Friday, August 8, 2008

San Cristobal de las casas...


















My goal after Mexico City is to make my way to the Yucatan where I am going to catch a flight to Panama.

From Mexico City, I took a flight (wake up at 3:45 a.m. flight...yuck!) to Tuxtla Gutierrex which is in the Chiapas state of Mexico. This is the city you fly into in order to get to San Cristobal. San Cristobal is a really cute colonial town (Mom- it reminds me of San Miguel de Allende). Street are all cobblestone and there´s main Zocolo, church, etc. San Cristobal is famous because in 1994 with the signing of NAFTA, the Zapatistas stormed and briefly occupied San Cristobal in protest and thus a revolution began. Chiapas is one of Mexico's poorest states. Twenty-five percent plus of the residents (several million people) are Maya but they have little say on how their land is used. The revolution is based on a fight for the indigenous people's rights. The revolution continues today, although the movement has faded. Politically over the years, there have been many promises made but not much seems to have changed for the indienous people.

So it's time for me to implement the "budget" aspect of my trip...ahhh!!! I decide to go to a cheap posada..."the book" (which has been my bible) says it's decent enough and cheap. I arrive at Posada Doña Rosita and get a private room with a shared bathroom for $7 a night! Yup...it's cheap! The room is pretty much like a cell with a bed, garbage can, sheets as thin as tissue paper and no windows that open...I wanted cheap - I got cheap!

At this stage in the game, I am ready to be alone. I want to chill, observe, read and not talk (yeah yeah...I know...me not talk!!!). I walked around the town for a while, grabbed some food, and went to a movie. There are a few little theatres that show movies about the Zapatista Revolution. I watched a movie in Spanish with English subtitles that basically chronicles the Zapatista Revolution from beginning in 1994 till about 2006. Politically, things are so messed up. There has been a lot of blood shed and the discrimination is so sad.

The next day, I went on a guided tour of San Juan Chamula and San Lorenxo Zinacatan. The basis of the tour is to visit Tzotzil villages where modern Mayan life is happening. Our tour guide, Ceasar, was awesome. He has so much knowledge about the local Mayans. He even speaks their language...yes, they don't speak Spanish. Actually, because there are so many different Mayan communities throughout the country, there are many different languages spoken here in Mexico...I had no idea! These people have fierce traditions and, based on our standards, a very primitive way of life. We visited their church and market. It was forbidden to take pictures in the church but we were allowed in while the people were worshiping. I could clearly see the combination of ancient Mayan worshiping with the Catholic ways of worshiping. It's like the Spanish got to them but not all the way. There is a lot of emphasis on candles, chickens and fizzy drinks, as well as pictures of catholic saints. Candles on the floor and fizzy drinks of different colors represent things like corn and rain. They actually sacrafice chickens in the church...yeah - I don't think we ever did that growing up in the catholic church. There are so many things I learned about their beliefs...I could go on and on but some things I noted:

  • They like fireworks -- not for the lights but for the explosion. There were a ton of booms and bangs the entire time (kind of hard on the nerves!) I don't remember why...I think it's the awe factor.
  • They are self governed with a jail that is open and faces the street so that the criminal is faces with public shame. I wonder if that would work in our society?
  • Corn is king. Corn is to them, like rice is to Asia.
  • They have their own medicine doctors - Curanderos - with specialties like pulse reading, midwifery, bone setting and plant healing. They do egg readings too. Pass an egg all over someone's body while chanting, crack the egg into a bowl and you can tell what's wrong with someone.
  • The fizzy drinks, like coke and fanta, are for drinking then burping to expel unwanted spirits.
  • They are self governed. The church leaders do not get paid, they do it for honor.
  • Each community, men and women both, wear a distinct form of clothing for that community.

I loved it. Very cool! And the thing that Ceasar kept telling us was that nothing was for show. This is how these people live and choose to live. They would be in the church at 2 in the morning when no one was around doing the same thing. I definitely got that...me likey! You are most likely not going to see me on TV with a mask (I guess if I had a mask - you wouldn't know it was me) and a support Subcomandante Marcos sign but the experience was eye-opening nonetheless!

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