Blogs from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, North America - page 14

In total Lynn did four weeks of Spanish classes at 'La Casa en el Arbol' but I just can't pick it up as fast as her so I'm doing five. Its time consuming and there isn't really time to fit much else in, so there's not really all that much to tell here. The days, particuarly my days, are more or less full with the lessons and then the homework. By the evenings all I feel like doing is staring at the TV, which is really just another type of Spanish lesson in itself because now I understand a little Spanish my eyes are drawn to the TV subtitles that I can't help trying to deciper whether I want to or not. Who could have guessed that using your brain cells could be so tiring? I ... read more

Sorry there are no photos. I forgot the cord I need to download. I'll add them when I get home. While the rest of the world, especially Jackson, worries about a drop in tourism, Chiapas, Mexico is experiencing a tremendous surge in the number of visitors it welcomes. It's true. I read it in the paper today (in Spanish). Their paper also prints a lodging barameter. Or they did yesterday. Occupancy is at 92 percent, up 17 percent over last year. And you can feel the swell in the streets here. Estan llenos. There are tourists from everywhere, but especially from other parts of Mexico. I chose to come here because I thought I might run into fewer extranjeros. And that's been the case. I went to the bar with mi maestra last night. There were ... read more

Nach Bacalar sind wir fuer eine Nach nach Mahahual weiter gereist, was aber nicht so viel zu bieten hat. Mit dem Nachtbus sind wir dann via Chetumal nach Palenque weiter gereist. In Palenque haben wir dann in der Naehe von El Panchan und den Ruinen eine nette Cabaña im Dschungel gefunden und sind fuer 3 Tage geblieben. Die Ruinen von Palenque sind wunderschoen und man koennte Stunden damit verbringen immer wieder neues zu entdecken, wenn es doch nur nicht so heiss waehre. Im Gegensatz zum Strand fehlt hier der Wind und die Luftfeuchtigkeit treibt einem den Schweiss aus den Poren. In Palenque halten sich die Touristen vorallem in El Panchan (einem magic mushroom und Marihuana Paradies fuer haengen gebliebene Hippies) auf. Dies wussten wir die ersten 1 1/2 Tage nicht und haben aus diesem Grund die ... read more

Thursday, March 12th. Because there is so much to say and we have so many pretty pictures to share, we decided to divide the San Cristobal section into three parts. We have posted from Palenque to San Cristobal de las Casas. In this section, we’ll cover the city itself and our third part will deal with the surrounding villages. San Cristobal de las Casas was founded in 1528. It is named for the patron saint who we, in the U.S., call Saint Christopher. San Cristobal is also known here as the patron saint of travelers. The city is also named for Bartolome de las Casas (1484 - 1566) a crusader for indigenous rights for the peoples of Mexico and the Caribbean after he witnessed the atrocities committed by the Spanish Conquistadores. I provided this detail because, ... read more

These guys started a revolution a while back. At the start there was some heavy action, including the taking over of San Cristobal, but that was violently squashed by Mexican army. Now they live in communities around the place and are more of a political struggle. They seem to be a mix of Spanish and Indigenous and are fighting for land and rights, I think. I know that sounds bad but I’m not 100% sure. When we went to see them in one of their villages they sat us down, after taking our details and 5 times (why were we there??), and explained their whole cause in Spanish. While wearing balaclavas. It was interesting but I have to admit I didn’t catch everything. One thing was clear though, they wanted good PR, the world to know ... read more