Week 10: Welcome to San Cristóbal de las Casas, aka Zapatista Territory

            After 12 days at Kiuic, six days at Puerto Morelos, four days in La Selva Lacandon, and eight days at five other hotels throughout four states (Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Chiapas) since we left Mérida, we are finally in one place for the duration of the program. We drove eight hours through the mountains from the rainforests of Lacandón to the pine-oak forests surrounding our final destination, San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Driving through the country side was like a roller coaster ride, but not remotely as bad (I tend to avoid roller coasters). Our time in this small city can give us another perspective on life in Mexico.

            I’ll provide some background information on Chiapas leading into San Cristóbal, which I learned about when doing a project for my Spanish class last semester about the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). This southern state is one of the most beautiful places in Mexico with mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and forests. Additionally, there are vast resources such as hydropower, coffee and timber. However, there is a paradox. Chiapas is one of the poorest states in the country, and the indigenous people especially have difficult lives as they lack access to adequate housing, medical care and food. The marginalization persisted for 500 years since the Spanish arrival to the New World, and the situation reached its boiling point upon the rise of the Zapatistas in the late 1980s and early 1990s, who demanded justice for the indigenous and poor people of Mexico. Another controversy that arose was the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would have led to cheaper agricultural imports outcompeting locally produced crops. Under Subcomandante Marcos, disenfranchised indigenous people and poor farmers under the EZLN took up arms on New Year’s Day in 1994 and seized several cities including San Cristóbal before being stopped by the better-equipped and better-trained Mexican Federal Army. Even though no major battles existed between the two after a truce arose, the EZLN and the Mexican government struggle to reach a compromise for accommodating those who are still left in the dust. The Zapatistas have left quite an impression, which was easy to see in the bus ride as we passed buildings and signs with pro-EZLN propaganda as well as graffiti in the city itself. However, there are mixed reactions about the Zapatistas and Subcomandante Marcos. Are they Robin Hood-type revolutionaries or terrorists with a lost ideology and nothing accomplished? You decide.

            The first couple days in the city have been fine. My host parents, Juana and Jorge, have been incredibly hospitable and accommodating to me and my housemate, Aakash. While their house is not quite as elegant as some of the places in Mérida, it is very humble and there have been no problems. The city is fairly safe despite the past conflicts, though you still want to be careful at night and with pick-pocketing. However, Aakash and I had no brush with lawlessness.

I spent some time reflecting on Mérida and comparing it with San Cristóbal de las Casas. This city is smaller than Mérida – if you go far enough, you will end up in the outskirts in no time. Mérida was more cosmopolitan with its Walmart, Burger King, and French-, German- and Italian-style buildings. When I spoke with the Dawleys, they also mentioned that there were more vegetable-based dishes than in Mérida, where meat was way more common. Life here seems to flow at a more easy-going pace than our first city during the trip, and people seem to speak slower here than in Mérida. This makes me more comfortable when communicating, but don’t call me fluent. This sort of reminds me of home in a way. In New Jersey (where I live) and nearby New York, many people brake for nobody when speaking. If you hear the traffic and weather reporters on the radio, you wonder how they talk at rapid-fire speeds without tying their tongues into knots. If you go further north, west or south, people tend to speak more slowly. You can say that about any place you go, but I couldn't help but notice this trend. I guess it’s just a reflection on the pace of life

http://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj35/jonroth/Mexico/Chiapas/San%20Cristobal%20de%20las%20Casas/