Churches and chickens?!

Hola familia y amigos!

This photo summarizes, for me, the challenge of capturing the beauty of the people here, on film. I get glimpses...

Knowing that I am about to leave this fascinating city, I have been doing my best to
continue learning all that I can here, and doing my best to capture some images along the way.

Today was extraordinary, for many reasons. We students from the language school were invited to a wedding in one of the indigenous villages that lies outside the city. Attending the wedding was interesting, and slightly awkward, as you might imagine. I am not going to go into details about that right now, and I didn´t take any photos because it didn´t feel appropriate. Generally, the indigenous people here do not want their photos taken, so the few that I do have, I am grateful for.

What was even more fascinating, today, than the wedding, I encountered in another indigenous community called Chemula. Again, I wasn´t able to take photos of the truly remarkable scenes, but I will try to describe one of them. Chemula is a community of approximately 70,000 indigenous people who have kept many of the Mayan practices, despite Spanish conquest and modernization. At one point, Catholics came and built the church shown below. Since then, however, the Chemulans have expelled the Catholics and taken back the church to perform their own rituals.

When I walked into the church, the first thing that struck me was the contrast between dark and light. The interior was dark, except for the presence of thousands of candles--on tables, on the floor, on the altars--and intense rays of late-morning light streaming in the high, arched windows and illuminating smoke from the incense that hung in the air. Then, the smell. The Chemulans cover the floor of the church with pine needles, so imagine the scent of pine needles and some kind of tree sap mingling in the air.

There are no pews, no confessional, no bibles in this church. The people sit on the pine needles and make offerings using candles right in front of where they are sitting. There are small pods, families, etc. scattered throughout the grand cathedral. They call upon ancient Mayan spiritual practice and healing techniques. When I was there, accordion and guitar music wafted through the air with the incense. I could go on and on about this, but I have to get home for dinner in just a few minutes. Honestly, it was moving to be in that space; a grand Cathedral built by Catholics, yet taken back by a people who know their own spirituality. I am in awe.

I was able to do a sketch inside, and have aspirations of making it into a painting. Stay tuned. For now, all you get is the doors on the outside of the church.

Inside is truly another world.

Paraphrased, this sign tells people that killing chickens inside the church is not allowed. This is necessary because, in the neighboring community, the people do sacrifice chickens inside the church building, as part of the Mayan spiritual tradition. In Zinacatan, however, the church is Catholic.

This is from the central plaza in Zinacantan, the community where the wedding was.

Back in San Cristobal, beautiful people in front of a beautiful church. This is still my favorite architectural site in San Cristobal.

The marketplace is a sight to behold. I just love all the different colors. In this case, they´re all beans.

I love the contrast that can be found in the market. DVDs and whole chickens, side by side.

Oh, the market!

I couldn´t resist this one. Cluck!, cluck, _____.


This shows the courtyard at the school. I really enjoyed my experience studying Spanish here.


Yes, I have been studying! This is one of my two teachers. I am so grateful for what I´ve learned, and am looking forward to putting it all to good use.

Teresa is the woman of the house, my hostess while I´ve been here in San Cristobal. She works extremely hard, and has taken good care of me. Thank you!

By the way, I´m late for dinner. Thank you for checking in. Will write again as soon as I can. Lots of love coming at you all.....