• 2 months ago
by Omar S. Castañeda
illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez

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Learning
Transcript
00:00Abuela's Weave by Omar S. Castaneda. Illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez.
00:18To my children, Omar and Blue and to my nephews and nieces.
00:23Jason Diana Hector Delia and Evelyn Figuero. OSC.
00:29To my son Aaron. EOS.
00:33Pull back hard old Abuela said. Make it jolt, so the threads stay close like
00:38family. Yes Abuela.
00:42Esperanza thrust the bolt through the opened weave and pulled the bar down with all her
00:46might. Next to her, Esperanza's grandmother her Abuela
00:51also kneeled in front of a backstrap loom. Both looms were tied to the same tree in the
00:57middle of the family compound. Esperanza's mother fed the chickens and pigs
01:02behind the main thatch hut while her father was off with her brothers in the field of
01:07corn beans and coffee. You're relearning Abuela said.
01:13Esperanza looked at her grandmother out of the corner of her eye.
01:17She knew that Abuela was nervous about the market.
01:21Her mother said that thulnupiles and tapestries Abuela made could pull the wonder right out
01:25of people but these days, more and more goods were made by machines.
01:31Esperanza worried that people would tease Abuela about her birthmark as some kids had
01:36once done. They had started a rumor that she was a witch
01:40and now many people were frightened to buy things from her.
01:44Daydreaming again? Abuela asked.
01:48Yes Abuela. Well the old woman said gruffly, get busy
01:53because there are too few days left. You still have a lot of work to do and there
01:58will be many other people selling the same things you have.
02:03Don't worry Abuela. I'll be busy until we leave.
02:07And she was. Esperanza and her grandmother worked from
02:11early morning even before the sun rose to well past sunset, when the moon rose and the
02:16compound foregave everything the rich smell of pine.
02:20They showed no one their work, not even Esperanza's mother.
02:25Because it was a special thing that they wove.
02:29They wanted to wait for the Fiesta de Pueblos in Guat to reveal it.
02:34Soon the day arrived, bright with sun the leaves glistening from the previous night's
02:38rain it seemed like a good omen for Esperanza and her grandmother Abuela appeared disguised
02:44as a woman in mourning. Dressed in black, she wrapped a long black
02:49shawl around her shoulders and across her face so that only her eyes appeared to the
02:54world. Esperanza however, wore her favorite who
02:58appeal it was a white blouse with red blue and green threads in the rectangular collar.
03:04Under that, the colors bled into silver and blue and hidden within the intricate designs
03:09of the blouse were tiny quetzals flying freely in the threads the way they once flew in the
03:14great forests of Guatemala. She carried on her head a large straw basket
03:19full of her huapiles, table cloths, skirts and the special tapestry.
03:26Esperanza walked steadily down the dirt avenue of Santa Cruz to get to the highway where
03:31the Guat bus would pick them up. Abuela walked several paces behind.
03:37She insisted that they pretend they did not know each other.
03:41This way if my birthmark frightens customers they will still buy from you Abuela explained.
03:48When the bus came, Abuela did not even help lift the heavy basket to the boys who strapped
03:54bags onto the roof of the bus. Inside, they sat three seats apart as if they
03:59were strangers people living in different villages, people with no ancestors in common.
04:06When they arrived, the noise in the city was deafening.
04:10Large buses roared down the narrow streets emitting clouds of black fumes.
04:16Horns blasted and people hurried roughly down the sidewalks.
04:21Esperanza wanted more than anything to get off the sexta avenida where people jammed
04:26the walkways and hawkers yelled from their shops or from the hundreds of carts blocking
04:31the sidewalks and streets. She felt trapped.
04:36Her lungs ached from the automobile and bus fumes and her ears rang with the sounds of
04:40screeching brakes horns shouting and the whistles of policemen.
04:46Esperanza walked quickly the basket steady upon her head, her mind trying to focus away
04:51from the commotion and onto the stalls set up for the fiesta in the park central.
04:57She walked furiously zigzagging to get down to Avenida Arco or the Septima Avenida where
05:02the noise was less when she suddenly stopped to see if Abuela was still following behind.
05:08She looked for a familiar face among the bobbing heads the baskets the helmets and hats.
05:15She wanted to catch just a sight of her grandmother's shawl like a black bird hopping from branch
05:20to branch in a forest of people but she could not find her.
05:26Esperanza continued to the market hoping Abuela would eventually find her there among the
05:30other merchants. The stalls were already filled when Esperanza
05:35arrived. Old men and women nearby shooed her away or
05:39ignored her when she asked for help. At last, all she could do was set her basket
05:45between the narrow slats of two stalls. On one side, a family from Antigua sold pottery
05:52productions of Mayan crafts and clothing loomed in one of the many factories.
05:58The women on the other side sold long bolts of cloth musical instruments and decorative
06:03bags. The bags all had zippers machined in the
06:07capital and long handles of colorful plastic. Everything was beautiful, Esperanza thought.
06:15She thought no one would buy anything from her.
06:19She and her grandmother would return to Santa Cruz with no money the long hours wasted and
06:24the family disappointed. Esperanza sadly took out her waves to hang
06:29them one by one on long splinters in the starwood on either side.
06:34She felt terribly alone. Even her poor Abuelita was nowhere to be seen.
06:40The people slowly noticed. They pointed at the elaborate weaving.
06:47Tourists and Guatemalans alike drew closer to her tiny place and looked up with wonder
06:51at the beautiful work in front of them. The large tapestry blossomed with images of
06:57Guatemala. Esperanza and Abuela had worked in intricate
07:02symbols of the country's history. There were heroines and heroes inspired by
07:07the glorious Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya.
07:12And in one corner, a beautiful quetzal seemed to watch over it all from within a white cage.
07:18In Esperanza's hands the tapestry's colors shone as brightly as the sun over Guatemala's
07:23lake Atitlan. People turned from the commercial stalls to
07:28stand before Esperanza's complex weaving. When she looked up, Esperanza saw Abuela with
07:35a smile across her birthmarked face. It didn't take long for all of their work
07:40to be sold that day. The people were disappointed when all was
07:45gone but Esperanza promised to return with new things the following month.
07:50And on the way back to Santa Cruz, grandmother and granddaughter sat side by side.
07:57Esperanza's smooth and nimble fingers held tightly in her Abuela's wrinkled old hands.
08:03The End