Chiapas

In order for us to stay "legal," we have to leave the country of Guatemala every three months in order to renew our tourist visas. This month, we decided to travel to San Cristobal de las Casas, a city in the state of Chiapas, in Mexico. Chiapas was a fascinating place for us because of its vibrant Mayan culture. (Yes, the Maya are found all the way up in Mexico, too!) There is a lot of indigenous pride in this area, where the largest Maya group are the Tzotziles. We passed a beautiful mural on the street that really exemplifies the type of resilience and pride the indigenous community here exhibits. Below, the mural reads, "They cut our branches, they cut down our trunk, but they could not pull out our roots..."Another symbol of the strong Mayan identity in Chiapas (see below) was a sign we were shocked to see in front of a Pollo Campero (Central America's equivalent to Kentucky Fried Chicken), advertising its soft-serve ice cream in both Spanish and Tzotzil! This is significant because it is something we have never seen in Guatemala, a country where more than 60% of the population is indigenous and speaks one of 23 different Mayan indigenous groups.

This is also the home of the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or the "Zapatista Army of National Liberation," in English), a revoluntionary movement whose purpose is to fight for indigenous rights, primarily the right to control over their own land and resources. Some locals have capitalized on the Zapatista movement by selling Zapatista dolls to tourists (see below). We saw these dolls everywhere!We also visited some of the city's sights, such the Museum of Mayan Medicine, which was a great introduction to traditional medicine in the area, including a section on midwifery and birth, and a medicinal herb garden complete with the medical indications and Mayan name of each plant.

A description of the role of "partera," or midwife.

In the medicinal herb garden.

In addition to tourism, we also had the opportunity to participate in Palm Sunday on the last day of our trip (see photos below). The people in San Cristobal have a lovely tradition of weaving intricate designs and crosses out of the palm fronds traditionally used during the Palm Sunday service.

Mayan ladies, weaving and selling their creations in front of the cathedral.

A close-up of some palm-frond crosses.

Here is everyone during the service, holding up the woven fronds they bought from the ladies out front.

Shom, grudgingly posing for me with his palm cross.