San Franciso el Alto

When meeting locals and expats, my first question always regards their opinions of what we must see or do to fully experience the western highlands of Guatemala.  We heard about market day at San Francisco el Alto from some local friends and subsecuently arranged a full blown excursion with our teachers.  After experiencing Chicicastenango, the largest market, we thought the rest may feel repetitive.  Not so.  San Francisco el Alto had something the others did not- animals.  Imagine women walking through the market balancing baskets on their heads of baby turkeys squaking in protest.  I was tempted to purchase a goat (which is not carried in a basket on the head, but moreso dragged by a rope), but thought better and instead spent most of my energy searching out a place to purchase freshly squeezed orange juice in a bag.  Drinking juice out of a sandwich bag through a collapsing straw doesn't sound amazing, but it is.