Welcome to my Home for the Next 2 Weeks

Upon arrival to the colorful colonial puebla of San Cristobol, we were greeted by the usual very friendly middlemen.  Alex was the one who won our business.  He offered a free taxi ride to the hostel he was promoting.  We should have understood why...it was a little too far out of the main zocolo area.  We decided to pay the taxi driver ourselves and go to the most popular hostel instead...Posada Mexicano.  I could have stayed elsewhere for $5 USD and planned to check that out for the next night, but the staff became fast friends so I continued to pay $8 USD per night for the remainder of my stay.   It didn't matter that the free internet only worked sporadically.  There was hot water from 5-11 AM and PM in all 5 showers scattered on the premises.  We had 3 choices for our free breakfast which always included my favorite...atole!

No sooner had Helen and I selected our beds (each of the 11 beds in the girls dorm had different types of mattresses) were we swept away by Kimberly who was another Ozzie leaving that night and anxious to show us the good pizza and ice cream places.  Places that we went more than once during our stay.  Michuacana is the best place for paleta de aguas.  My favorite was mango y chimoy.  It had the right mix of sweet with a spicy kick.  Addicted!

What a cute little city.  Cobblestone streets.  Colorful buildings.  Great cafes, markets, plazas, theaters, live music, and shops.  One thing I noticed during this entire trip is how non-annoying the kids and women selling things on the street are.  You can just say No Gracias a few times and they will wander away.  What is most surprising is all the traffic.  It is such a walking town.  Why would you want a car?  They get so backed up on these small little one way streets and hardly move.  I ventured out on my own after a quick bite with the girls to find some of the spots Luis had told me about.  No such luck finding Casa di Gloria nor the craft store where they serve little indigeonous girls cookies and teach them English as a break from selling their crafts on the street.  But, a few days later I am successful in navigating the whole area and have found all of these places of interest.   This day was no different than any other day during the following week...I got caught in the rain around 3pm.  The locals all seem to know it is coming.  They start running for the best places of cover before it even starts.  They will remain in these spots for hours until it stops.  Don't they have places they need to be?  I laughed at the realization that I did not have the patience to wait it out and I am the one who really has nowhere to be.  No job.  No appointments.  I am just wandering around the city.  But, I can't stand and do nothing under an awning.  So, I continue down the middle of the street enjoying the downpour.  Unfortunately, this caused me to start sniffing and sneezing for the next few days.  From that point on, when I got caught in the afternoon rain I would find my way to any Altura coffee shop or internet cafe to kill time until it stopped.  My stop on the way home this evening was Tacoleta.  It appeared to be a fast food taco joint like you would find in the US.  Not my first choice, but it was raining. They turned out to have the best tacos and cafe mokas.  I later learned by observation that this was a hot spot with locals. You would find families and dates there on the weekend evenings. 

My first night ended around 10pm when I dozed off to the sounds of the 3 Israeli girls in the dorm chatting for hours in their language very loudly about their next destinations.  I had this same lulliby for the next 3 nights until they finally left.  

The girl's dorm is something to be studied.  There is a girl who leaves her phone on all night.  It has a crazy loud ring.  She also has a persistent boyfriend who will continue ringing the phone until she answers.  Often she is in the shower at 5:30AM when he starts calling.  The rest of us are grumbling while she is oblivious in her nice warm shower.  Then there are the baggie girls.  Everything must be kept in noisy little baggies.  They feel the need to pack and repack their bags every morning for about an hour making these crinkly little noises.  They are trying to be quiet so they do it slowly.  This just prolongs the noise.  So few possessions, but they must feel the need to touch each and everyone of them on a daily basis.  Just get out and see the city!  Worst of all is when you are excited that a girl has finally gotten out of the bathroom.  You have been waiting forever and someone else closer to the bathroom suddenly jumps out of bed and races over to beat you there.  Drat!  That is another 15 minute wait or you have to run out into the cold to find another bathroom somewhere on the grounds.  Then there is the one girl who seems to nap or read in her bed all day.  But  what I really think she is doing is spying on all the other girls.  She is always staring when everyone else is getting dressed.  

But, my favorite person in the hostel is Walter.  He is the 72+ year old former taxi driver from San Francisco.  He has been staying in the hostel for 4 months.  I have been here the second longest with my 2 weeks. We both have seen a few rotations of people in and out of the place which surprisingly even included a young familyof five. He spends most of his time on the bean bag chairs reading the Encyclopedia.  When I arrived he was on the letter S.  He was on V when I left.  He talked of moving onto Guatemala when he finished.  A few days after I left I got a message from Hyon letting me know that he was on Z when she was leaving.  I so enjoyed hanging out on the bean bags and at breakfast with Walter.  A very smart and sarcastic man with a crazy beard and hair.  On my last night he bought me a farewell glass on wine.  Gonna miss him.  Rebecca from LA will be replacing me as she plans to be here 2 weeks.  She is in her 50s and comes here every few months.  When we first met and I told her I lived in Huntington Beach, she immediately blurted out that her F-buddy lived there!  LOL.  Then she said the reason why she comes here so often is to buy these dangly belts they make and sell for $2 here.  She is an exotic dancer and can sell them to her friends back at home for $20.  Okay.  Later on I learned from Hyon that Exotic dancer really was Aztec dancer.  I like my version better. 

Spirituality in SCdlC

One of my stops around town was El Puente Cultural Center www.elpuenteweb.com.  It is a hotel, spa, Spanish school, restaurant, and movie theater all in one on Real de Guadelupe.  They also have yoga and dance classes.  I picked up lots of flyers here to find out what is going on around town.  Frankie (dormmate who was celebrating her 29th b-day) and I had a nice dinner one night here. And on my last night in town, I came here to watch a good Frida Kahla documentary with Carlota (see below) and Hyon (dormmate and former architect from Seattle.)  Perfect because I was heading to Mexico City where I might have the opportunity to see her homes/museums. 

Besides flyers, I picked up what looked like a couple of interesting  little booklets.  One said it had little stories of San Cristobol and the other said on the cover that it was about the spiritual experiences of 3 women who came to San Cristobol.  Thought they might be good reading when I needed to rest on a bench in the zocolo midday.  I should have known they would be books put together by some religeous organization.  What I also didn't know was that they were going to get me hooked into reading them for 2 hours.  No, I have not been saved or converted.  But it was interesting to learn about this guy who's "job" was to hang out in cultural centers in San Cristobol looking for travellers who appear to be travelling to fill a void in their hearts with nice experiences rather than to get to know other cultures. He was a missionary to agnostic or ethical aetheist gringo tourists in coffee shops!  He ends up falling in love with one of his potential victims.  She is only in town for 3 weeks.  They are both off to other parts of the world to do volunteer work.  They keep in touch via email for 3 years.  Then meet back up in San Cristobol to live happily ever after runnng a school for poor indigineous children.  Did they see me coming or what?!  There were other interesting stories of the struggles the people of this community have had.  It talked of big companies coming in to donate money, but with alterior motives.  They have oil here.   It talked of people coming in who are similar to Michael Moore who feel they do important work by exposing the evils of mankind, but tend to enjoy it a little too much and become part of the problem.  They use this struggle against injustice as a excuse to be judgemental, intolerant, and hateful.  Interesting stuff.

Anyway, there are plenty of churches to stroll into here in town.  I am sure I checked them all out.  Santo Domingo is the big one where the tourist market is.  Templo de Santa Lucia looked like a pastel blue birthday cake. Templo San Francisco was probably my favorite.  And, not just because it was close to the chocolate shop that sold tequila filled chocolates or the 3 for 50 cent empanadas they sell next door.  Why is it that the churches here all have the plastic Jesus laying in a coffin with plastic flowers surrounding it?  I really want to feel something spiritual when I walk into these places, but it is hard when you are chuckling about the plastic statues all around.  I found myself saying to myself "Are you there God?" and then finishing the question with "It is me, Margaret."  Are teenage girls still reading that book?  These plastic Jesus' sure aren't helping me try to take religion seriously.

What Else Besides Churches?

There is a pedestrian street called the Andador that pretty much gets you close to all things of interest.  It cuts through the zocolo where you can hang out at all hours and find musicans.  You will also find Mercedes there every morning at 9AM.  She is twirling a rainbow umbrella.  She is hoping to grab you before  Alex and Raul do for the tour of San Juan Chamula.  Alex and Raul is really Cesar and you can meet him everyday at the big cross in front of the Cathedral at 9:30AM for the tour.  Which is best...you will find out later. 

At one end of the Andador you will find Santo Domingo which is not only a church and market, but also has the weaving cooperative Sna Jolobil.  They make very high quality items here.  At the other end of the Andador is the Del Carmen Arch.  Of course there is a church there , but it is also a cultural center.  There is a nice garden and artwork displayed.  I really liked the collages done by Raphael Baca.

The Kinoki was the place I visited the most.  I watched a movie almost every day there while I was sick the first week and trying to stay out of the rain.  They make the most interesting teas there.  The mint chocolate one actually tastes like mint chocolate; not too watered down.  The smoothies are thick and rich.  I brought them some ginger I purchased from the local's market to add to my mango smoothie which, I think, helped me get better pretty quickly.  I saw a couple of Zapatisa documentaries here.  This was a good way for me to learn a little about the issues of the local people here and the violence that occurred in the 90s with NAFTA.  When I learn of these horrible things that have happened in other countries while I have been alive, I always question why it was not a big deal on the news at home.  It was just sort of comforting to know that Helen (from Australia) was thinking the same thing.  I guess we aren't the only self-absorbed country.  I also saw a cute movie called Amor in Silencio about a Canadian man who "buys" a Mexican bride over the internet and ends up falling in love with her mother.   Let's hear it for the cougars!  Again, these Spanish subtitles are really good for developing my language skills.   Helen and I were really looking forward to seeing Vacaciones Permanentes there too for obvious reasons.  Don't do it!  Don't put it in your Blockbuster queque.  This was about the darkest and depressing movie ever.  I won't waste anymore explanation on it.  Just don't do it! The atmosphere is great at the Kinoki, though.  There are several small rooms that might fit 15 people where they show these movies.  They have different types of chairs for your individual comfort or you can lay on the mattresses and pillows up in the loft while you watch.  And if the movie you want isn't playing at the time you want, you can just come in before 4pm and have it played when you want for a little more than the $2.50 US they charge after 4pm.    There was live music and free wine here one night when they had a new artist's exhibit.  The previous exhibit was much more interesting.  You think you are just looking a nice little paintings all in the same color.  But, then you find out that the artist is a woman who uses her menstrual blood as the paint.  There were lots of nude photos of her with strategically places flowers.  This is one bold woman! 

Another place I visited was www.NaBolom.org . It is a long walk in a residential area before you find it.  It costs 35 pesos to walk around on your own or you  can go on the afternoon tour for a little more.  It is a museum and hotel where they have some great photos and archaeological peices from the Danish couple who explored the Lacondon region.  I also was able to chat with Antonio Ramirez who was setting up for his beautiful exhibit of Ambar stones.  There are stores everywhere here with these stones, but nothing like what he had on display. 

Another warning.  Do not get a pedicure in San Cristobol.  Or at least do not go searching for deals.  I scoped out the cheapest place in town.  $8 USD for a pedciure.  Now the lady who appeared to own the place was dressed very nice, had great hair and make up, her nails looked good so it should have been okay, right?  Well she started on my pedicure, but was also busy doing hair and make up for 3 girls getting ready for a quincinera.  She appeared to also be giving them a lesson in how to do nails as they were all working on each other.  Half way through my pedicure, she tells one of the 15 year olds to finish up on me.  Great!  This girl did not have a clue what she was doing.  She had to ask what to do next at each step along the way.  A typical 30 minute pedicure took 2 hours!  She had to keep redoing each toe about 4 times because she kept leaning her elbow onto the toes she just painted.  She used her finger to try to make the curve in the white polish of a French pedicure!  It was the most jacked up pedicure you have ever seen.  It was total comedy.  You get what you pay for. 

There are a lot of cheap and free cultural activities you can participate in here if you just check out the flyers.  At the Sol de Media Noche Cafe Cultural they offer free bongo and djembe drum lessons.  The atmosphere there is very cool.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get there for the drumming.  Could of shown them what I learned on my Home Depot paint bucket in my African dance class!  The Backpacker and Posada Mexicano hostels both have free salsa dance lessons a few nights a week.  I got roped into helping out one night at our hostel when the only participants were 2 guys.  I got passed between the instructor, Justin from Boston, and his friend from Sydney for an hour which stalled Helen and I from getting out early for dinner.  Why can't I be paid for this?  It isn't easy getting sweated on and stepped on in your flip flops.  These guys were very cool though.  They had met last year while travelling in India and decided to meet up for this trip too.  They shared some great stories of their travels in India with me the next morning at breakfast. 

Museo de la Medicina Maya

The Maya Medicine Museum www.medicinamaya.org was tough to find, but worth it.  It took 2 days for me to eventually find it.  The first day I ended up getting lost down some deserted dirt road in the rain.  The nice thing is that is how I came upon the local's market where I could buy niches.  It is a long walk to find the museum outside the main tourist area, but not down a dirt road.  It cost 20 pesos to get in.  Luckily they give you a long handout to read in English because everything on display was in Spanish.  It was a very interesting read about how the healers use animals and plants and other interesting things for healing.  The black spider is used to reduce swollen testicles, just in case anyone out there has this issue.  Soda is used to get rid of evil spirits through belching.  The number of candles and colors of the candles will heal different things.  On a reading break I chatted with Roberto who was waiting for his wife to come out from seeing the healer.  They were originally from Mexico but living in Arizona and here for the mid-wives convention in town. She was having issues walking and wanted to get some help.   They met when they were both journalists living a very exciting life being arrested several times for covering political stories in Mexico.   Should I believe everything that people tell me while they are travelling?  Anyway, I was able to peak in while several people were getting healed.  The healer lighted skinny candles on the floor, put out an egg and a glass of Fanta on the floor in front of the candles.  Then I watched as he whacked a man on the behind several times with a bundle of basil.  I'm not sure what he was curing, but it sure smelled good.  It is a pretty small museum, but the funny displays were worth the $2 US I paid.  They are all plastic mannequin reinactments.  The best was the midwife birthing reinactment.  In the last room of the museum you can view a 12 minute video of a real midwifery birth.  Ironically, I decided I was not having kids after watching a similar movie when I was in my 11th grade Marriage & Family class.  So, why did I watch this one 3 times?!   So, I could get down all my notes to share with you!

The midwife stands behind the kneeling woman and the man is seated in front of his wife.  The midwife prays 3 times for no complications, waves a soft drink to combat enemies, waves a hen in front of the woman, serves the woman tea or a raw egg to speed up the process, passes a machette by the stomach 3 times, and squeezes her belly. After the birth, the placenta is buried face up in the home if they want a girl next time or face down if they want a boy.  She cleans the baby a certain way so it won't have bad dreams.  An egg is used to counteract the jelousy of others which causes diseases.  A rooster is waved over the baby boys and a hen over baby girls.  The Mom is not allowed to eat avocados for 3 months while breastfeeding or the baby boy's penis will swell.   Interesting huh?

San Juan Chamula

So do you take the San Juan Chamula tour with the lady with the rainbow umbrella, with the little guy with glasses, or go it alone?  Cesar, the little guy with glasses, is the way to go.  Sure, you could get to Chamula on the collectivo for 10 pesos and then pay a few more pesos to get into the church but you are missing out on all that a local can share with you.  It is worth paying Cesar 150 pesos.  His grandfather is from Chamula so he knows lots of people as you are walking around.  He can speak their language.  We went on a great day.  Sunday is good because you can eat at the market.  I enjoyed a lunch of BBQ corn rolled in lime juice and pepper.  Reminded me of Kenya.  I also had a taco  for 3 pesos and a dulce (I think it was a candied fig) for 1 peso.  The other good thing about the day I went was that they were celebrating St. John The Baptist day.  Every month they are celebrating something.  What does a celebration entail?  Leaders are selected to fund the whole thing.  It is a big honor to be a leader.  They save up for 17 years for this honor because their role is is to pay for all the festivities.  They have to buy the flowers, fireworks, posh alcohol, pine needles to cover the floor, candles, chickens, soda, etc.  You can tell who the leaders are by the ribbons they wear around their necks.  Everyone else is wearing their daily traditional wool skirts and vests.  Men get very drunk and light the sky rockets. They are considered men at age 16, but many of them start drinking at age 7. There is lots of music too.  We got to sit in a leader's home during a ceremony.

Going inside the church was a  trip.  You can't take pictures in there or of the people anywhere really without their permission.  Many feel that photos take away part of your spirit.  They consider themselves Catholic, but the only similarity to regular Catholic rituals is the baptism ceremony.  There were several going on in the church this day.  Lots of little babies in white crying.  It was wall to wall people in there.  Everyone is in thick wool.  All the men are drunk and carrying bottles of posh.  I was so scard that I was going to accidentally knock one of them over onto the thousands of lighted candles that were all over the ground and a huge fire explosion would occur.

By the way, you have to set your clock back 1 hour when you make the 20 minute drive from San Cristobol to Chamula.  You see, in Chamula they do not believe in Daylight Savings Time.  They are on "God's Time."  So whenever you make appointments with people around here you have to clarify if it is on God's Time or Government Time.

After our visit to Chamula, we went to another village called Zinacantan.  They are the more upscale village because they are not considered lazy and drunk.  They don't wear wool either.  Their traditional outfits are more colorful.  In this village we visited a home where the women were weaving and making tortillas.  While in Chamula everything we saw was real.  They would have been having these ceremonies if we were there or not.  It was obvious that these ladies did their little demonstrations just for us.  I still liked it because they gave us free tortillas to eat with pumpkin dust on them.  They also let us take photos.  Sure they hoped we would buy their weaved garments, but they were also happy when we just tipped them.

While here, Cesar told us of how his family would use Mayan medicine methods to heal themselves.  Then he asked for a volunteer to demonstrate.  I still had a bit of a cold and I had already been to the museum to see what I was in for.  Who wouldn't want to whacked on the behind with basil?!    So not only did I get whacked with basil, I got rubbed down wth an egg, had my pulse taken, and water spit on me. My cold was gone the next day.  Coincidence?

Excitement hit when we entered the church in Zincantan, the more upscale village, mind you.  Drunk leaders inside gave our guide a hard time.  They wanted more money.  It was getting ugly.  We all coughed up a few pesos and got out of there! 

It was a good day with fun people along.  One couple in particular (she from Argentina and he from New Zealand) were along to learn about the tour as they are guides for Imaginative Traveller www.imtrav.com.   They are getting ready to lead a tour from Mexico City to Guatemala to Belize (the same route Luis and I had just taken.)  They have been all over the world learning about cities and then leading these tours for the last 8 years.  Pretty cool!

Volunteering with Tia Carlota

My sister-in-law's aunt lives here in town.  She is a Sister and started the AFI Archivo Fotografico Indigena Chiapas Photography Project www.chiapasphoto.org 16 years ago.  Her father was Mexican.  It started with a grant from the Ford Foundation which allowed her to provide cameras to 200 people from 10 different ethnic groups over the years.  These people were only taught how to use the cameras and then used their own creativity to document their lives.  Several books have been published with these photos.  This provides an income for the local people.  They have had exhibits around the world.  I met up with Tia Carlota on her birthday for a fabulous dinner at Madre Tiera.  Get the veggie lasagna!  I learned alot about the project that night and started working with them for the remainder of the week.

They had a few very cool projects they were working on with deadlines.  We met up at 9AM each day and sometimes didn't finish until 9PM.  One was a Culture Kit that they have sold to education departments in museums in the US.  The kit includes one of the photography books, an exhibit of several of the photos, a music CD, powerpoint presentation, faciliatator guide, and a collection of 30 objects used in their everyday lives.  These obejcts include traditional clothing, musical instruments, cooking items, etc.  It is a great way to enhance people's learning about the way of life here.  The other project is a primer book.  Ya know... A is for, B is for, etc.  It will be used by adults and children to learn the local language and Spanish language with the help of the photos.   

Working with them for the week was a nice experience. Each morning we would take the La Quinta collectivo for 4 pesos to the CIESAS research center where their office is located.  I was able to work alongside the local photographers, Emiliano and Juana right away, assembling kits.  Also worked with Ceclilia who is on staff. Many of the photographers are from different ethnic groups and speak different languages.  The common language they have gotten to learn to work together is Spanish.  They have even learned a little English from other volunteers.  So, I was able to practice my Spanish with them while they practiced English.  Carlota allowed my first day to be easy.  While I assembled, I was also able to leisurely look through their books and see their wonderful work.  Each day the work I was given was a little different.  Assembly, proofreading, editting, Powerpoint formatting, shopping for objects, going to drop things with Silvia the printer, binding, and giving lots of opinions.   We would all take a break together and share snacks around 12pm.  Then it was quitting time at 2pm.  Sorta.  We would leave the office and head to Carlota's cute little house.  She would make me the best vegetarian lunches in her solar oven.  Then we would continue on with our work there.  Always ending the day with tea and a few bites of a ginger cocoa bar.  Yum! 

We quit early on my last day and got to go visit Juana at the home she has rented to hold their photography workshops and have their weekly garage sale of donated items.  She signed my book by the photo she took of her mother weaving at home. 

Ready for a Job Already?

As I was making my way to the Kinoki one day, I happened upon a familiar sign...The Holiday Inn.  Decided to check it out.  Very nice hotel.  I noticed that they had a business center with internet.  So, I stopped by the front desk to ask about how well it works.  Maybe I could teach a few online courses for my previous employer from this location.  Unfortunately, he said that it wasn't very consistent but I was welcome to try it out.  It seemed to work pretty well to me.  I was able to do skype with audio and video.  While I am here, why don't I get in a a little free blogging time.  He said it wasn't consistent.  Maybe I should go back every few days to check it out...and get a little more free blogging time.   That is how cheap I have become.  Not willing to pay 70 cents per hour elsewhere.  I have to find excuses to highjack free internet.  Well, the guy was right.  It wasn't very consistent.  Oh well.

I am an early riser.  I have been getting up when the chickens in the neighborhood get up and the gas truck comes by making its loud announcement for everyone to come out and buy from them....around 6am.  Breakfast doesn't start until 8AM.  So, I go down early and chat with the staff while they prepare it.  Jesus Nestor is the lead cook and bartender.  He is trying to practice his English so we became fast friends.  Laura helps him out and cleans the rooms.  We were more on a smile smile basis.  Alexi was one of the front desk guys and the engineer.  Everyone has 2 jobs here and work insane hours 7 days a week.  He spoke some English, but was more interested in giving me a hard time about my Spanish.  Gerado, the manager, was very friendly...maybe a little too much when he got some beers in him.  And, I never really figured out what Erica's deal was.  She showed up occasionally.  Said she had another job in marketing for Sol beer.  I think her family must own the place.  Anyway, they had a sign up that they were accepting applications for the front desk.  I teased that they should hire me because I wanted a discount on my room.  Then one day Jesus Nestor made me his apprentice.  He handed me a knife and a pineapple and showed me how to make the juice.  It would have been so much easier to just buy it in a carton and pour.  I had to cut the skin off, cut it into chunks, put it in a blender with water and sugar, then strain it forever.  Next task... crack 25 eggs into a skillet and stir and stir and stir and stir for 20 minutes.  It was a work out.  Erica must have been very impressed, because when I got home that night Jesus Nestor said that she wanted to know if I was serious about wanting a job application because they thought I was muy amable and wanted to offer me the job.  What?  How sweet.  But,  I was checking out the next morning.  Maybe later in the year if I come back.

I stopped by the Habitat for Humanity office www.habitatmexico.org on my second day in town.  There is where I met Gerado, a nice young man from Mexico City who was doing an internship there.  He had spent several summers in San Diego and spoke very good English.  I hung around the office for about an hour with him and Francisco waiting for the boss to arrive.  Manuel was the only one who could tell me if they had any volunteer work for me over the next 2 weeks.  What I eventually learned was that because it was the rainy season, they were not building any homes at the time.  What they normally do is help you make arrangements to stay in a community where they are building several homes a few hours outside of the city for 1-2 weeks while you help them build.  Sounds great.  Maybe next time.  Ran into Gerado a few times while out on the town at the hot spot...Bar Revolucion. 

I also stopped by www.Natale.org and talked to them about volunteer opportunities.  Great people.  You can join up on different projects they have going every month.  They last from 2 weeks to 2 months.  For just a few hundred dollars you live either with a  family or in a camp with other volunteers in various remote villages.  You do things like design fun activities that help educate kids about sanitation in hopes that they will also get their parents interested.  They also have language courses.  I heard good things from those in the program. 

For those of you interested in other volunteer opportunites in SCdlC, there is one other organization I will mention here.  It is called Casa and they are located at 28 de Agosto #4B between the Anandor and Genreal Utvilla street in the green building.  I give you all this info because I was going to meet Eliza there because she had an appointment to speak with them. I never got to the meeting because I was confused where it was located.  But, Eliza was very impressed with the work they do.  Eliza is a fellow couchsurfer who joined us in Palenque and is a dormmate here.  She is originally from Melbourne, but has been living in Peubla Mexico.  She has nearly a whole book tattooed on the side of her body with her life philosophy.  Just 23 years old, but I learned alot from her about the 5 languages of love, how to make 15 outfits out of one scarf, slavery of women in India, and that prostitution is legal in Austalia.  She plans to get into peace mediation.  I expect she will do well.

Stopping by El Canon del Sumidero on the way out

Luis gave me a little tip about leaving San Cristobol.  The Tuxtla airport is a little ways away and a taxi could cost up to 500 pesos to get there.  Sumidero Canyon is a great site.  If you take the tour which which costs between 150-200 pesos depending on where you buy it, they will drop you off at the airport before heading back or you can catch a taxi from Chiapa de Corzo which is a small town that you stop for lunch at after the 2 hour ride in a boat in the canyon.  The taxi ride from there is 200 pesos.  You get a tour and ride to the airport for less than a straight taxi to the airport!  So, I got my 150 peso tour ticket and did some research on flights.  There is a Mexicana office and Interjet kiosk in town.  The Interjet ticket to Toluca (just outside of Mexico City) was less than $80 USD.  This isn't much more than what the bus ticket is, so I decided to fly.  Luis had offered to show me around if I laid over there for a few days and I took him up on it.  Then Mexicana flew me home to LAX.  The way the times worked out it was going to be hard to fly from Mexico City to Tijuana to take the bus back to Santa Ana at a reasonable hour.  So, instead of roughing it like I did on the way here I was going to go out in style.  The annoying thing is that my VISA card got declined as I was trying to buy all these tickets.  They do this to me every time.  I tell them in advance what countries I will be in and on what dates.  But, their fraud department wants someone to talk to so they stop my credit card from working and ask me to call them.  Gee thanks.  Now I have to use my credit on skype to make the call!  Do you know what this is costing me?  Pennies.

So, after a sad good bye and exchange of emails at the hostel, I threw my backpack on and headed down Real de Guadelupe to meet up with my shuttle.  I jumped in the front seat with the driver, Sam, because I have a thing for transporation specialists.  They are always good for practicing Spanish and sign language.  Plus, I was going to need to get him to take a sidetrip and take me to the airport.  The drive was windy and beautiful.  Hills.  Fog. Green.  Gorgeous.  It was very sunny on our 2 hour cruise down the canyon.  I sat next to the girl who was in the bed next to me in the hostel and a woman from Isreal who was on her honeymoon.  The honeymooner really wanted to talk.  This was week 4 of the honeymoon.  They had their first fight about if they were going to take the 18 hour bus to Cancun or fly the next day.  Guess which she wanted?  Anyway, they decided to split up for the first time in the trip to take separate tours today.  She was definitely bitter.  I eventually got her to shut up so I could take in the scenary.  The cliffs were 1000 meters high around us.  There were a few waterfalls along the route.  One of them was called the Christmas Tree.  It looked just like one.  It was a beautiful site under it and looking up with the sun glistening over it.  Our guide pointed out several crocadiles, pelicans, and iguanas along the way. Saw the cutest baby crocs about 6 inches long.

The shuttle then went to Chiapa de Corzo.  It is just a little town to have lunch in.  Lots of tourist shops and tourist prices.  I ditched the group and went looking for cheap food.  Found a great 5 peso tostado truck and sat down with a family from Canada there.   They tasted as good as the ones I got at Alka Seltzer restaurant a few weeks back.  Better get a Pepsi to kill the germs.  Then a little chocolate paleta con crema for desert.  Yum!

Soon I spotted the drivers hanging out on a bench.  Sam had given us an hour here.  I better go work on seeing if he or one of the others will give me a ride to the airport.  Thought I was going to have some luck with Elvis, but the only thing he offered me was to teach me Spanish if I moved in with him.  Uh.....no!  Sam did help me out by asking his friend Noe if he could take me.  Noe said he would call his brother Benito to see if he could take me.  After a few phone calls, Noe said to wait on the bench for 30 minutes and a man in a white VW would pick me up. He will be looking for the woman in a purple shirt. He handed me his phone number and asked another man to help point out Benito to me when he arrived.  Cool.  I have a little extra time to relax in the shade here.

Eventually, Benito con gold tooth shows up.  I could not believe it when he flipped down the sunvisor for me and the music video Pump Up The Jam started playing for me.  I have never seen a DVD player in a skinny little sunvisor.  Benito also had his own little screen to watch the video while he drove.  He is girating away in his seat as if this is his favorite song.  He told me that the ladies like his DVD player.  He starts babbling on in Spanish to me.  No comprendo.  So he decided to act out what he was saying.  I think he said, "Tiene tiempo a..." and then he started to make a hugging gesture and making kissy kissy noises with his mouth.  Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!  Do I jump out now?  He's got my luggage in his trunk.  Crap!  I say, "No. Vamos al aeropuerto."  He laughs.  I decide I will keep looking out the window instead of enjoying the next video on my sunvisor.  I've got to make sure I am still seeing the road signs with the little airplanes and an arrow on them.  Any wrong turn and I am duck and rolling out of here.  He asks if I will get him a job in the US.  Says that he knows some English.  He wants to impress me with it.  He knows 4 words.  They are, "I love you, Kelly."  He keeps repeating it and laughing.  Help me!  How far is this freaking airport?!

About 30-45 minutes later we get to the airport.  I panic because the sign says Angel Blanco Corzo airport.  I ask my boyfriend how many airports there are is this city.  He says tres o quatro.  Crap!  I need Tuxtla Gutierrez airport.  I decide I will pay Benito and just get out.  Better to find another taxi to get me to the right airport.  Luckily, the skycap tells me that this is the right airport.  It is kinda like Orange County-John Wayne-Santa Ana airport...it has several names. 

I am 3.5 hours early for my flight.  A good time to catch up on my blog which I have pretty much been 2 weeks behind in for the whole trip.  What?  It costs 25 pesos an hour?  I am used to paying 7 pesos.  Now this is only $2.50 USD an hour, but it is the principle.  My blog reading public will have to wait.   

after the gruelling 10 hour bus ride, we pulled in the early morning into san cristobal. somehow we managed to hook up with an aussie couple from adelaide.... James & Nikki. We found some accomodation and soon enough it was time to explore... after visiting amazing local churchs´we found an intense local market. there isnt really any supermarkets, but more so markets... where everything from fruit, veg, dried seafood, live animals, arts & crafts are all sold. needless to say the food is amazing..... they´ve really got this aspect of life nailed down here.

had a great time checking it all out... but constantly had to explain in my broken spanish that i couldnt buy anything as i had a really small backpack...  after a couple of days doing nothing but soaking up the atmosphere we decided it was time to move on.... to palenque...

Our trip to San Cristobal was pretty uneventful.  We drove pretty much straight through from Berkeley, CA to San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico.

Crossing the border at Laredo on Sunday May 11 was surprisingly uneventful.  We were prepared to spend half a day getting thing sorted.  However, once we crossed we had to seek out the guards in order to find out what we needed to do in order to sort out passports and license for the car and dog, etc.  There was perhaps a 15 minute wait, and then we were on our way.  So easy! 

Along the way we were stopped maybe twice by the mexican military, but nothing big to report.  They had a brief look in the car, but it was all stuff needed for work, so once that was established there was no suspicion or problems.  They were all very nice and polite and wished us luck all the way down to Chiapas.  Many Mexican nationals wondered why we wanted to go all the way down to Chiapas, where all the "Indians" live.  I thought that curious, to say the least.

We did get stopped by the local police just outside Coatzacoalcos.  They tried really hard to get money from us simply because we had American plates; but our threat to phone the university to "sort this all out" resulted in them waving us on.  That was interesting. 

A few days after our arrival I became very sick. So sick, in fact, that I actually had to go to the doctor (which i rarely did in the states).  It turns out I had a bronchial infection, along with salmonella and some sort of parasite.  Not fun.  I am just about fully recovered, and I have the most wonderful doctor, his name is: Dr. Roberto Lobato Garcia, and he is very thorough and kind and thanks to him I am back to myself again.  He is located at: Belisario Dominguez No. 17, @ esquina Flavio A. Paniagua.  If ever you need a doctor in San Cristobal he is great, I highly recommend him. 

I don't have much in the way of photos yet, as  it is the rainy season and it rains everyday.  I am concerned about the storms that seem to be headed to my hometown New Orleans.  I think we are getting a lot of rain now in San Cristobal because of the storm hitting Cancun/Belize.

Well, that's all for now.  I hope to be disciplined enough to keep up with this blog, but I am not the sit at the computer and type about all my sh*t type of person.  I did want to let everyone know about the great doctor here in San Cristobal though.

Hasta Luego!

San Cristobal del 13 al 14 d abril.- A San Cristobal coincideixo amb en Marcelino d alacant i en Jean de chile. Com que fa dies que arrossego un mig costipat i mhe passat la nit al bus estic una mica cansada, a aixo si afegeix que esta plovent i practicament em passo el dia al hostel bebent cervesa i fent-la petar amb ells. De totes maneres el poble magrada bastan, es veu un ambient bastan xulo, el mercat tambe magrada molt, sobretot lo ben colocades que tenen totes les fruites en galledetes. Bueno el poble la veritat es que sembla enfocat bastan de cara al turisme, pel turisme de fora o sigui nosaltres, pero tot i aixi trobo que te la seva gracia. Bueno i sel veu un poble amb bastan moviment cultural. Hi ha mes duna sala de cine on passen documentals sobre el tema de chiapas i els zapatistes i tot aixo. Des daqui el que esta molt be es anar a veure el poble de San Juan de Chamula que es veu que es forca curios de veure sobretot si hi ha mercat, esta molt a la vora i si pot anar amb furgos que surten continuament del mercat de san cristobal, es veu que val la pena, mes que el poble veure la gent i l ambient. Jo no ho vaig fer, me nhe arrepentit, pero es que estava cansada i plovia, i... bueno allo que passa.

Bueno el que si que vaig fer lendema es apuntar-me a la sortida cap el canon del sumidero, la imatge de l inici del canon es la de lescut de chiapas. Bueno et fant una passejadeta amb barca, mira no esta mal, pero tampoc matava. Va estar be veure algun munitu penjat de larbre, un petit cocodrilo i varios ocells (a mi la veritat es que o els ocells son molt espectaculars o diferents, o no se massa apreciar la gran diversitat que et diuen que hi ha a molts llocs).

Ah aqui vaig estar a un alberg que em va agradar molt per la gent que vem coincidir i em va costar 50 pesos, pero la veritat es que no era massa xulo ni tampoc molt net, a mi em va agradar pero tampoc el recomano. Per menjar em quedo en un bar que hi ha, a veure: a partir del carrer peatonal principal, esta en un carrer dels que va perpendicular a aquest i que arriba a la placa on hi han els porxos a un canto, el restaurant en si esta en una placa interior que arribes desde el carrer (diguessim que pujant a ma esquerra), a un altre costat daquesta mena de placa tambe hi ha com una associacio de dones de xiapes o algo aixi, i crec que tambe un centre cultural. Bueno el menjar era bo, barato (crec que uns 40 pesos) i lambientillo guai.

Read the last blog, Guatemala City for details.

Mit einem Wort: toll!
Wir waren heute auf einer Tour  zu einem riesigen Canyon, den wir mir einem Boot befahren haben. Die Natur, die Aussicht waren einfach phantastisch! Besonders witzig fand ich die riesiegen Kakteen, die sich in den kleinsten Felsspalten festgekrallt haben, sahen total lustig aus, diese "Streifen" auf den Felsen. Klasse waren auch die Moos- und Gesteinsformationen, die sich unter den Wasserfaellen und in Hoelen gebildet haben. Besonders bei den Steinen konnte man (wie bei Wolken) alle moeglichen Formen und Figuren erkennen, wenn mand as wollte. Bei den Wasserfaellen war das etwas eindeutiger: durch Moos- und Mineralablagerungen war an einer Felswand halbplastisch ein "Tannenbaum" zu sehen. Auch die Tiere waren cool: Krokodile, Pelikane und lauter andere Voegel...
Schade war, dass der Fluss (angeblich von Guatemala) ziemlich verschmutzt war, aber die machen einige Anstalten, um ihn zu reinigen. Auch wenn ich mir nicht ganz sicher bin, ob das nicht nur wegen der Wasserkraftanlage geschieht. Das Ding ist auch eine Geschichte fuer sich. Es erzeugt zwar eine Menge Strom, aber der Preis ist fraglich: beim Bau sind von 10000 Arbeitern 2500 gestorben!!!
Nach der Bootsfahrt haben wir in einem kleinen Staedchen in der Umgebung zu Mittag gegessen und sind dann zurueck nach San Christobal gefahren. Dort haben wir den Nachmittag mit heisser Schokolade und Kaffeebohnen zugebracht. Zum Abendessen waren wir in zwei verschiedenen Laeden: in einem gab es zwer herrliche Pizzen, im anderen einen sehr leckeren Salat. Zum Abschluss noch leckerer Schokokuchen, und ab ins Hostel...

Nach einer etwas anstrengenden Nacht im Bus (naja, im Vergleich zu Vietnam der reinste Luxus mit Schoenschlafgarantie...) und der Hostelsuche haben wir uns die Stadt angesehen, ein wenig eingekauft, ein paar Touren gebucht, sehr lecker gegessen und uns in die Welt des Kaffees vertieft. Die Stadt gefaellt mir sehr gut, auch wenn wir heute den ganzen Tag tierisch gefroren haben. Interessant sind vor allem die immer noch sehr traditionell gekleideten Indios. Es gibt hier Kleidungsstuecke, die etwas wie ein Heidschnuckenteppich anmuten - fuer die Frauen als Roecke und fuer die Maenner als eine Art Poncho. Das ganze dann (fuer Frauen) kombiniert mit knallbunten Blusen und Guerteln. Nicht ganz mein Geschmack, aber sehr faszinierend...

Eine weitere Tour, ebenfalls sehr gut und imposant, allerdings wegen ewig weiter Wege und unanstaendig vielen geschwindigkeitsverhuetenden Bodenwellen ziemlich anstrengend. Der erste Stop war an einer erstaunlich grossen und sehr sehr kalten Tropfsteinhoehle - ziemlich imposant. Als naechstes ging es weiter zu einem sehr grossen Wasserfall - leider zu kalt zum schwimmen, aber die Natur drum herum und der Wasserfall (Chiflon) selbst waren sehr cool. Leider war das essen dort nicht so klasse: auf verschimmelte Broetchen kann man doch sehr gut verzichten... zum Glueck hatten wir noch ein paar Kekse dabei...
Nach einer weiteren ewig langen Fahrt sind wir bei den "Lagos de Montebello" gewesen. Diese ueber 50 Seen sind durch Auswaschungen entstanden, und durch die verschiedenen enthaltenen Mineralien hat jeder eine andere Farbe! Total klasse, der eine ist fast schwarz, etwas weiter strahlend blau-tuerkis, der naechste grasgruen... leider konnten wir natuerlich nicht alle sehen, und so langsam wurde es auch schon kalt, so dass man auch gerne zureuck wollte. Schoen war auch noch, dass man ueber einen See hinweg bis nach Guatemala schauen konnte. Diese Naehe zur Grenze hatte aber auch Nachteile: wir wurden auf der Fahrt 3x auf Drogen kontrolliert, einmal hat uns das Militaer mit ihren Gewehren alle aus dem Bus aussteigen lassen und den ganzen Minibus durchsucht. Ich fands nicht so witzig. Die Mexicaner und unsere Mitreisenden aus Israel schienen das eher gewohnt zu sein...
Abends zurueck in San Christobal haben wir noch in einem sehr Mexicanischen Restaurant eine riesige Menge Fleisch gegessen. Sehr lecker, aber ganz schoen heavy... Danach noch zwei vorher gekauft leckere Kuchenstuecke auf unserem Zimmer - und dann waren wir fertig fuer den Tag...

Heute haben wir einen Reitausflug gemacht! Die Strecke war sehr schoen, und ich hatte ein nettes kleines Pferdchen, das nach anfaenglichen leichten Meinungsverschiedenheiten meinen Hilfen doch sehr bereitwillig gefolgt ist. Zuerst sind wir sehr lange im Schritt auf "normalen" Wegen unterwegs gewesen. Pause war in einem Dorf namens "Chamula". Da wir das aber morgen mit der Village-Tour nochmal genau besichtigen, spare ich mir jetzt die naeheren Beschreibungen. Auf jeden Fall erwaehnenswert war aber die Verfolgungsjagd eines fluechtigen Diebs? Raeubers? whaterver - der von einer ganzen Horde in Fellponchos  gekleideter und mit Schlagstoecken und Funkgeraeten bestueckter Dorfbewohner gejagt wurde. Sehr imposant, allerdings haben sie ihn anscheinend nicht zu fassen bekommen... Auf dem Rueckweg gab es nochmal einen Abstecher mit den Pferden auf eine kleine Bergtour mit angegliederter Galoppstrecke. Insgesamt fand ich den Ausritt sehr gut - nur die Holzsaettel (!) und die Steigbuegel waren eine Zumutung fuer Pferd und Reiter. Ich hab schon lange nicht mehr so gelitten, wenn ich von einem Pferd runterkam...
Zu Mittag haben wir in San Christobal in einem netten kleinen Lokal gegessen, in dem ich die beste Pasta meines Lebens gegessen habe - und das in Mexico!!! Nachdem man bestellt hat kann man dem Koch dabei zusehen, wie er fuer einen den Teig durch die Nudelmaschine dreht und dann ganz frisch zubereitet. Einfach toll... Abends - nach einer weiteren Shopping-Tour - waren wir zwar auch in einem Restaurant, was frische Pasta angeboten hat, die konnte sich mit der vom Mittag allerdings nicht messen...
Zum Abschluss haben wir unserer neuen "Tradition" mit Kuchen und Fernsehen im Bett gefroent - kulinarisch ist San Christobal echt ein Highlight!

Heute gab's eine Tour durch zwei "Dorfer" (zwischen 100000 und 35000 Eionwohner) in der direkten Umgebung von San Christobal. Wir hatten auch echt Glueck mit unserem Guide, der uns sehr sehr viel erzaehlen konnte...
Im ersten "Dorf", Zinacantan, waren wir bei einer Familie "zu Gast". Allerdings war dieser Verkaufsbesuch weit angenehmer als ich es von solchen Touren normalerweise gewohnt bin. Der Guide hat uns viel ueber die Traditionen in den beiden Orten erzaehlt, waehrend die Frauen und Maedchen um uns herum ihren Taetigkeiten nachgegangen sind. Danach haben wir gesehen, wie Tortillas gebacken und Kleidungsstuecke gewebt werden. Zum Schluss haben Jule und ich sogar jeder einen Schal gekauft, ein deutliches Zeichen, dass es uns gefallen hat!
Interessant ist, dass man hier die Bewohner der verschiedenen Orte an ihren Kleidungsstuecken unterscheiden kann. So tragen die Maenner aus Zinacantan mit Blumen bestickte Ponchos und die Frauen die Gegenstuecke als Roecke, waehrend Bewohner aus Chamula weisse oder schwarze (mehr oder weniger fusselige und verfilzte) Wolle benutzen.
Kulturell bildet Chamula anscheinend eine absolute Ausnahme unter den regionalen Gemeinden. Normaler Weise wird Frauen in diesem Land eine Menge Respekt entgegen gebracht und Bildung etc ist fuer sie zugaenglich. Die Bewohner von Chamula leben in Polygamie. Allerdings wird nicht geheiratet, sondern eine Frau (meist ein junges Maedchen, ab 25 wird man als alt angesehen) wir von einem (meist wesentlich aelteren) Mann gekauft! Die Frau hat keine Rechte. Wenn der Mann sie nicht mehr haben will oder stirbt kann die Frau sich zwischen harter Arbeit auf dem Feld, Prostitution oder der Flucht aus dem Dorf entscheiden. Es gibt keine Unterstuetzung von Verwandten. Seit der Kolonialisierung durch die Spanier wehrt sich der Ort - bzw die Maenner/"Authorities" (ein haufen alter Maenner mit extrem bunten Hueten...) - gegen alles neue und Fremde. Touristen sind nicht gerne gesehen, und wer aus dem Dorf den Traditionen nicht entspricht (zB zum christlichen Glauben uebertreten...) wird verstossen. In San Christobal leben zZ wohl ca 20000 Verstossene aus Chamula, zumeist in den Slums am Stadtrand. Auf diese Weise hat sich allerdings ein sehr interessantes Leben im Ort erhalten, vor allem was die Religion und die Medizin betrifft. Auf dem Hauptplatz steht zwar eine Kirche, jedoch gibt es schon seit Jahren darin keinen christlichen Gottesdienst. Die Bevoelkerung nutzt die Kirche um den alten Goettern (denen der Maya noch sehr aehnlich, allerdings in Gestalt von katholischen Heiligen) zu huldigen oder um Rituale zu Heilung von Krankheiten durchzufuehren. Dies bedeutet: bei Krankheit wird ein Medizinmann/frau geholt, der im Auftrag des Kranken 5 Tage lang Gebete spricht und Kerzen herunterbrennt und am fuenften Tag je nach Schwere der Erkrankung (am Puls diagnostiziert) ein Opfer in Form von Eiern oder Huhnern bringt. Auch Huhn ist nicht gleich Huhn, bei leichten Erkrankungen ein weisses, dass kann dann danach auch gegessen werden, bei schweren ein braunes oder schwarzes - die muessen dann allerdings bestattet werden. Das Innere der Kirche ist dementsprechend voller Leben - und voller Kerzen auf einem mit Kiefernnadeln bedecken Boden. Da Bild ist phantastisch durch das warme Licht und die ganzen Menschen die auf dem Boden und die Blumendekorationen... Immer wieder wird (uebrigens auch in San Christobal und anderen Orten) bei bestimmten Anlaessen Feuerwerk angezuendet (in San Christobal sind wir dadurch auch mehrmals geweckt worden). Als wir auf dem Vorplatz der Kirche waren haben wir auch noch ein kleines Fest mitbekommen - zu lauter Musik haben junge Maenner in einer Art stierfoermigen Drahtgestell getanzt, sich gegenseitig gejagt und irgendwann das Feuerwerk an den Gestellen angezuendet, um dann "knallend" ueber den Platz zu rennen... Sehr faszinierend!
Zuerueck in San Christobal haben wir wieder bei "Pasta fresca" gegessen (wo wir gleich uebrigens nochmal hingehen, ist echt verdammt gut!) und uns die letzten verbliebenen Einke und den Markt der Stadt angesehen. Ein schoener Abschluss fuer diesen schoenen Ort. Morgen frueh um 6.00h gehts weiter...

Leaving the ruins of Tenam Puente we retraced our path back to San Cristobal.  We had about 45 minutes to stall shop and do the whole tourist thing.

Fortunately, I wasn't really tempted by any of the things I saw for sale.  I suppose it's a "been there, done that" type of thing.  But I did indulge in some fresh Churros which I shared with my friends.  They are SO much better here than what you get in the US.

Aside from that I spent my time between three different cathedrals taking pictures.  The colors and style were varied and unique, but had it been a sunny day I'm sure everything would have been that much more impressive.

I'm sure you could spend an entire day meandering the streets of San Cristobal, but I had seen enough in the 45 minutes we had.   And besides, it was time to get back to Tuxtla.  We reboarded our bus and headed back.  It was great to get out for a day and see some different areas, but I was ready to get back as well.  Next time I really don't want to start so early - 7am is a ridiculous time to be awake!

On our feather way to Chiapa de Corzo we stopped by at San Cristobal...i love it there! Those lovely colerful houses, hostels and hotels!

We only had a few houers to look around and just had some lunch!

Here i bought some presents for friends off some mayan girls! Once i bought one lots of thouse little girls stood around me wanting me to buy something!

I was awoken this morning at around 5:30 by someone knocking at the door and ringing the bell, no-one went to help them and so eventually I got dressed and went outside but there was nothing I could do as it was locked. Finally the receptionist came to help and opened it up, I tried to fall back to sleep for an hour. Then up and out to meet the guide for the tour of the indigenous villages. Well I made it after having a delicious breakfast smoothie and met up with the guide and the tour group there were 8 of us in total. Well all I can say is that it is one of the best tours I have ever done, the guide was fantastic and really passionate about the information he was sharing. We were shown first around the village and the religious leaders house before being taken to the main church where all the saints are displayed and the floor is covered with pine needles and people are praying and making sacrifices .It is really interesting and like nothing I have ever seen before. The it was on to Zincantan where we went to a local village house and they showed us how they do their weavings and how they make fresh tortillas, we had to try some (mmm delicious).
We arrived back into San Cristobal at around 2:30/3pm, then I was off to explore the markets and churches. I stumbled onto a Marimba band which was awesome to listen to and everyone was tapping their feet. Then I started shopping again bought way to much so went to drop it off, by this stage it was already around 8pm so went in search of dinner. I found this really great restaurant where I had an amazing chicken salad with apple ,pineapple, wall nuts and it is run by a fantastic couple from California and it was so nice just sitting around chatting until 11pm.

Well somehow I woke up, I got collected at 6am by a driver who really does not feel the cold. He kept the window open and I just tucked up and tried to fall asleep. We got to the Guatemalan border I had to go in and get my passport stamped and then I sat outside at the border waiting for my Mexican driver to arrive, I waited around 45 minutes with the driver and eventually he arrived. It is really interesting sitting at the border as you see all sorts, Guatemalan’s being deported back from Mexico, people on overland trips on their Harleys and loads of groups traveling through . We swapped the bags into the new bus and we drove about 3 minutes of no-mans land and then arrived at the Mexican passport control point .Here I filled in the arrivals forms and then off we went, luckily there were only 2 of us on the bus so spread out and fell asleep( I am getting good at this).
I arrived at the hotel and it got settled into my room, then out again exploring. Went to the Cathedral and walked around the market, unfortunately it is still raining a bit so not all the stalls are open. I am absolutely shattered so decided to go in search of an early dinner. I found this great little falafel restaurant hmmm.. had a delicious meal and then rounded it off with a banana and chocolate pancake. I think I over did it but it felt really good, then off for a really well deserved sleep.

We got off the bus and started walking to the hostel we had chosen from the lonely planet. The first hotel we walk past has a promotion rooms for 100 pesos, excellent our hostel must be cheaper than this we thought. So we keep walking the extra 1km resting in the zocalo so katie can rest as her bag has the worlds most uncomfortable straps. We finally arrive, only to find that the hostel is 200 pesos and little more than a shed ( a very nice shed). When i tell Katie the first hotel we passed was 100 pesos she is not impressed. So first thing the next morning we head straight back to the hotel with the promotion. It was not a shed but more dirty than any you could imagine with sand paper sheets and pillows stuffed with lumps of wool or something, but at least we have an ensuite.

San Cristobal is a beautiful small city in the heart of Chiapas. It´s at 2100m so it is much cooler than we have started to become accustomed to. Our first day of tours was to Chamula which was a tradtional indigenous village a few miles outside the city. It was really interesting. Katie was amazed by their beautiful clothes that are really colourful with big furry skirts made from wool. She was upset that you couldn´t take pictures becuase it takes their soul. We were allowed in the church which is more a place of healing and heard chickens being killed which is all part of the ceremony. We went to  second village to visit a family who wove/weaved? clothes aswell as making us delicious tortillas. 

The next day we went on a tour to Tuxla to the Somidera Canyon which is the setting for the symbol of Chiapas. Understandably so because the veiws were breath taking i went crazy with the camera and took about 50 pictures. We had almost come to the end of the tour and were a liitle annoyed that we had been told you get to see Crocs and Spider monkeys when we pull up next to a 4 meter crocodile.

Next day was sent trying to be cheap so we went to the museum of Mayan medicine then the museum Na Blom which was about a European couple who move to Mexico in the 50´s and spent there lives researching and protecting the indigenous populations in Chiapas. Katie wishes she was them. Both museums were very interesting and more importantly cheap. O yeah we bought some traditional medicine for our colds and it´s been effective.

Today we get up and get the bus to Tuxla for our flight to Merida.