Dear Readers, Our Chiapas group arrived at the MPLS airport last night around midnight. We left San Cristobal 4:30 yesterday morning. Thank you all for your prayers and support during our trip! I will post more in the next few days. Pam
Neil teaches Chris some dance moves while waiting in the Phoenix airport.
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | 3 Comments »
Dear reader, I should not still be awake, but I did order a café Americano at our 9:30 dinner this evening! I have missed a couple of our days which I still plan to catch you up on, but I don’t want to add today to the mix. We had another full schedule today as we drove to a Mayan archeological site in Tenam Puente (sorry, too tired to describe here-you will get pictures!), ate lunch in Comitan and visited a potter.
On our way out of San Cristobal we drove past a huge sculpture of a woman potter who was forming a clay pigeon. Her name is Doña Juliana and she is known and honored in all of Mexico for her pottery. I thought the statue was really cool and so Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged checkpoint, Comitan, Doña Juliana, Pan American Highway, Tenam Puente, tourist | 2 Comments »
Buenos Noches again dear readers! It is so hard to believe that we only have one more full day here in San Cristobal. For me this day began and ended in tears. This morning when I went to get my coffee at breakfast time I was suddenly overcome by a wave of homesickness. I felt lonely and just wanted to be home with my family and my familiar surroundings. The waterworks were short lived, but took me a bit by surprise since I have never been one to get homesick. This trip has been a wonderful experience, but this is the longest I have been away from my home by myself in a very long time.
This evening ten of us went out to dinner at what has become a favorite dining place on Real de Guadalupe, one of the pedestrian shopping streets downtown. While we were eating a young boy came around and asked Pam if he could shine her shoes for 20 pesos. She had been hoping to do so before leaving so she agreed and he set to work. It was 9:30 pm and I could just see the top of his head at the end of the table bobbing up and down as he shined her shoes. I lost it right there and the tears flowed. It just did not seem right Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged Chiapas, homesick, poverty, San Cristobal, seeing | 5 Comments »
The title of this post is “From Today To Tomorrow.” It is the title of a poem I wrote on Saturday which I will include at the end of my post.
This past Saturday, we met with women from 3 different weaving cooperatives. The patterns and styles of each community’s weavings are unique. The vast array of colors and patterns created a great deal of excitement in the group as we negotiated who would purchase which of these one-of-a-kind items.
The women were very shy yet they answered a few questions — mostly with “yes” or “no” responses. Continue Reading »
Posted in Announcements, Chiapas 2012 | Tagged Chiapas, Weaving Cooperatives | 1 Comment »
Buenas Tardes dear reader. It is now 4:30 pm on Monday and it seems I have been on my feet the entire day except to eat lunch. As I told you before we did have a later start today. It was 10:00 am when most of us set out on foot to walk (some of us took a taxi) about 2 kilometers to visit the Center for the Development of Mayan Medicine (CEDEMM) which is overseen by the organization OMIECH, the Organization of Indigenous Doctors of the State of Chiapas. This center includes a museum, a medicinal plant garden and a pharmacy. It also includes a small chapel/place of healing where Maya healers can meet with people who come for healing.
The purpose of this center is to revive and honor traditional Mayan medicinal practices, recognizing them as legitimate healing methods and remedies. We learned about traditional indigenous Maya healers: Pulsars, Elders who pray, Midwives, Bone Healers, and Herbalists. We were so fortunate to meet Victorio, a healer who was at the center, and he graciously allowed us to ask a few questions. He told us how Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged CEDEMM, Chiapas, Maya, Mayan, medicine, OMIECH | 2 Comments »
Hola, queridas!
Our visit to Chamula was several days ago now (Fri), but many of the images I saw there are still running through my mind. This is a very special event for the people of Chamula, and the celebration lasts for several days with the peak on the day we were visiting. This day, many children were baptized, and I noticed that just like in the United States it was a time of great joy for the families and and many tears for the babies. 
Inside the chapel, I experienced a sensory overload. The floor is covered with pine needles — a ritual that brings the people closer to the earth — a source of holiness and energy. The air is filled with the smoke and strong scent of Copal (a common incense used in Chiapas). There are many people packed into the church — some standing in lines facing the altar praying out loud their individual prayers. Some formed in groups around the Statues of the Saints that line the church — caring for and honoring them. Some people moving towards the front of the church where San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) resides. Along the left side of the church, the male saints stand, representing the masculine energy. Along the right side of the church, the female saints stand, representing the female energy and leading to the area where children are baptized. Candles were burning throughout the sanctuary, some in glass containers on the floor and on tables, some placed directly on the floor and secured with melted wax. Musicians occasionally played their instruments in a seemingly random fashion. Then the procession began … Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged Chamula, Chiapas, Festival of San Sebastian | 3 Comments »
Buenas Noches dear reader! What an awesome day! The experience in Acteal is one I will never forget. We have had many of those moments on this trip, but this was truly a highlight. We left around nine this morning in two vans and rode out of San Cristobal up into the hills to the north. The views of the green hills were breathtaking. The winding roads were precarious in some places and the bumpy ride did not agree with all stomachs, but we made it without any incidents, if you know what I mean! We had very good drivers who were braver than me!
We got to Acteal just in time to see the procession of community and church leaders head down the stairs to the chapel. As I said in my earlier post, today was the celebration and mass for Las Abejas who were killed in the massacre on December 22, 1997. We hopped out of the vans and followed the procession down the stairs. We then made our way to seats in the concrete bleachers. The service was spoken in Spanish and Tzotzil. What I was not ready for was how welcomed we were made to feel. So welcomed that Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged Acteal, communion, Las Abejas, massacre, pray | 3 Comments »
Landscape taken on the way to Acteal
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | 3 Comments »
We have been experiencing some very incredible, very holy things in our days here in Chiapas. The days are moving so quickly that before it really “sinks in” that we only have three more days, we will be on our way home. Today we worshiped with Las Abejas, a community of indigenous people who suffered a horrible massacre in 1997. We were invited to “pray with our feet,” participate fully in communion, pray with them in the tomb of their loved ones, and sing a song for the whole community. The hospitality that we experienced was breathtaking and humbling. They are a “resurrection people,” who will not allow the power of death to silence them or to steal their joy for life.
Yesterday we spent the day with a group of indigenous women who are a part of a weaving co-operative that is lifting Continue Reading »
Posted in Chiapas 2012 | Tagged communion, Las Abejas, pray, weaving co-operative | 4 Comments »
Buenos Dias dear reader! In a few minutes we will be getting into two vans and riding for two hours north into the country to Acteal. We are excited for this trip and many of us have seen it as the focal point.
On December 22, 1997 a group of indigenous people, called Las Abejas (the Bees) were praying for peace in a chapel in Acteal. They were attacked and 45 people were massacred by their neighbors under pressure by the Mexican government because they would not take up arms against the Zapatistas, who were also neighbors. Most of those killed were women and children. Now, every 22nd day of each month a memorial/celebration is held in Acteal. This happened as part of the low intensity war that has been going on since the Zapatista uprising in 1994 and continues today–and has really been in place since the Conquest.
Dear reader, I ask that your thoughts be with us today as we travel the windy, hilly road and take part in this holy day.
Hasta luego,
-Déadra
Posted in Announcements | 2 Comments »
