EVERYone is hustling to sell.....or so it seems. There are those not hustlling a living but they are not so noticeable. I see kids as young as around five with trinkets peddling on the street. Kids of 10 jaded by refusals and sounding more like used car salesmen than kids. No quieres? When will you want to buy? Next time? Tomorrow? And God forbid they see you the next time or the next day 'cuz they will recognize you and try to shame you into buying. "You said you were gonna buy today"..... Interestingly I have only met one person here who was making what he was selling. ANYone you ask who is the maker/artist/weaver/carver and the answer is "me" or "him over there." Oddly, almost ALL of the stuff is the same relatively no matter where you are. Gals are using what I'd call hip looms, weaving in a few places but....it's slow business and there is literally thousands of the same items everywhere. Same patterns, same shapes, same sizes. Who knows where it is made or who made it. Hustling. Best I can say is "I bought it in Guatemala......." I'm not saying it isn't decent stuff but I got a very colorfully woven, cotton lined small travel bag with a zipper top thing but I also see them EVERYwhere, the same. I traveled to Santiago on Lake Atitlan and the same units were there "made here" by local artisans. Uh........this is repeated often. In some respects it might as well say "hecho in China" on it.

I did watch folks working at wrought iron today in a small foundry, a guy working leather in his shop, and a guy doing watercolor over pen and ink downtown. Stuff like that is a golden experience. But the hustle....oh my. I'm getting jaded myself.