Behind a wooden stand made of a shaft with three legs, which serves as a support for the form and for his hat, he weaves. His torso is supported by other forms which he has added so as to take his position more comfortable and maintain the piece he is working on. His head is lowered, and he is gazing into the straw as he works on it. His hands are sure, agile and infinitely gentle, moving quickly. He weaves with three fingers of each hand, whose nails are fine, hard and extremely long; these are the tools of his trade. To achieve the best shape, he dips the ends of his fingers from time to time in a little bowl of water placed beside him. This is how he keeps the straw damp. Like the other weavers of the village, Manuel awaits the sun. He will have worked for almost three hours in this morning. It will then be time, after a coffee, to go out and help in the fields. Weaving will not begin again until the evening, at the hour of prayer, when night falls and coolness returns to the air.
By the light of a bulb or a candle, the ancestral work will then recommence for several hours. For generations, this is what weaving has been all about.
