2001-12-21-san-cristobal-de-las-casas-chiapas.md (4187B)
1 +++ 2 title = "San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México" 3 date = "2001-12-21T00:00:00Z" 4 slug = "san-cristobal-de-las-casas-chiapas-mexico" 5 tags = ["Mexico", "Travel"] 6 +++ 7 8 San Cristóbal is, without question, one of the most beautiful towns in Mexico. 9 It’s also the ideal temperature for visiting Canadians, with the temperature 10 hovering around 10 °C, and the humidity close to 100% during the daytime in 11 winter. It’s cold, damp and cloudy. After months of scorching heat and 12 humidity, I was in heaven. San Cristóbal makes an ideal base from which to do 13 day-trips to the surrounding villages of San Juan Chamula and 14 Zinacantán—indigenous villages comprising the Tzotzil and Tzeltal indigenous 15 groups respectively. 16 17 {{< figure src="/post/2001-12-21-plaza.jpg" alt="The bright yellow façade of a catheral faces the main plaza in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Pedestrials mill about the square in groups." >}} 18 19 In town, we met a law student named Luís who took a group of us to the 20 villages. In San Juan Chamula, we first visited the shaman’s hut for the 21 village, where we learned about the mix of Catholicism and traditional beliefs 22 practised in the village. We then continued on to the village church which was 23 probably the highlight of the visit. Seeing the mix of beliefs being practised 24 there was incredible: everything from prayers to the Catholic saints to burning 25 incense to chicken sacrifices and ceremonial purgings. Photography isn’t 26 allowed in the church and out of respect to the Chamulans, we won’t describe 27 everything in detail on the web, but suffice to say that it was an incredibly 28 worthwhile visit. 29 30 Zinacantán is only a few kilometres away, but the villagers speak an entirely 31 different language, Tzeltal. Here, the church is much more traditional, 32 although most villagers still maintain strong ties to traditional indigenous 33 beliefs, such as worshipping the Earth Lord and placing a strong emphasis on 34 the interpretation of dreams. For a more detailed look at the beliefs and 35 culture of the people of Zinacantán, we’d suggest *Dreams and Stories from the 36 People of the Bat* by Robert Laughlin. This book is a collection of dreams and 37 their interpretations as told by the villagers of Zinacantán, as well as a 38 series of short stories passed from generation to generation in the village. 39 40 The town also produces many traditional handicrafts typical of Chiapas: 41 blankets, clothing, dolls, etc. The villagers take these to San Cristóbal to 42 sell them at the markets and on the street. The textiles are all made from 43 hand, from the thread, to hand-weaving and embroidering. Typically, a 44 medium-sized blanket takes two to three weeks to produce. 45 46 {{< figure src="/post/2001-12-21-beans.jpg" alt="Dozens of varieties of dried beans in many colours arrayed for sale in bins and large sacks for sale at the market" >}} 47 48 Back in San Cristóbal, we spent a few days visiting the markets and wandering 49 around town trying out the local food before heading back north for Palenque 50 again. On our way out of town we noticed a small shanty-town suburb in a gravel 51 pit. On a big yellow arch, bold black letters declared the name of the colonia: 52 *Sal Si Puedes*, 'Get Out If You Can'. Just past this is the massive military 53 encampment that has been in place since 1994 when the EZLN (Zapatista 54 Liberation Army) overthrew and occupied the town before being driven out by 55 reinforcements sent in, causing a bloodbath. There is a lot less tension now 56 than there was then, but the Zapatistas still have incredibly high support in 57 the villages just outside of town. The Mexican government under Vincente Fox 58 has been much more responsive to indigenous peoples than previous governments 59 have been, although in recent months this seems to be less and less the case. 60 There’s still a lot of work to do before the indigenous groups in Mexico are 61 able to live in conditions similar to the rest of the population. Most people 62 in the villages still lack food, clothing and (non-dirt) floors in their 63 houses, let alone running water and electricity. And although Chiapas produces 64 more electricity than any other state, less than half the population has 65 electricity in its home.