors! They are that brilliant but I was using my cheap travel camera when I took them. 🙂
I love the colors, too, but am struck by something I noticed in Guatemala in March — the sadness in the women’s expressions, particularly the Mayan women. One always has the feeling that they are deep inside somewhere, looking out at you but not letting anyone see in. Working with a medical team near San Jacinto, I watched the beautiful children and wondered how those happy, laughing kids became the sad-eyed people not too many years later. I suspect it has to do with the prevalence of macho culture in the villages and the dominant belief that women are just for making tortillas and babies. It’s wonderful to see women in Guatemala standing up for themselves and against domestic violence; now if their men would join them!
Yes so true. So many of the Mayan women are really treated as unequals and work so incredibly hard. It does make me sad that they have to live like this. I was hiking up a volcano in Guatemala and saw a group of Mayans on the descent. They were there on top for a few days to pray. Coming down, the boys were well dressed, wearing good shoes and carrying little. Meanwhile the girls were wearing high-healed plastic, backless sandals and carrying huge loads. It broke my heart.
Reblogged this on A Word in Your Ear and commented:
I have decided to reblog one of the entries into the ‘A word a week challenge’ here is the entry for the week’s word colour. This is an informative and colourful post from thirdeyemom
What gorgeous faces – so beautiful.
Thank you! I thought these women were amazing! 🙂
Reblogged this on Stone.Soup.Stories and commented:
Just an extra post for today. Some sweet pics of Guatemalans and some really insightful comments. Check it out.
Thank you so much!!!! Wow, I’m feeling quite honored today! I have lots more posts that I wrote about Guatemala back in early April. Check them out if you enjoy the colors. 🙂 Thanks again for stopping by! nicole
Amazing photos .. gave the credit to the wrong person – but here I’m! Beautiful photos – the colors and the people – love street life photos – you’re very talent. Can I have pick ??? It will be the 3 women and the boy. You and your camera is a fantastic team.
Thank you! 🙂
Beautiful colors and clothes to match the spirits of the people.
Thank you! I took almost 800 photos when I was in Guatemala. The colors and people always make me smile.
Reblogged this on Deconstructing Myths and commented:
Bright colors for unbroken spirits…