Pictures from Oventik

So here are some pictures from our time in Oventik. As you can see there were lots of murals throughout the city. They were on almost all the walls of the buildings. Also you can see how foggy it was in the community. It is the season for fog right now and it was hard to see anything that was 10 feet away when it was foggy. There is also a picture of my friend Jennie wearing my friend Christian's glasses. I included this picture because it was taken in the restaurant that served us the bad food and started the Oventepidemic. Also, the picture of the guys playing basketball is right outside of the restaurant. I figured I would include it so I will always remember that wonderful place. And lastly there is a picture of the Junta de Buen Gobierno in Oventik. They were really awesome people and I really loved what they had to say, but you can see why it was a littleunsettling to be in a room with them at first. We're just not accustomed to masks in Ohio. But after the initial shock, it was clear that their intentions were good and that they were very friendly.

Oventepidemic

After the emotional experience with the abejas, we stopped at a small town for food before we continued on our way to Oventik. The food was really tasty (and we were also really hungry because it had been a long time since breakfast). I ate huevos con chorizo (eggs con a spicy meat) and quesadillas along with some really good lemonade. I even got the opportunity to practice my new tortillas rolling trick with the basket full of tortillas. When we got back in the van, I felt like I would need to change into my sweatpants because I had eaten so much food. The next hour in the van through the twisty mountain roads was not good on my stomach but I figured it would get better once we got to the community.

It was starting to get a little dark when we arrived at Oventik (the Zapatista carracol). The mountains were covered in a light fog when we entered the gate on foot. Even though we had learned that the Zapatistas were peaceful and intellectually we knew that their purpose was to change the oppressive system through words, it was a little intimidating to walk into their town as a group of foreigners. We all shuffled into a small house, where Julio asked permission to stay in the community overnight then talk to the Junta de Buen Gobierno (Group of Good Government… their governing force) in the morning. The three men were wearing ski-masks, the typical outfit of the Zapatistas. Their masks are not meant to make them look like robbers but to represent that they want no power… they are representing an idea without a specific face.

This is a quote by one of the leaders named Marcos “The mountains told us to cover our faces, so we could have a countenance. It told us to forget our names, so we could be renamed. It told us to guard our past, so we could have a tomorrow.” The Zapatistas say they will take off their masks when the Mexican government takes off its mask to show its true nature… of oppression and corruption. Even though I admire what they are doing, it was still slightly overwhelming to be in a room with three men in masks. They were very professional and permitted us to stay in their meeting room (which was a big barn) overnight… It’s a good thing we brought our sleeping bags… even though I didn’t end up using it too much…

About 15 minutes after our introductions, they started to show us around the community and I didn’t feel too well. I figured that I was still feeling queasy from the ride… but while we were walking through the city, I felt the urge to empty my stomach (usually I’m pretty good at controlling myself but my stomach won). After meeting with the Zapatistas, I threw up on the steps of their clinic… and thus started the Oventepicdemic. After throwing up, I felt better and ate some animal crackers and drank some tea while the group was writing questions for the Junta de Buen Gobierno. I thought everything was going to be fine, until I felt the urge again, and threw up in the middle of their meeting room. At this point in time, I realized that something was wrong with me but I still had no idea what was about to come…

For the next few hours, one by one, other students started to get sick as well… Around 1:00 in the morning, we convinced our director to let us sit up in the van which was close to the bathrooms up the hill. By the 2:00 in the morning, half of our group had gotten sick, while quite a few others were feeling queasy. It was a VERY long night of many group trips to the bathroom and nearby river that ran through the town. We all agreed that it was better that there was a large group of sick people, because although all the sickness sucked, we spent quite a bit of time laughing at how ridiculous the situation was… There we were, 20 Americans, in a Zapatista community throwing up all over their community… I guess Jonathan (our director) is not going to take students to that restaurant again.

The next morning, Jonathan took a few students back to San Cris to go to the doctor, but many of the students (including me) felt well enough to stay for the chat with the Junta de Buen Gobierno. Sarita (our other director) went to the store and got all the sick people a special drink… water, salt, and lime… to give us some nourishment after a night of emptying our bodies. Although I was pretty exhausted and still a little queasy from the previous night, I was very glad to have stayed for the discussion. There was a group of 7 masked Zapatistas (3 women and 4 men) who were filling their position on the Junta de Buen Gobierno.

Each member only serves for a small period of time, then goes back to their community and takes off the mask. The anonymity helps to reinforce the idea that they do not want to accumulate individual power. Every member of the group spoke and helped to answer our questions about their group and why they were fighting. At the end of the discussion, they asked us to carry their words back to our communities because they want the world to be better. They are proposing “that there are many worlds, everyone has their place, their time and their way, and that therefore there must be mutual respect between everyone.” The Zapatistas have been the inspiration for many groups that are resisting the oppressive systems that have been destroying indigenous and marginalized communities. It was incredible to see how little interest they have in power and to hear their ideas about the future for a better world.

The majority of our group, continued on a tour through the carracol, but a few of the sick (including me) decided to sleep in the van after the long night and intense discussion with the Zapatistas. The next few hours passed quickly, as I was sound asleep for the majority. We arrived back in San Cris and I called dad for some medical advice. With my Gatorade and pepto, I headed back to sleep some more at my homestay house. My host mother also had a few ideas about how to make me feel better. The strangest and possibly most helpful was a special tea (Chamomile mixed with a tea called Hierba Buena good herb and burnt tortillas). It seemed like it would be horrible, but the combination really tasted good and helped to settle my stomach.

After a day of rest and recuperation, I went out to a big celebration in the center of town. There are tons of foreigners in San Cris (especially Europeans). The festival was really fun with poetry readings, plays, and live music. The next day, we went to a discussion with a lady named Maria Elena. It was another wonderful discussion about the organizations in Chiapas and the economics practiced here and in the United States (she received her doctorate in the United States). We ended the discussion with a group circle where we reflected about what we learned and then danced and sang a bit. As a periodically awkward person, I didn’t know how to feel about the dancing and singing at first, but I eventually was able to enjoy the experience with the group.

It was an exciting, emotional, and exhausting week in Chiapas, and we prepared ourselves to go to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca (the hometown of my host mother in Oaxaca)… stay tuned for more adventures in Mexico and sorry it’s taken so long to get this posted ☺

San Cristóbal, Chiapas!!!

So, as a group of 20 (18 students and 2 directors) we left for two weeks of traveling and learning. Our first stop was San Cristóbal, Chiapas (in English Saint Christopher). My friend Jennie and I sat together in the front seat of the bus (which was kinda scary because we could see the road right in front of us for the whole night). At one point in time, the bus had to slow down because of trouble on the road. To warn oncoming traffic, the people had pulled large branches into the road so the drivers would slow down. Even though it seemed like the Mexican version of traffic cones, it still seemed a little dangerous to me. But other than the branches there weren’t any other obstacles that I know of (because I was sleeping for the majority of the 12 hour trip).

We finally arrived in San Cristóbal around 9:00 in the morning. When we got out of the bus, I noticed to major differences from Oaxaca… it was much chiller in San Cris and also there was a clear military presence at the bus station. Every since the uprising of the Zapatistas (EZLN) in 1994, there has been a sort of militarization of the city. We passed through the station quickly and after a quick orientation, Annie and I moved into our week long homestay. Our host mom Blanca has eight children and only one that still lives in the house. Her husband Julio Cesar and Blanca were both very welcoming and kind. Throughout the week, we got to meet 7 of the 8 children and many of the grandchildren. They also had a live in maid named Susana (and it was pretty strange for me to get used to because she was only 14 and the family treated her more like a maid than a daughter. It was especially strange because the family treated Annie and I like family but not the girl who had been living with them for years). We spent the rest of the day resting and exploring San Cris (which is a really touristy city.

The next day we had a meeting at a university called CeDeCi, where we were introduced to our Chiapas guide named Julio. Julio was a wonderful guy to meet, it felt like everything he said was genuine and very profound. He gave us a quick introduction to the situation in Chiapas and a little information about the uprising in 1994. From his information, we learned that a group of people decided that they had had enough of the oppression and inequality in their area so they formed an organization called the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). On January 1^st 1994 (the initial day of NAFTA), this group overtook many cities in Chiapas including San Cristobal. After a few days, the communities expressed that they didn’t want an armed conflict, so the Zapatistas laid down their weapons and have been conducting a peaceful resistance ever since. Although they have been peaceful, the Mexican army has been putting pressure on them and giving incentives to paramilitary groups to attack their caracoles (or Zapatista communities). Part of the purpose of our trip to Chiapas, was to study how this group is resisting peacefully and creating a new more just world for their community (and possibly an example for the rest of us).

After our talk with Julio, we went to a really cool Mayan medicine museum. A young guy gave us a tour of the museum, which had statues of Mayans practicing the ancient medical treatments. One of the most interesting parts of the museum was a room with parteras (midwives). The way that women give birth is much different than in hospitals in the United States… I have a picture of the statues because it’s too difficult to describe in words. After walking through the museum, we watched a film of a Mayan midwife in action. It wasn’t as revealing as the movie we watched in junior high, but it was a little uncomfortable to watch when they buried the placenta… After the movie, we learned about how many pharmaceutical companies are patenting plants. This means that it is illegal for people to grow plants that they have been growing for hundreds of years. It was interesting to see which pharmaceutical companies are participating in this biopiracy because I’m pretty sure I use some of their sample pens when I am at home. (Below is a picture of some of the companies listed on a 100 peso bill)

The next day, we were supposed to take taxis back to CeDeCi but Annie ran into a taxi driver who didn’t really know what he was doing. After arriving at the University (we took a picture to prove that we had really gotten lost at another University... not just made an excuse to sleep in later), Annie and I realized that there was something wrong about the situation. The University didn’t look anything like the one we had gone to the day before. We showed the taxi driver the map again and he assured us that we were at CeDeCi. However, when we called our director Jonathan, we realized that we were on the other side of the city so he sent a taxi to us to come pick us up and bring us to CeDeCi.

Once we arrived at the school, we were able to go on the tour of the school with the rest of the group. It is a school that teaches people trades that help to create a community that is autonomous and self-sustainable. There were people spinning thread, people making shoes, people studying medicine, people studying architecture, and people studying agriculture. We were able to visit a little barn with lots of baby bunnies (they were soooooo cute and we tried not to think that one day they would be food). I took lots of pictures of the murals around the school because they were really beautiful and powerful…

After a lunch at CeDeCi, in the cafeteria with the rest of the students, we went to another chat with a guy named Gustavo. He explained the economy and the stock market in a way that was clearer than ever before (even though it was in Spanish). It was almost funny the way he described how everything was complete speculation (especially in the commodities market) and how everything can crash or skyrocket according to mere speculation. It was the best economics discussion I have ever seen.

That night, we played with the kittens in our house and chilled out at the house and watched some telenovelas (soap operas) with Susana. We were able to talk to her about why she was working at the house, and it seemed like her father didn’t want her in the house anymore. For that reason, she and her sister left their pueblo for San Cristobal. They both are working at different houses in San Cris and can spend time together on Sundays when they have a little break. I didn’t know how to feel about having a maid. I suppose it is part of culture, but I don’t think I could hire a fourteen year-old girl and not treat her like family…

The next day, we all packed for an overnight stay in Oventik (which is a caracol for the Zapatistas). Our first stop of the day was an hour away through the mountains, a little village called Acteal. In 1997, a group of paramilitaries (with weapons from the Mexican army) interrupted a church service and killed 45 people from the town (including children and four pregnant women). The town was made up of a group called the abejas (bees), who are a non-violent Catholic group who (along with the Zapatistas) has been resisting the imposition of capitalism. To this day there has been no investigation of the killers but the community continues to fight against the oppressive forces that threaten to limit their freedoms. We saw the cemetery where the pictures of the 45 lined the walls along with Bible verses from the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes). We also went into the church (a little wooden building with a dirt floor) where they were killed. It was incredible to see people who had remained in the community and to listen to the leader of the abejas who is continuing to fight for what he believes without losing his faith in God and in the goodness of people. We left las abejas, feeling both inspired by the people and sad for everything that the people have gone through.

Some fun with friends!

Pictures of the Mexican Wedding!!

This was the wedding that I went to with my host mom. As you can see it's like a huge party in the square with the huge puppets and dancers.

Host Family pics!!!