Blogs from Mexico, North America - page 736

There was something that kept haunting me as we took the tour of the mayan towns--especially when our guide Cesar would talk about the community spirit and friendliness of the Chamulans. Over the past several decades there has been a stream of Mayans coming from Chamula and other small towns to the areas outside San Cristobal. With the influx of various evangelical christian missionaries (Pentecostals, Jehovah´s Witnesses, Baptists, Presybyterians, and Mormons, etc.) to the area, a number of Maya have converted. Chiapas now has the highest percentage of evangelicals in Mexico. But when people convert they are harassed by the ¨traditionals¨ and they become outcastes (expulsados), ultimately expelled from their own community. I asked Cesar what happened to their houses and property and he said they were taken by the community. Picture perfect! More than that, ... read more

23.09.06 Doch leider dachte ich falsch, die Leute fuhren den ganzen Weg durch die ganze, nicht kleine Stadt, praktisch ans andere Ende von meinem Ziel, um ihre Sachen zu erledigen. Wir kamen um 05.00 Uhr an und ich war sehr sauer auf Ernesto, dass er mich nicht geweckt und nach Hause gebracht hatte. Er wies jedoch die Schuld auf mich zu, da ich nach der dritten Pause gleich wieder schlafen ging und nicht zu ihm ins Auto kam. Wir mussten auf einen anderen Mitarbeiter warten, da konnte er nichts dafuer. Dies dauerte jedoch wieder eine Stunde und es kam raus, dass er den Camion an eine andere Stelle bringen musste. Dieser Typ sagte, dass es nur etwa eine Viertelstunde dauern wuerde und er mich dann nach Hause bringen wuerde. Als der Camion endlich am richtigen Ort ... read more

Terwijl Kluivert nog steeds op de Eindhovense bank zit en Maxima in verwachting is van haar derde zit ik inmiddels alweer in Zihuatenejo. In 1994 is ooit eens een geniale film opgenomen met Tim Robbins maar vooral Morgan Freeman in de hoofdrol. Ik heb het natuurlijk over "The Shawshank redemption". De eindscene van deze film is opgenomen in Zihuatenejo. De film zelf gaat over van alles maar naar mijn mening vooral over de invloed die de ene persoon (Andy, gespeeld door Tim Robbins) heeft op het leven van een ander (Red, gespeeld door Morgan Freeman). Zeer kort samengevat gaat het als volgt: Red zit in de gevangenis voor een moord (levenslang) en op een gegeven moment komt Andy in diezelfde gevangenis terecht. Ook levenslang voor moord, maar in feiten is hij onschuldig. Red heeft de hoop ... read more

If you ever wanted to go to Europe but didn´t want to flit across the Atlantic, then just come to San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas. That´s an exaggeration of course, but it does have the feeling of a smaller colonial-mexican-european city with interesting characters and all the mayans and mestizo locals and german, french, and italian visitors to boot. San Cristobal is in part named after the bishop of this area during the early colonial period named Bartolome de Las Casas. Some of you will be familiar with this rare defender of indian rights against the abuses of the elite ¨landowners¨ and enslavers. It is very different than Palenque just hours away. SC is in Los Altos, or the highlands, so it nice and sunny during the day and cool at night. In the ... read more

After a day in Palenque we got on the bus for a 12 hour bus ride to Playa Del Carmen, this being my 3rd time in Playa we didnt feel the need to explore very far from the beach so we soaked up the sun, done some shopping,met up with gaz and julia, and got very very drunk! which is why i only have pictures of us passed out in various places, i forgot to take the camera anywhere else! after 2 days in playa we got on the bus 40mins to cancun to meet Bridie!! after going all the way to the airport only to miss her by 5 mins, we found her at the hostel and went and partied at coco bongos, our cancun experience was pretty much like Playa Del Carmen after being ... read more