The first Guatemalan woman to catch my eye had a baby tied on her back and a bundle of goods balanced on her head. She was bending down in a long skirt to retrieve something from the cobblestone street and she did it with perfect posture and the grace of a dancer.

And I thought, it’s just like my yoga teacher says back home. Save your back. Use your legs.

Cultural differences make us exotic to each other, but women of the world have our similarities.

Sharing those was the purpose of a women studies trip to Guatemala earlier this month, put on by Ellen Boneparth and her International Women Studies Institute - www.iwsi.org. We went to meet local women and to talk to some of the committed foreign women -from the U.S., Germany, Italy and Australia - helping low income and indigenous Guatemalans promote their wonderful weaving, learn family planning and get a jumpstart with their own businesses. The goal is one of those universal things - encourage independence and autonomy and help women find their voice.

Here were the creators of some of those distinctive Guatemalan designs you often see in an American import shop. Sitting at their looms and sewing machines, they were gracious and answered our questions. I wondered if they were thinking about us: where are your men? Where are your children? Why do you dress so dull? Their everyday clothing is as bright as volcanic lava and macaw feathers. We, in our blue jeans, t-shirts and dark glasses, must have all looked alike and pretty colorless.

At a weavers co-op in San Marcos on Lake Atitlan we asked the women how they felt about equality. They said that having the same rights as men was something they didn’t even think about until they had their own work and an income. Now they can. One of their own had run for mayor of the village. She didn’t win, but that she had the Mayan version of chutzpah to try was an accomplishment women everywhere would applaud.

The Mayan women are as remarkable as their dress, with thick long dark hair that seems to never go gray, creamy unmarked skin and proud carriage. But the culture is still machismo. The Catholic and Evangelical churches are competing for souls. It takes a lot for women to speak up.

In spite of language barriers, we hit it off. And of course, we bought what we could because that’s one thing you can do in Guatemala, even with a battered American dollar. When dealing woman to woman we paid the asking price. Nobody wanted to bargain down a thing of beauty made by a mother who you know lives in a house with a dirt floor on the side of a mountain with nine other people.

In his first week of office President Obama rescinded a major restraint on the world’s poor by lifting the gag rule on international family planning groups that receive American aid. The rule, supported by George Bush, had kept women from receiving counseling about contraception, protection against AIDS, maternal care in general and abortions.

In her new job as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke for women and girls around the world, saying that when women are marginalized, so is democracy.

Will you look at us? We’re barely into the New Year and America is making friends, again.

Listen to the Making Friends Again radio segment on KRCB’S Another Voice.

Now that I look at it again, my Hillary T-shirt, the official brown one with the blue signature, doesn’t say anything about President. The name Hillary is scrawled on the front. On the back it says, “Make history!” That’s all.

I made sure I ordered one from the campaign last spring when things were not going Hillary’s way and she was expected to concede. I thought it would be a historic keepsake for my female descendants. But that T-shirt has a future. Even if Hillary Clinton didn’t get the job she spent two years going after, it looks like she’s getting a job that will make history happen somewhere in the world.

As secretary of state she’s going to be center stage in a changing world with new hot spots igniting seemingly every week. America will be in the middle of each one and so will America’s top diplomat. No doubt she’s got the chops for the job. “Able, tough and brilliant” is what David Axelrod, Obama’s strategy guy, said about her this week.

She already has great international contacts. She’s already respected in many parts of the globe, and liked - maybe even more than she is in some sectors of her own country.

The other good thing about Hillary being secretary of state is that she is always a story. Wherever she goes the media pack follows. Think how much we’re going to be learn about geo-politics just by following Hillary around the CNN map.

The press pounced when word got out that Obama wanted his former rival for the plum cabinet job. She still makes some - mostly male - pundits sputter in annoyance. But like her or not, Hillary was “it” again. Would she compete with Joe Biden for influence? Would her husband’s work get in her way? Could Obama trust her? How would they resolve their differences on going to war in Iraq? Was he giving her the job just to keep her out of the running in 2012? Does Hillary know how to be a team player?

That last one hardly seems fair. This is the person who in Denver said of Obama, “He is MY candidate. He MUST be our president.” With grace and passion, she reminded her followers that the election was about something much more than Hillary Clinton. And then she went on to help make sure Barack Obama won.

As a member of the Hillary generation I applaud her for re-inventing herself at 61.

Hillary has always managed to bust stereotypes. She didn’t bake cookies. And she’s probably never hanging up her Superwoman cape to go play golf.

During the campaign Hillary tried to not play the gender card, but others did. And others also played the too old-too late card. But now here she is, going to work for a young male boss who recognizes and values her energy, intellect and experience. And what a heavy job assignment. To go clean up our shattered image abroad. To try to get old and new enemies to sit down and talk before blowing each other up.

So, I can unpack my Hillary shirt. It goes well with the hat my daughter gave me for my birthday. The one that says Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits for Obama. I wonder if Hillary has one.

That woman Hillary can’t help but make history. She held onto the spotlight for two nights of the Democratic National Convention. First she proclaimed genuine loyalty to the opponent she fought in a long heated campaign. And then gently and respectfully urged her supporters to do the same, to put aside their personal allegiance to her and do what was best for the country.

We can imagine that must have been painful. This was the first time, and maybe the only time she would hear “Hillary. Hillary” chanted at a national convention.

…for all women who dare to be opinionated and show off their brains and wear pantsuits.

Her speech was brilliant and sincere and you could imagine people falling in love with her all over again. And silently wishing she had ignored her highly-paid advisers and the media pit bulls throughout the campaign. Let loose, she spoke with heart and confidence and she spoke about being a woman.

I applauded when CNN commentator and political strategist James Carville drawled, “This is a really bad night for Hillary haters in the press.” He was speaking about some of his own people, of course, who can be rightfully blamed for their unequal treatment of Hillary.

It was also a bad night for the Hillary haters who haven’t liked her since she was First Lady. But also a bad night for John McCain who was part of the she’s-a-bitch pack and then came sniffing around, hoping to exploit her loss to his advantage. But as a suitor his flowers were dead and his candy stale as Hillary made it clear when she said “No way. No how. No McCain.”

At the same time, it was a really good night for those who always knew she was better than a lot of her speech writers who reined her in and pushed her into some bad blunders in the campaign. And a really good night for people who will continue to believe they will see a woman president in their time. And for all women who dare to be opinionated and show off their brains and wear pantsuits.

Her Tuesday night speech before the Democratic National Convention was a class act. And then she returned tonight to make even more history, practically stealing her own show, to go before the convention and move that the rules be suspended, that the formal state roll call end and Barack Obama be nominated by acclimation.

Now we can see that Hillary won more than she lost in running for president. She wielded her power at for at least half the convention. And then, like a wise royal, she graciously gave Obama his due.

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