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.