Blogs from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, North America - page 27

Finalement, nous avons par deux fois decidé de prolonger notre sejour a San Cristobal de las Casas, une ville vraiment extraordinaire! Les 14 heures de bus depuis Mexico City et les dangereux trajets sur le bords des ravins en valent la chandelle (une chance quíl y avait quelques rampes de secours si les freins lachaient (comme a Tadoussac), nous avons croise un camion renverse dans lún déux). Depuis quelques jours, nous ne faisons absolument rien (marches dans la ville, au marché, lecture, du social et des siestes dans les multiples hamacs). Hier soir, nous avons eu droit a une fiesta mexicaine. Pour seulement 5$, il y avait un veritable buffet et de la biere a volonte. Chacun avait droit a DEUX morceaux de viande, chacun plus grands que mes deux mains. Certains le mangeait avec leurs ... read more

Ofschoon ik nog niet zolang geleden een update erop gegooid heb, volgt er nu alweer een. Ik probeerde zojuist om een paar foto´s online te zetten, maar het besturingssysteem van deze PC is zo oud dat hij geen driver kan installeren voor mijn camera. Jammer, want ofschoon de tijd van de groepsreis niet de gaafste was, heb ik daar wel de mooiste foto´s geschoten. Misschien later dus. De reden waarom ik nu nog even een berichtje erop gooi is niet triviaal. Zondag was ik in Mexico-Stad. Zoals jullie waarschijnlijk niet weten is er heel wat gaande in Mexico. Een van de staten ten zuiden van Distrito Federal (staat van Mexico-Stad) heet Oaxaca, een andere Chiapas. Chiapas heb je wellicht al eens van gehoord. In 1994 hebben de Zapatistas (soort van rebellen) deze staat overgenomen omdat ze ... read more

In San Cristobal (a very cute colonial and clean city in the mountains) we found the"Magic Hostel" (recommended by the Lonely Planet) close to the city center. When we arrived we already felt the cold and we were really tired of all the activities of all the previous days and decided to go to bed early. It was quite strange to sleep under two, three thick blankets and wearing our warmest clothes- instead of the thin sheets that were even too much in Palenque, but we slept long...we obviously had a bit of sleep to catch up on. The next day we relaxed in the hammocks at the hostel, reading up on activities, and walked in the city for a bit, but mostly relaxed and had a good time with the other people in the hostel. ... read more

Well it´s been a while, friends, and I have turned 25. It´s not so bad, after all. I haven´t written a blog for some time because I´ve been messing around putting my pictures up. Where did I leave off last time? My brief playing in Puebla. That was a lot of fun. Check out Tess´s blogs on the subject too: Travelblog.org/bloggers/tess Since then, we went to Palenque, saw the ruins there for my birthday. It is crazy thinking about those times when Mayas ruled. They had an advanced civilization that in some ways puts europeans to shame, however, the europeans managed to dominate the world with imperialism, somehow. How did that work out? Were the europeans more warlike, were they just more cruel and heartless, willing to do anything in the name of their god? I ... read more

¨Leo te,¨ I hesitantly said to the old men sitting beneath the green cross in the plaza in front of the church. The cross looked christian, but hid deeper meanings. The men wore straw hats with different colored ribbons. This indicated that they were elders who oversaw different areas of the community. ¨Leo te,¨ they responded. We weren´t speaking spanish. They seemed surprised that I knew Tzotzil, one of many local mayan dialects, and smiled. In fact, I didn´t know Tzotzil at all, but had just learned a few phrases like hello and how are you earlier from Cesar, our mestizo guide to this mayan town of San Juan Chamula. This week I visited several outlying villages of traditional mayan indians, descendents of the ancient maya...and received quite an education. In Chiapas alone there are perhaps ... read more