The last 3 days spent here in Chiapas have been rich and full. I have met really nice people and have enjoyed going around town. There are so many sweets here though! And I have found the best empenadas of my life, I have ate 3 in 2 days and plan on eating 3 more tomorrow alone! Mmmm. The markets are rich of colorful fruits and vegetables, some of which I have no idea what they are. The beans here are multi colored, purple, black, and everything in between. The food is arranges in ornate ways that look beautiful, such as oranges stacked in perfect pyramids, or a mango that is peeled and cut in alternating slices to look like a flower and then put on a hand wideled stick. It´s amazing!
A few highlights of this town so far...
Riding Terco, the stubborn horse, out to Chemula, a local small town. There is a large market there on Sunday and the church is very colorful. There is a local authority that wears all white or all black sheep coats. These men do not want their picture taken. My friend Josephina took a photo, and we were instantly surrounded by about 20 men all asking for the camera and to make sure we erase the photo. She had to show that it was erased. We learned that when you take their photo, they are indigenious town leaders, it is thought to be taking a part of their soul. About 20 minutes later while eating mangos in the center in front of the church, about 200 men (men only) came running through, yelling and getting excited. They passed in uniform of about 5 men per row and as they crossed the church they each made their cross. Then they continued on into the town, through rows of houses until we could not see them. When we asked about what this was from the owner of the horses we were borrowing he would not talk about it. It felt like something was going on, like a townhall meeting of sorts.
The Museo de la Medicine de Maya. This museum goes through all the traditional ways Mayan heal themselves. Going from picking the herbs to preparing them to using them in ceremony or healings. It was fascinating to learn about all the process. The best part of this museum was its focus on midwives. There was a first hand video of a Mayan woman giving birth with her midwife. It was very open, and described the entire steps from the tea to drink before giving birth, to running a rooster\chicken over the mom before breastfeeding, to burying the placenta. Wow! What I found fascinating was that the female gives birth on her knees facing her husband while he helps push down on the stomach.
Cafe Museo Cafe details the regions history of coffee, from German owned fincas in the 1800´s until the Mexican Revolution ended in 1920. It continued to the indentured servantude that continued after the German´s were kicked out, and ended with the 17,000 individual plot owners that comprise many cooperatives in the region. It was really informative.
The churches are beautiful and it is a great town to walk around in, grab a sweet treat, or taco, or empanada, and enjoy the warm days and the cool evenings.
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