2nd Annual Study Abroad Photo Contest

This young kid is resting on the church steps in Chichicastenango. The church is located in the middle of a large market filled with locals who are selling their goods. Immediately after this picture was taken, I was surrounded by locals questioning why I was photographing the boy. My professor then stepped in and started offering people money to disperse the crowd, which I had drawn. Upon returning to the United States, I read the State Department warning which says: "Visitors to rural areas with predominantly indigenous populations should be aware that close contact with children, including taking their photographs, can be viewed with deep alarm, and may provoke panic and violence. Foreign tourists have been attacked by mobs, and some nearly killed, after taking photographs of local children or speaking to them." I guess that it is always wise to have a professor on hand!