ya le extraño a mèxico

So we´ve been on the road for three months. The year has ended, and our time in Mexico is ending as well.

We ended up staying in San Cristóbal for New Years, because we tend to live on the edge and don´t buy bus tickets in advance... we wandered the streets, saw lots of fireworks and a church procession with a baby Jesus and whatnot.
While in the area, we visited the nearby villages of Chemula and Zinacantán, two opposing pueblos and two opposite groups of people who are only 6km apart, fighting eachother for hundreds of years. The Chemulans have a reputation for being more violent, agressive, however you want to put it. They are a community of carpenters and woodcarvers, the women wear big thick wool skirts, and the children are dirty and begging and harassing. They refuse any and all pictures and will knock the camera out of your hand with a stick if you make an attempt (I was pre-warned and didn´t have to experience this first hand). They have a kind of bizzare church that was actually excommunicated by the Pope when he came to see what was up - still a very beautiful scene where every pew is gone and the ground is covered in pine needles, the people line up hundreds and hundreds of candles on the floor and kneel and chant in Tzotzil. They drink soda while they prey because they believe that burping releases evil spirits.
In Zinacantán the most apparent characteristic of the people is their traditional clothing - gorgeous irridescent fabrics of purples and turquoise, and everything covered in flowers. From the shawls and skirts of the women to the ponchos and pants of the men, everything is flowers. It is an amazing sight to see a family covered in purple flowers - as Zinacantán is a community of flower farmers! The vibe in the small town is nothing but tranquilo and the people are welcoming and actually appreciate, or don´t mind at least, to have their photo taken.
When we were about to leave town, two women asked if we wanted to come to their house and see how they make the fabrics, and when we got there they offered us food and poshe (an illegal homemade drink flavored with fruits or cinnamon or flowers or anything tasty). The older woman got on her knees and strapped the loom around her waist like a big leather belt, tugging and yanking with mucha fuerza. They completely dressed us up in the traditional clothing so we could take pictures of eachother and offered to teach us how to make tortillas. It really underscored the contrast between the two communities.


We are in Palenque now, and made it to the ruins today. We got there only a couple hours after the gates opened, but already there were tons and tons of people. So we found a trail behind a tomb that led off into the jungle and took it. After an hour and a half of hiking towards a cascade we never found, we ran into the hugest snake I´ve ever seen in my life, inside or outside of a zoo, which we had been warned were deadly venemous. This thing was the size of my leg and at least 6 feet long, but I did´t get too close of a look because I ran like a bat out of hell. They say you have 30 minutes to get antivenom or your dead.
Then there were a bunch of enormous howler monkeys in the trees above us, yelling and barking and grunting like monsters - it made the experience more unnerving, looking out for snakes while checking out the monkeys, their growls shaking my bones.