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            The client has hired a marimba and three marimbists.  Although a marimba physically resembles a xylophone, the reverberating sounds it makes (played by three men) are much more like woodwinds – bassoon and oboe from the base and middle of the marimba keyboard, and a tinny clarinet melody from the high end.  The marimbists start playing around 8 pm and, with only a few short breaks now and then, they will continue playing for the next eighteen hours.                Per K’ekchi custom, as new arrivals enter they greet and shake hands with everyone in the assembly (women only nod and smile, not shake hands), and then they take seats.  In the middle of the room there is a pile of all of the paraphernalia which will be used the following day:  bundles of candles of different sizes and colors; chunks of sticky copal pom incense wrapped in banana leaves and bags of frankincense; cigars, cinnamon sticks, herbs, seeds, and bottles of rum, boj (fermented sugar cane juice), and aguardiente liquor.   

Most of the evening is spent in casual conversation among participants.  Then at midnight the Mayan priests, who wear bandanas, long red woven cloth belts, and necklaces of sea shells and jade beads to identify their status, call everyone together in a circle around the pile of ritual materials.  They welcome everyone and welcome the Mayan spirits, and petition them to bless the ritual paraphernalia.  Afterwards tamales are passed around, accompanied by hot chocolate and boj.  Shots of rum are also offered now and then.  As the night wears on some people lean back, close their eyes, and take little naps; but the children present never seem to tire, and the marimba keeps playing.                At dawn a truck pulls up outside the client’s house.  The three marimba players carry the marimba to the truck and pile in, followed by the rest of the company.   The truck drives up mountain roads through lush rainforest to a remote village outside of San Juan Chamelco, the ancient K’ekchi capital.  On arrival everyone disembarks and begins walking up the mountain through maize fields and forests.  Two of the marimba players strap the instrument upside-down on the back of the third marimbist, who slowly and haltingly carries the thing uphill on muddy trails and slippery slopes to the ceremonial site.   There the three marimbists set up their instrument and play it in the background throughout the ritual.     The ceremonial site is a large open circle surrounded by colorful red bromeliad flowers and boughs of ferns.  The bright bromeliads around the circle are constantly visited by purple and green hummingbirds during the course of the ceremony.  An area is cleared around a shallow pit dug for the fire, and four large rocks are placed at the edge of the pit to mark the four cardinal directions.  Then the cleared area around the fire pit is carpeted with pine needles and fragrant allspice leaves.   

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