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Crazy Chics
Finally got them up, don't know what was going on with last blog Travel blog is starting to annoy me as there is always a problem with uploading the photos, so photos for this to follow.
I wasn't looking forward ro the 12 hour bus journey from Oaxaca to San Cristobal de Las Casa as I never sleep on moving vehicles and it wasn't ro disappoint any of us on that score. Agter plonking myself beside Aoife on the bus, we settled down to try and sleep but this wasn't going to happen, particularily as the bus raced round hairpin bends as we winded our way further up mountains. The weather had put on quite a show as sheet lightening lit up the sky and the rain thundered down on the roof of the bus. Aoife and I were fasinated with the lightening show, which turned the landscape into a stark, over exposed black and white scene.
Further up the mountains we encountered the densed fog but the driver seemed to have no problems with any of these weather conditions at all as he drove us closer to our destination.
The seats were nice (but not a patch on the amazing Argentinian space age buses with flat back seats we were
Crazy Chics 2
They were all dyed crazy colours in Mexico city market, we were wondering how they did it!! on last year) but none of us could get comfy as the night progressed the bus got colder. Reaching up to try and turn off the air-con above us, the bus swearved around a bend which sent me flying across the aisle ontop of the two unfortunate middle aged men on the seats opposite ne! They both got such a shock, as did I, and as all my Spanish suddendly eluded me and I was left to keep repeating 'I'm sorry, I fell' over and over as I lay patheticaly in the middle of the aisle. Once my embarrassement subsided, I returned to my seat to find Aoife pissing herself with the laughing at what had just happened and I have to say it was pretty funny.... after the event.
So, with no sleep, we arrived to San Cridtobal de Las Casas. It's really cute, but quite similiar to Oaxaca but on a smaller scale. The buildings are lower, the streets are narrower, but its quite lovely. It really reminds me of Baracoa in Cuba in many ways. While we were waiting to get into our new room ( fab dogs and cats as pets here, always a good
sign) I rambled off to find the post office and post some pressies home. I'm not sure if anyone had ever asked them to post something to Ireland before, as before long I had most of the staff of the office surrounding my parcel, arguing over the best course of action for it. All this was done in Spanish, so I was pretty pleased with myself, but when it came to the part that I had to list all the contents of the parcel on the form, I gad to explain that this would be impossible as I didn't know the name of anything in Spanish. So, the now sealed box had to be opened and the postman went through all my things and wrote them out in Spanish for me ( it was lucky I had nothing embarrassing in there...)It was very funny when an argument broke out over whether or not I could post jars of mole home but finally the nicest of the postmen persuaged the rest to let me and even bubble wrapped them for me.
Explaining that there are no post codes in Ireland apart from in Dublin was very hard for the postmen
Me beside her
Look how tall she is!! to grasp and I had to reassure him that I wasn't lying. After the stamp printer broke, I began to wonder if this package was ever going to make it home, but after some final gaurantees that it would, I wandered back to the hostel.
The afternoon was spent being caught in the craziest thunder and lightening storm ever, torrential rain, which was very funny trying to get home in.
Masked wrestling didn't happen in the end the other night in Oaxaca, we were very disappointed as we couldn't find the place in the end, but hopefully we'll get to see some some where else, before we leave Mexico.
The final lot of photos to go with this blog are from today's visit to the indegenious villages around San Cristobal de Las Casas. We went with a guide, Cesaer, who has been working with them for more than 10 years. It was extremely interesting listening to how their church is now a mix of Catholicism and their traditional beliefs, but that they are now autonomous from the Catholic Church. The symbol of the cross was a symbol used by the Mayan people before the Spanish arrived. The
Sun bathing bettles
They're all over the place in Oaxaca interior of their church is covered with pine needles and all the effagies of the Saints wear mirrors so that when they are brought outside for processions the sun (knowledge) will reflect off them and into the people. Rituals such as bringing a chicken in to kill it also occur and we saw one happen while we are there. There are many other rituals including different types of coloured candles, but too much to write about and not enough time now. The market in one of the towns had brilliant textiles and we later went to a second village where we saw them being made on hand looms, in a families house. The Mayan don't belive in having their photo's taken, but in this house they all allowed us to. It was incredible how some people in the first town we vistited ignored this and I couldn't believe it when I saw a man continue to take the picture of a group of Mayan girls, even after they told him to stop and put their hands over their faces to protect themselves The clothes they wore were beautiful too. All the women wore the same things. In the first village
they wore, hand woven, black wool skirts, with thick embroidered belts or sashes to hold them up and brightly coloured satin blouses, the men wore tunics out of the same black fabric as the women. In the second town, the style of dress was the same but made from cotton; black skirts, this time with a blue or purple patterned panels horizontally across the centre with blue embroidered shirts and embroidered shawls. Really lovely. It's amazing how these people are still having to fight for their rights still to this day.
Tomorrow, we go to Palenque ro see the ruins and then back to sunshine on the Carribean coast in Merida! Talk to you then!
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