December 6, 2008

Buenos tardes amigos.....that's cuz it's only afternoon and I'm on here already - with good reason I might add..... :) We just returned from a day tour of two small villages not too far from San Cristobal where we learned so much about the Mayan culture. As has become our usual experience.....it was another great day!

We began our day with desayuno (breakfast) downstairs in our little hotel. They have breakfast here on Saturday and Sundays so it was a handy place to grab a bite before heading out for our tour. What we thought would be quick and easy turned into more of an adventure than we had anticipated though......we sat down at our table at 8:20 (we had to be ready to go for a 9:30 pick up) and at 9:20 we still didn't have any breakfast! We had been served coffee but all of the food had been going upstairs where there was obviously an event underway. We were having lots of fun trying to guess what kind of an event it might be as all of the attendees were wearing grey skirt or slacks and jacket with a pink shirt. Most were women but there were men in the rather large group as well. Yikes!!! another explosion just occured outside of my window.....it's kind of like when the cherries are in season and the orchardists set up the cannons to keep the birds away....the difference is that there is a man holding the cannon in his hand every time one of the shots goes off here!!! Anyway....back to the breakfast story......so.....everyone upstairs is wearing the same clothes. The women all have silver shoes on too. The men don't have skirts or silver shoes - thank heavens......there is even a really little girl wearing a grey skirt and jacket with a pink blouse and silver shoes too. It is way to difficult to guess what they might all have in common so finally we break down and ask. As it turns out....they're a graduating class of nurses (and I guess the little girl is the daughter of one of them who wanted to dress like her mom for the occassion). They're here for a celebratory breakfast and they're getting all the food. Okay....there was another blast.....see it is kind of like the cherry guns :) At 9:20 we asked Alex (the desk clerk who is an absolute sweetheart, to help us get something to eat as he knows we're leaving in 10 minutes). As usual, he takes wonderful care of us and within minutes there is food on our table and we're digging in. For b'fast we had spaghetti with grated white cheese and pancakes and cheese omelettes and fried plantain and salsa and chiquilles (small taco chips with salsa on them) Sounds different I know but it was really delicious!

Our tour operator didn't arrive till 9:45 so we had lots of time after all and by 10:00 we were in our van on en route to the first of two small villages not too far from San Cristobal where indigenous people live in fairly traditional environments today.

Our first stop was at the top of a hill overlooking the town. This little town is the centre for all of the other little places surrounding it. It is where everyone comes for the market and for their spiritual events. That would be the focus of this first stop...the church and the spiritual norms of the Mayan people who live here today. To sum it up....and assuming I understood all that our guide told us.....and further assuming that all of what he told us is true.......the local people continue to be very connected to their Mayan roots even today. Their philosophy is very simple, they are very honest and they live very much in the moment. They have no word for friend in their language as they believe that in this moment they like you and they also believe that the next time they see you they may not like you any longer as you may be doing something they no longer care to associate with. They're sometimes considered to be rude as they're very forthright in their communication. For example, if you're doing something they don't want you to do (taking a picture of something you shouldn't be) they'll tell you once and if you do it again....they make no bones about addressing your lack of respect very aggressively. At first glance their church looks Catholic and in many ways it is but the difference is that they believe what they believe and it may or may not concur with what you or others believe. Their cross has three rounds at the three ends of the cross and each of them represents the sun. Most everything in their spirituality goes back to agriculture and the sun is an integral part of that. Mayans believe that the best they can do is to serve their family and their community so the leaders (both political and religious) earn their posts by the amount of good they do for others. They believe that one of the most important jobs they can do is to clean the church. The important things in the church are liquid and light. The light represents the sun and from what I saw today takes the form of candles. The liquid can be any liquid from Pox (the local hooch) to cola (which everyone drinks to excess). The belief of the people is that the religious healers heal ones feelings while the medical healers heal the body - they see those two parts as being connected but very different from one and other. They also believe in sacrafices and so while we were in the church there were several people who had brought chickens with them for that purpose. They believe that they can pray for ill feelings to pass to the chicken and then when the chicken dies the feelings die with them. They believe that the spirit and the feelings are closely connected and that there is only one spirit per being and when that spirit dies...the being dies with it. It's kind of complicated but at the same time it was really very simple. There is no symbolism in why there is hay or the needles from trees spread all over the church floor....they're just there because they think it looks nice and there is no reason that the short sleeved fur jackets the men wear are all white and the long sleeved ones are all black.....it's just because they used white sheep or black ones. The women all wear fur skirts too. They're unusual looking but very functional. They spend a lot of time on their knees working so it must be very helpful having their skirt longer in the front than it is in the back and having the thick padding to kneel on would be a treat! Anyway.....as you can see from my ramblings....it was a really interesting stop.....except remember I said that we stopped at the top of a hill overlooking the town.....guess what....once our tour was finished it was a hike back up the hill to the van - yikes! there are a lot of hills in Mexico!!!

Our next stop in another smaller village was also super interesting. This time we visited a family home where we were invited inside (there were only 8 of us on our tour so it was very intimate and personal). We toured their home (one room only) where the family (5 of them) all slept and where their television and phone was located. Supposedly everyone here has a TV a DVD and a phone and/or a cell phone. Our guide suggested that we not assume someone is poor based on the way they look or the way they live but rather that we only look at their bank account to make that determination. He said that the Mayan culture isn't interested in buying things, that they prefer to be self sufficient so other than the TV etc....they have no where to spend their money and they have quite a lot of it generally. He also said that they are a very hard working people who put their family first. They begin working as a part of the family unit when they are just toddlers and they continue working until the day they die. The man whose home we visited today is 72 years old and he works 7 days a week from 4 a.m. till he goes to bed at 7 pm every night. He looks in amazing shape. His work is in flowers. This part of Chiapas produces the majority of the flowers from Mexico and no entrepreneurs can compete with the traditional methods as the cost of labour is too great compared to the family unit that all work together for the good of the family. Anyway....we had a tour of their home and then we had lunch with them in an adjascent building that was the kitchen. They made tortillas in the traditional way (which is how they do it every day here) and we were surprised to discover that the people here eat much less spice than in other parts of Mexico. Perhaps that is because it isn't as hot here as it is in many other areas....yes folks....you can stop drooling over us lounging around in the heat.....we're wearing jackets and scarves. We're high in the mountains and although it is lovely for about 4 or 5 hours in the day the other 20 hours are super chilly!! And....there is no heat in any of the buildings! After we had lunch with our "family" we toured a small weaving cooperative (weaving is a common industry for the women here) and then we were off to head back to San Cristobal.

It was a great day and since tomorrow will be a very early start and very late ending (I'll leave that story till tomorrow or the next day), I'll sign off for now, grab a bite for dinner and hit the hay. Hopefully tonight won't be as full of sounds as last night was.....yes.....last night was quieter in that there was no one next door having a party but at 5:00 this morning...the church bells next door began to ring and the fireworks began again. All the celebrations are in honour of the Virgin Guadalupe and they'll continue till that special day passes on December 12th. Speaking of which....I must clarify something I said earlier in this post.... there really is a guy holding the "cannon" that shoots the fireworks....but it is gunpowder that he has packed into a cylinder and I don't think it is dangerous....so he just holds it away from himself when he shoots them off every 1/2 hour of so. It is a big bang though so perhaps his eardrums are in danger! And further speaking of Guadlupe....it seems that huge numbers of people make a pilgrimage to many places in Mexico for that special day (their biggest of the year) and San Cristobal is one of them. In fact....we were told today that people come from as far away as Mexico City (walking)!! We now believe that some of the groups of people we passed on the roads as we've been travelling were doing just that .... beginning their pilgrimage. It's an interesting place and every day there are new things to learn and to try. We're having a great time!

Anyway.....that's all for now.....till next time.....
Lorrie