Chamula & Zinacantan
(DAY030 : San Juan, Chamula & San Lorenzo, Zinacantan )
On my last day in San Cristobal I took a guided tour to two nearby indigenous (Mayaesan) Tzotzil villages: San Juan of Chamula, and San Lorenzo of Zinacantan municipalities. The tour was easy to sign-up for: just show up under the big cross in front of the cathedral at around 9:15 am, and Raul will know why you're there. Everyday, anyday.
Chamula is unique for its autonomus status, and has significantly more distinct religious / cultural qualities. The village itself does not reveal much other than powerty, but a visit to the church gives one a very good idea of what "ancient" means in the context of civilizations, and how strange the results of its encounter with "modern" cultures can be.
Chamulas are "Traditional Catholic", and have a big church. I wish I could share the sights of women kneeled on the pine-needle covered church floor, burning candles, praying in Tzotzil, then wiping one another with a live chicken (which sucks up all the evil), and finally breaking the chicken's neck to dispose of all that vacuumed evil. With the smell of incense, hundreds of candle flames flickering like a field of fire, and the completely unfamiliar sound of Tzotzil, the dim, furnitureless church has a more spiritual feeling than any you may have seen. The only thing out of place in this time capsule is the row of statues in boxes, depicting white skinned Christian figures. Had a priest been allowed in here, he too would be equally out of place. As out of place as the American tourist in our group who kept saying "but this is not catholicism". Dude, we know. So? Sue them.
So, they kicked him out of their town. No, not the tourist. The priest who tried to impose something closer to actual catholicism!
Although not enough to satisfy our catholic tourist, Zinacantan has more successfully been christianized, so (to me at least) their church looked just like any church. Apparently one of the saints rank higher than Christ here, so our guy was having fits. That's when I deserted my "English speaking" group and joined Raul's to hear some Spanish. After some Posh (a potent yet smooth Mayan drink) I could easily understand it all!
Heading to Chamula in Raul's van
With the friendliest person in Chiapas
The market in San Juan Chamula
The market in San Juan Chamula
Tzotzil girl in Zinacantan weaving
She probably is not the next Monet
Her mom getting the tortillas ready
Rich man's home in Zinacantan. You can tell who works in the US.
On my last day in San Cristobal I took a guided tour to two nearby indigenous (Mayaesan) Tzotzil villages: San Juan of Chamula, and San Lorenzo of Zinacantan municipalities. The tour was easy to sign-up for: just show up under the big cross in front of the cathedral at around 9:15 am, and Raul will know why you're there. Everyday, anyday.
Chamula is unique for its autonomus status, and has significantly more distinct religious / cultural qualities. The village itself does not reveal much other than powerty, but a visit to the church gives one a very good idea of what "ancient" means in the context of civilizations, and how strange the results of its encounter with "modern" cultures can be.
Chamulas are "Traditional Catholic", and have a big church. I wish I could share the sights of women kneeled on the pine-needle covered church floor, burning candles, praying in Tzotzil, then wiping one another with a live chicken (which sucks up all the evil), and finally breaking the chicken's neck to dispose of all that vacuumed evil. With the smell of incense, hundreds of candle flames flickering like a field of fire, and the completely unfamiliar sound of Tzotzil, the dim, furnitureless church has a more spiritual feeling than any you may have seen. The only thing out of place in this time capsule is the row of statues in boxes, depicting white skinned Christian figures. Had a priest been allowed in here, he too would be equally out of place. As out of place as the American tourist in our group who kept saying "but this is not catholicism". Dude, we know. So? Sue them.
So, they kicked him out of their town. No, not the tourist. The priest who tried to impose something closer to actual catholicism!
Although not enough to satisfy our catholic tourist, Zinacantan has more successfully been christianized, so (to me at least) their church looked just like any church. Apparently one of the saints rank higher than Christ here, so our guy was having fits. That's when I deserted my "English speaking" group and joined Raul's to hear some Spanish. After some Posh (a potent yet smooth Mayan drink) I could easily understand it all!
Heading to Chamula in Raul's van
With the friendliest person in Chiapas
The market in San Juan Chamula
The market in San Juan Chamula
Tzotzil girl in Zinacantan weaving
She probably is not the next Monet
Her mom getting the tortillas ready
Rich man's home in Zinacantan. You can tell who works in the US.
posted by Serdar at
12:58 AM
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