Greetings dear readers!
- Our Lady of Guadelupe as Resister
After a missed plane and overnight in Mexico City adventure, we arrived in San Cristobal, Chiapas on Tuesday.
We passed through a military check point on the way to San Cristobal. When the driver of the van was asked why we were not stopped, he replied that tourists generally are not stopped- only the local people. As noted by one of my companions, the answer highlights the reality that the military presence is not about crime prevention (drug trafficking) or everyone would be stopped. In my world, when the police show up or the National Guard is activated during a national disaster, I feel relief and a renewed sense of safety. It is not the case for everyone in the world, and not for all in Chiapas.
I have seen police with military rifles. The first time jarred me. But then I thought, “Well of course.” Since the Zapatista uprising after NAFTA was signed, there has been a significant military presence in Chiapas. It is a presence that remains today. How difficult it must be to constantly be stopped and questioned in your own country, by your fellow citizens. I take so much for granted.
On a lighter note: Everywhere there are street vendors selling their wares. The smallest children carry baskets with small clay animals for sale. A small boy sold me one, when I looked in the basket, and saw the clay pig, I laughed! I bought it because of the delight I felt when I saw it. Afterward I thought, “Who am I going to give a pig to!” Maybe it was meant for me and to remind me to laugh in the midst of challenge!
-Pam K
Pam, thank you for sharing your observations and insight…and laughter! Quite a gift, to be able to laugh in the midst of challenge.
Karen
My thoughts are with each of you this week as I journey with you through your blog posts. The people of Chiapas are with me every morning when I brush my teeth and am painfully aware of how my water will run forever if I let it. Since June 2010, not a day goes by that I don’t remember the ways that my heart was transformed during my time there. My prayer is that you will each stay “in the moment” no matter how much you miss all that you left behind in the States or how challenging the experience may become. Stay in the moment, for God has called you to be in that place! Look for those “clay pigs” and other glimpses of humor because those moments will sustain you through what can be a troubling journey. Amidst the suffering, there is so much laughter and joy in Chiapas! Be alert and present so that you will find the humor and the HOPE in what can feel like a hopeless situation at times. Blessings to each of you in this transformative time. I look forward to reading more
-Cecilia Runge
Look past the rifles and into their eyes. They have stories too. They are not just appendages to the weapons they hold. What do you suppose led them to think that “job” was their best option?
A visitor to the USA from England might have feelings strangely similar to yours: British “bobbies” are rarely armed. Law enforcement officers in the US always are.
So glad you all made it there safely and that your trip is going well. Grace and peace to all of you. Pam, may we all find that kind of joy that you found in your little piggy.
Hi, Pam! I am finally catching up on the blog, today, the day before you leave! I smiled when I read your post here, about the clay pig. I have one too.
bought it on our very last day there, from a little boy who came to the table in the courtyard of a restaurant where Jerilyn Dinsmoor, Cheri Christiansen and a UTS alum were having lunch. I too wondered who I was buying it for, but then I decided it was for me, just as you did. I think of that little guy – the complexity of noting that he was not in school as other 10 year olds I know are. But that he was also earning a living, participating in providing for his family, that he already had people skills that many children learn much later. But that he had to work as a 10 year old to put food on the table….that i wish i would have invited him to pull up a chair and share the tamales and beans I wasn’t going to finish…
That little pig has a lot of meaning in her as she sits on my mantle.
I have enjoyed reading your blogs very much and look forward to hearing more stories when you return.
Wishing you safe journey tomorrow, and as you transition back into life in the Cities, with Chiapas now in your heart as it is.
Cathy