Last updated on June 15, 2010 by Shannon
These children made me stop in my tracks when I was hiking through the remote villages in Guatemala—I can just exactly picture my three nieces and nephews in that same exact position and shooting those incredibly sweet grins (well, that baby’s not grinning, but the girls—too cute!).
Part of what I love too are all the bright colors, which is precisely and entirely how I picture Guatemala in my memories, as a riot of colors from the clothes and the styles of the traditional fabrics.
Visiting the markets of Guatemala like those in Antigua, or the famous Chichicastenango first exposed me to the sheer range of colors locals embrace.
Though these clothes are more modern, they still show that the locals tend toward bright and happy colors (and that makes me happier even looking at them!).
And beyond that, I have a sweet spot for kids on my travels—I’ve nannied/babysat and cared for countless children over the years and couldn’t help kneeling down in the soft brown dirt alongside them to snap this shot.
Promptly after they came running toward me and circled their grubby little hands around the camera screen, giggling over their own images. Then they modeled some more when they liked what they saw on the screen before running back to their hole to carry-on with the very serious business of digging a hole!
This trek was during some of my volunteer work building stoves in the rural areas outside of Xela, and it was gratifying as well to look at their happy faces and know that they were some of the people benefiting from the new stove construction.
This is freaking adorable. I LOVE how children have no qualms with approaching a stranger like they did with you.
Me too! Little kids just love seeing themselves on the camera and it is so
much fun to interact with them – they are fearless! :-)