Worshipping Coke in San Cristobal

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We took an overnight bus from Oaxaca to a little place where the tequila and cerveza flow like wine, where beautiful churches rise high above the hills on both sides, and where firworks shoot by morning and parties rage all night. I´m talking about a little place called... San Cristobal de las Casas.

We stumbled off our bus at 7:00 a.m. to a refreshingly, freezing breeze, brightly colored buildings, and a gorgeous colonial city with cobblestone streets. We tossed our backpacks and set out to explore the city half asleep. We passed packs of perritos perdidos (lost dogs - none of these pups are pampered) and followed joyful tunes to the hills up the stairs to one of the churches.

The place was packed! People were enjoying breakfast, a band was rocking (with xlophone included, of course) and civil cops in sheep-skin vests were prepping for a parade to the church (by the way, Sam, this could be a good look for Dan and the Vail force). The men set of fireworks with cigarettes and placed flowers in the church to honor the city's patron saint and kick off the Celebration of San Cristobal Martir that would last for eight days. Our amigo, Ben, said this would be one of our favorite citiess and after our early-morning introduction, we knew he would be correcto.

The next day, we trekked 3.5k from San Cristobal to Huitepec Ecological Reserve to climb a dormant volcano. I tried my TaeBo skills against mosquitos (and practiced in case any criminals tried to steal my pouch of passports that is now permanently attached to me) while Trev surveyed the sights in search of wildlife as we passed from the oak forest to the more tropical cloud forest. The hike was pretty cinchy, so we continued another 10k to the indigineous village of San Juan Chamula.

Chamula is one of the many Mayan villages in Chiapas and is the center of the Tzotzils. Trev made amigos with the sacred sheep along the way (they´re treated like our pups and other pets) and we saw entire families working in the lush, green fields together. The men wear modern clothes, but the woman still sport traditional fashions of full sheep-skin skirts tied by colorful, sometimes sparkly, belts and a traditional button-up blouse. We noticed shoes are optional, but jellies are a huge hit among the ladies.

When we finally arrived in town, we were surrounded by another amazing market selling almost everything, including ice-cold Coca-Cola. We were surprised to read and see that the Tzotzils include Coke in their pagan religious traditions and saw everything short of the traditional chicken sacrifices in the church. We expected the typical cathedral characteristics, and were shocked to see that the floor was covered in pine needles, the room was surrounded by replicas of various saints, and Mayan families knelt before rows of burning candles and Coke bottles to chant and pray. It was the most interesting worship we've ever seen, and we vowed to find out how Coke weasled its way into this ancient religion.

We continued to celebrate San Cristobal with tastes of tequila and discovered a fantastic, yet semi-crunchy breakfast spot with tasty typical food (and oatmeal with plantains for me). We also found their sister cafe and stopped in to see a documentary about the Zapatistas, the armed revolutionary group that countered the Mexican government and army in 1994 and continues to fight for the rights of the indigenous people that make up 75% of Chiapas' population.

Our last glimpse of this great city as we walked to the bus station was 30 plus cars, trucks, and vans with horns and car alarms blaring, decorated and with balloons and streamers, snaking through the cobblestone streets . They were caravaning to the hilltop where we began our exploration. Part of the celebration includes pouring holy water into their vehicles as blessing to keep them safe of the roads. And the celebrations would continue for another 5 days. What a great place!

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Photos

Parade and Fireworks
at 7:45am...why not?

Comments

[Lisa]

Thank you Billy Blanks!
Thank goodness we practiced our Tae Bo all of those hours in the dorms. Those mosquitos will be goners! The sheepies are so precious! Can you take one home for me?