Chiapas trip

After a hiatus of almost a year, I have a great deal to talk about from our recent (Jan. 10-18) trip to Chiapas. I’ll pretty much follow our itinerary in my posts.

Chiapas is the most southerly of Mexican states and shares a border with Guatemala. The state was much in the news in the 1990’s because of the Zapatista movement. The indigenous people had suffered increasing marginalization and exclusion in the 20th C as a result of settlers and logging companies taking more and more of the land. As noted in the Wikipedia article, the Mexican government eventually negotiated and has made considerable efforts to improve the conditions and standards of living of the indigenous people of Chiapas. However, they are still among the poorest in Mexico. After being fairly quiet, just a week or so before we went to Chiapas, the Zapatistas organized silent demonstrations. The next day, a communique from Marcos stated, “We’re still here; did you hear us?” As in the earlier period, the leaders rely on non-violence and have a real knack for generating publicity for their cause. From what we saw (signs and posters), the Zapatistas are very popular with the indigenous people.

We were part of a tour organized by Karuna; she is a fabulous woman who is organizing a number of tours--eg., Mexico City and Oaxaca--although this was the 1st time to Chiapas. Profits from her tours go to support the fish farming coop that has been started in Mexcala which is towards the east end of Lake Chapala. It is hoped that this is a model for other fish farms in the future as over-fishing is rapidly depleting the wild fish stocks. This would provide employment for the fishermen who are losing their livelihoods as fish decline as well as provide the fish protein that many people in the area depend upon. This tour concentrated on the Maya, both ancient Maya from the impressive city ruins that they left and their modern descendants. The latter are divided into 8 groups speaking different languages and having distinctive cultural features, which I shall be expanding on in future posts. Including Karuna, there were 24 in the group. We flew from Guadalajara via Mexico City to Tuxtla, the capital city of Chiapas which we didn’t see as we were taken by bus directly to San Christóbal. The latter is high up (about 7100 feet above sea level and in a bowl surrounded by mountains. The bus trip involved very impressive views from the mountains.

San Christóbal has very narrow, one way streets, although paved with flagstones. Our bus driver had very little margins in making turns at intersections. Nevertheless, cars and the many vans that provide public transport really whiz along. In San Christóbal we stayed at Hotel Bo --first 2 nights and the last night of our trip. It is a medium sized, new or recently renovated hotel as its amenities are very up to date (the first photo is our bedroom). About 5 (after some lunch and a short time to get settled), we all went to a small Regional Textile Museum (see photo).

The manager/guide is known locally by the indigenous as the ‘white medicine man’. He spoke accented, but quite good English; he was enthusiastic and funny. The Maya descendants living in Chiapas are divided into eight distinct groups with their own languages/dialects, distinctive clothing and cultural features. One room of this small museum had both male and female clothing examples for each of the 8 groups; our guide pointed out and explained the features of each group (note the blue, Mayan cross on the wall). In 2 or 3 other rooms, he had various artifacts produced by indigenous artists and artisans. His nickname comes from the fact that money he raises is used to purchase and import medicines for the indigenous people. This was a very interesting beginning for learning about the indigenous peoples.

Afterwards, we explored the downtown area with the usual square and gazebo/kiosko; this one was unusually high (see photo in Wikipedia website). This building was still sporting Christmas and New Year lights and decoration. Radiating out from the central square are at least 3 streets that have been converted to pedestrian walkways for 3 or 4 blocks with stores and many restaurants. One of the interesting features was an ice rink under a large tent on the plaza in front of the cathedral adjacent to the square. From a distance with people circling around, I first thought that it might be roller skating. It was clear that most people had little or no experience of ice skating. However, despite many falls, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Although we did not go until the morning of the last day, there is a large textile market on the grounds of Santo Domingo Church. There were at least 40 stalls with only tarps on the roofs and sides. These were ‘manned’ almost entirely by native people, especially women. In Ajijic, Barbara has trouble getting light cotton blouses with long sleeves. There was a good selection here and in all, she bought about 5!

I must tell of the experience our last day as we were returning home. Approaching the airport in Tuxtla, we noticed a large fire with black petroleum smoke just off the runway. On arriving we learned that a small private plane had crashed; 5 passengers and the pilot were killed. For a few hours the airport was closed so that our plane was not able to land. We were uncertain whether we would have to remain for the night. However, later another plane did arrive to take us to Mexico City and a connecting flight brought us to Guadalajara, arriving at 11 p.m. instead of the 7:30 that had been originally scheduled. The airline, Interjet, reacted very quickly and efficiently. Although a bit late, we were certainly grateful to be home. Our 2nd day was spent visiting 2 municipalities which border San Christóbal--Chamula and Zincantán; they are fascinating because their peoples have developed very different responses to the intruding religion and culture brought and imposed by the Spanish. I’ll discuss these in the next posts.