A day in the life....

The weather here is strangely reminiscent of the local mountain towns Faith and I love to visit in Southern California like Big Bear. At night it seems necessary to bundle up, but the morning air is crisp, chilly, and everything has a very slight layer of dew on it. Faith heard a rooster crowing in the early hours, but I was awoken by truck drivers who were peddling their fruits down the streets while advertising over their P.A. system that they have mounted on their roofs.

The apartment we have is on a semi-main road so cars pass by often, but the foot traffic is more common and can be heard through our street-side windows. We are still adjusting to the differences in personal space and privacy compared to back in California.

The apartments here all share a communal courtyard which have several tall trees, one of them being a pine tree (we are at 7,000 feet elevation). A small wooden door that can't be any higher than five and a half feet tall is our portal to San Cristobal. We live in a neat part of town that is only a 5-10 minute walk to the busy promenade.

I decided to show Faith all the amazing places I had the chance to visit during the field study course I took last May/June. We must have walked over five miles throughout the city stopping periodically to peruse an interesting shop, drink a cafe con leche, and eat some freshly made churros. The day was pleasantly warm and we were able to cruise the town wearing comfortable clothing like sandals, shorts, and t-shirts.

One of the notable encounters we had was at Na Bolom, a local museum dedicated to the Lacandon Maya, and their receptionist who we have been in contact with for weeks. We are hoping to get involved with their volunteer program and so far the interactions have been positive. The grounds at Na Bolom are amazing, they have a beautiful large garden where volunteers stay and give tours of the native plants they have there. They also have a nursery where they donate saplings to local schoolchildren to reinforce the importance of reforestation. We will keep the updates on our status with Na Bolom as they develop. We also met many friendly shop and restaurant owners. So many of the business owners here have a creative way of catering to their clients whether it be with a cozy courtyard with outdoor tables to live music, each have their own unique ambiance. We are excited about our time here, tomorrow we are meeting with the organization, Natate, who we are volunteering with at the Mayan Medicine Museum. Until then!