San Cristobal in a day

One of the problems with keeping a real-time journal is finding the time to actually write about what’s been happening. There has been a whole lot going on since we last left off, but I will start at the beginning… the day my sister arrived in our little Chiapan mountain town.

Aside from an informal night tour and a quick peek into our favorite coffee shop, Amber’s introduction to San Cristobal de las Casas would have to wait until the next morning. Our alarm went off nice and early and we whisked her out the door after cooking her breakfast in our apartment. Our first stop of the day was at La Casa de las Flores, a school dedicated to the education of the local children who cannot afford the time to go to government run schools. The main issue that children face here is that their families rely on them to contribute to the household income, which can mean they must miss school to help with work and/or sell in the marketplace. La Casa de las Flores provides government approved workbooks that can be completed at any pace and grants academic credit. We wanted to support this great organization and we had heard they were in need of clothing for their students. So, instead of bringing luggage filled with her own materials my sister brought a duffel bag full to the brim with children’s clothes that my generous mom purchased to donate to La Casa de las Flores. Sonja and our good friend from Austria, Andrea, also donated toys which were equally appreciated. This definitely made for a great start to our day and we were excited to show my sister all the other amazing things going on in San Cristobal.

We walked the streets and took back roads through town pointing out our favorite taco shops, mountain ridges, and grilled chicken lady. Along the way we stopped by the “Happy House” a house used to experiment with “bicimaquinas,” bicycle powered machines. There is a washer machine that runs its cycles completely powered by a person pedaling a bicycle whose chain has been replaced with a belt that spins the back of the washing machine. The concept here is to reduce the amount of electricity used, exercise with a purpose, and educate people about alternative forms of living. They are also working on storing the energy created by pedaling into batteries which can be used at a later time.

At Jaguar de Madera Amber was shown the unique permaculture construction being used there- their house and kitchen are made solely out of “super adobe,” a mixture of clay, mud, sand and very little cement, and light enters the rooms through windows made of glass bottles that have been inserted into the super adobe walls. We also showed off the worm composting bin Faith and I helped to build, the seed bank we helped collect seeds for, and the wood chip mountain we helped move. We explained how the different compost bins work; how the pig biodigestor collects the gases produced by the urine and feces and are used to cook in the kitchen; and the super adobe dome they have constructed and how it’s used as an example for alternative construction. We then did a fast run through of the Na Bolom museum garden and gift shop before hopping into a crowded colectivo that dropped us off at the bustling outdoor market. Faith and I expertly navigated through the maze of raw chicken vendors, florists, dried fish sellers, and fruit stands. We picked up a few things for the day including mangos which are now in season and tried a few fruits that are specific to only here.

Next on the agenda was to visit the Museum of Mayan Medicine where Faith and I ate, slept, and worked for the first part of our stay in San Cristobal. We took her through the medicinal plant garden, went into the museum itself where Amber and Faith received a cleansing ritual by Don Victorio- a Tzeltal curandero. If interested, the entire ritual is described in detail in an earlier entry about our time at the museum. Near the dormitories where Faith and I lived was our little gem of San Cristobal, the ecologically sustainable waterless composting latrine we built. Amber oo-ed and ahh-ed over its gloriousness, and even honored it with a use. We told her stories about our time there, the friends we made, the greenhouse, the donkey, the dog named Michael, and the other neat attributes to the museum. We knew we were on a schedule so we then hurriedly walked down to Orquideas Moxviquil (OM). At OM we were able to exhibit all we had learned about orchids and the history of the project. Cisco, the director, came out to accompany us and gave Amber a delightful personal tour of the greenhouse in a manner in which only he could. OM is a beautiful place and we really enjoyed being involved with the organization, we wish we could have seen the latrine project we initiated be completed, but due to time constraints we will have to let others continue where we have left off.

We hired a taxi and were off to the town of Chamula. Chamula is famous for its Catholic church that has been converted into a healing center by the Tzotzil speaking Maya of the region. Inside the church the floor is covered with pine needles and we respectfully sat and witnessed traditional healing rituals be performed. Candles are lined up in rows, eggs and chickens are brought into the church, the alcoholic drink, pox, is consumed along with Coca Cola. There are Catholic saints adorned with different fabrics who double as indigenous deities encased within wood and glass cabinets. Outside the church is the market where we purchased more wool animals to add to our growing Chamulan zoo. We are unsure whether these cute fuzzy stuffed creatures will end up being gifts as originally intended or if we will keep them all and form ourselves a wool menagerie. The sun was beginning to set so we took the last colectivo out of Chamula and headed back to San Cristobal. This had been Sonja´s final day of Spanish school and we had a lot of planning to do for our next few days. Before coming here my sister had asked me if she was going to be seeing any ruins or monkeys while here and after I had told her that she wouldn´t her disappointment was obvious. This simply would not do, so what did we do, we decided to have an impromptu adventure and take Sonja and Amber to Palenque to see ruins and monkeys!

We had shown Amber all our projects and introduced her to many of the friends we have made. We were sad to hug and shake hands farewell to those people we have become so close with over the last few months, but are excited for the next steps on our path. We also didn´t say goodbye to our friends either because we know this is only the first of many repeat visits. Stay tuned to hear about Palenque, howler monkeys, and the unexpected kidney stones.