Scattered bits and pieces

I have never seen so many people being arrested as I have seen in Palenque. I don’t think that this is a sign that there’s more ‘criminals’ here than in other parts of the world. There’s a lot more police here, as far as I can see, and they are eager to show that they’re out in force, safe guarding our streets. My theory (and not only mine) is that they are more active and visible here because of the tourists. They want to portray the image that there is high security here - so that tourists can go back home and tell their family and friends that Mexico is safe – that narco trafficking is under control and that the rebel group (the Zapatistas) are being monitored by the police and military. A good excuse to have so many police and military populating Chiapas.

The other day I went up to San Cristobal for a meeting. Along the way there, we encountered two military checkpoints. One stopped the bus and demanded that we all get off the bus and stand outside with our bags open. They searched the bus as well as our bags (not very well may I add, if I’d had something stashed away in my bag I would have easily gotten away with it). 45 minutes later we were allowed back onto the bus.

On another trip when I was coming back from the border of Guatemala and Mexico, we were also stopped twice, this time by police. The first time they asked a few people from the minibus to show their identification and let them go with no dramas even though some didn’t have anything to show. The next time they asked the same people for their identifications and those that didn’t have any with them were asked to step off the bus. 20 minutes later they were returned to our minibus. Later on, one of the men who was taken off the minibus told another passenger that he was a migrant and that he had given money to the policeman to enable him to continue his journey – probably up to the Untied States.

I’ve been given another week off from work as the coordinator of the organisation I work for has gone on holidays. Although I think that it’s a little soon for holidays after only starting 5 weeks ago, I still appreciated the time off, especially since I had visitors. On one of those days, we went down to visit Yaxchilan, an ancient Mayan city which is located on the border of Mexico and Guatemala. This site is not half as popular as the one in Palenque as it’s a little out of the way – off the beaten track as they say... Once you get to the border you have to catch a boat along the Usumacinta river, which takes approximately 30 minutes to arrive to the site. Yaxchilan is set in amongst thick jungle, probably resembling what Palenque once was before it was populated by swarms of hotels and tourists. To get to the ruins, you have to walk through this jungle, amongst trees that seem to be 1000’s of years old and have a sense of awe about them. It started raining while we were adventuring our way around the ancient city and this set the scene perfectly for my jungle daydream of dangling vines, earthly smells mixed with rain, ancient mystifying temples and stunning views of the jungle from the tops of the pyramids. An India Jones adventure!

Near San Cristobal I went to visit a small town called Chamula. It has a reputation for holding traditional indigenous (Tzotzil) ceremonies and Shaman rituals in its church. Upon walking into the church you are welcomed with the smell of pine needles scattered all over the floor and 1000’s of flickering candles which people have meticulously placed in front of various saints pictured around the church. Bundles of people are seated on the floor around these candles, reciting prayers, singing, crying, offering beverages to the saints (and drinking them) such as Posh (moon shine from these parts) while children play on the sidelines. A small band plays music while people partake in these devotions. Different coloured candles are for different rituals/prayers and the number of candles also depends on the ritual they are performing.

In a small community festival in one of the suburbs of San Cristobal, I was introduced the local brew – Posh. Derived from sugarcane it is drunk with a mixture of fruit or just pineapple which bread can be added to. It’s strong but with the fruit it tastes just like a fruit drink. At the house I was staying at, they had two demijohns filled with the stuff. We didn’t know it at the time and inserted one of the demijohns into the tap and filled our glasses with it – one mouthful later I spat out the gulp that I had taken, surprised to taste pure alcohol rather than water.

Food and other less important things...

For the last 3 weeks I’ve been living off approx. $30 a week (350 pesos). I had set myself a strict budget without even realising it until the other day when I calculated how much 350 was in aussie dollars and surprised myself with how little I was spending. I decided to increase my budget so that I could actually splurge a little and enjoy, most importantly, all the delicious food around. So now I’m on approx. $60 a week (have to pay for accommodation now which I didn’t have to before). I’m cooking a lot at home rather than eating out which is why I’m able to live so cheaply. I buy as much as possible at the market and then go to the grocery store for any extras.

Palenque doesn’t have the widest variety of food to choose from when you’re cooking at home – the market caters for strictly Mexican diets and the grocery stores are small and full of foods with lots of sugar and processed to the max. No wholemeal breads here, no cous cous (my favourite grain!) and no basil to add for taste. But there’s definitely an abundance of chillies, tortillas and tropical fruits which I have never heard of or seen before. Agua stalls are at every corner of town which provide an abundance of fresh fruit drinks from Jamaican flower to coconut to tamarin and corn. With Palenque’s heat they are definitely a necessity! Paleterias (ice block shops) are also everywhere (which I have developed an addiction for) and so is corn, served with mayonnaise, salt and of course, chilli.

They say that your appetite diminishes when you live in a hot place. I believe this is a misconception – at least for me! It seems that all I think about at the moment is food, which is why I’m writing about it! I have now moved in with 3 girls from Mexico city who are also big eaters and enjoy food just as much as I do (damn, less for me!) They arrived here last Monday and we all moved into a house together that same day. They are here till the end of the year to do their internship with the same organisation I’m volunteering for. This has meant that I have finally relinquished my living room living and sleeping on the floor situation (and inferno…) for a house with a lot more space and breeze entering through its large windows, cooling the house down. There are two bedrooms that we share between four.

I have realised that peoples attitude to sharing space is different here than it is in oz. People are much more communal livers here and share space quite openly with no qualms about sharing all space, all the time. The girls I live with have become like a family. Everything is done together – eating, going out, working… It has taken me a few days to get use to this as I am programmed to live more independently, doing my own thing in and out of the house. The other night I went out for a coffee with a couple of people from my dance class and just before heading home I checked my phone and saw that I had four missed calls and a message from the girls asking where I was and that they were worried about me. I was really touched by their caringness after only knowing me for 3 days. This generally summarises how people are in Mexico. People look out for you even when they don’t know you well. They help you if they can and will share what they have with you if you are in need. Hospitality is taken seriously here. If you are a guest, you will be put first in front of everyone else and everything will be done to make sure that you have nothing lacking, even if it means another person needs to sacrifice e.g. their food or bed for you. Guests are accommodated quite happily even if there is very little space left; there will be a way to reshuffle everyone so that all fit. This happened to us (3 girls and me) when we went to visit a community outside of Palenque on Friday. After meeting the local women’s group and organising some workshops with them, we were invited to have lunch with some of them at their house. They made us a feast for lunch, took us down to the local river for a swim (in all of our clothes as is the tradition here) and invited us to stay for the night. The hammocks were bought out and we were all found places to sleep. We also got taught how to make sweet tamales (if you don’t know what a tamale is, refer to previous post!). We used 70 corn cobs and only ended up with 20 tamales (trust me, it’s not all that much). I was surprised with how much work went into making them, definitely will value them more now!

On a complete different note, I have started guitar lessons. I am meant to go everyday for an hour after work, five days a week. The teacher though, is a little more relaxed about which days he works and which days he doesn’t…! I’m being taught Mariachi style guitar which will allow me to stand outside of my loved ones window at midnight playing him love ballads, as they do here! The idea is that I’ll be able to take what I’ve learnt and apply it to other styles of music…Hopefully! Like I mentioned above, I’ve also started dance classes (my only form of exercise in this intense heat) I’m doing Columbian salsa and hip hop. I didn’t realise that Columbian salsa existed. It’s a mixture of the jive and swing with some funk added and of course, Latin sensuality. I love it! It’s danced very fast and you finish the class completely drenched from head to toe, feeling like for once, you’re not just a sweaty blob but one who has actually done some exercise. Hip hop on the other hand is surprisingly less to my liking (I find it harder to do some of the moves) although we did learn a dance routine to a Michael Jackson song the other day which I’m definitely going to replicate on the dance floor sometime! Speaking of Michael, since his death there has been a massive revival of his music here in Mexico. He’s played everywhere including on the tourist party bus that laps around Palenque at night. All accusations have definitely been forgotten here and he’s now reached the status of untouchable god.