Xalapa

We hopped on our bus out of Catemaco at about 3:30 am…you might notice a change in the time…so did we when we had to wait an hour at the bus station in the middle of the night because the bus was late!! Thankfully, there were about 5 other people waiting for the bus too, and they had cartoons on!! Sierra went back to sleep on the floor until the bus got there, and then she slept on the bus. One thing I can say for this girl…she can sleep anytime, anywhere!!

We got into Xalapa (pronounced Huh-la-puh), which is also sometimes spelled Jalapa in the morning. The bus station in Xalapa is definitely the nicest one we’d seen…it was big and orderly and clean, and looked like a high class mall! We took some time there looking around, and then took a taxi to the youth hostel we would be staying at. Xalapa is a big city, a college town, and it’s really cute. We had a long list of stuff we wanted to do. We settled into our hostel and decided to take a nap before doing anything! All those late night buses really wear on you…actually, I’d say all those bus rides period were wearing! It’s exhausting to be on the bus for hours at a time, but it’s still a great way to get around. I think we were just getting a little travel weary, and Sierra needed the sleep to help her get better. She ended up sleeping a good part of the day.

One of the things on our list was to go white water rafting, but due to Sierra’s stomach problems we decided to scrap that plan. Instead, we took things easy and looked around the town a bit and found this great little area where they sold some neat stuff. It was a small alley jam packed with artisans, mostly selling hand-made jewelry and beads. There were some great cafes and restaurants where you could get a fantastic comida corrida for about $2.50 which included chips and salsa, a drink, soup, main meal and dessert! I found a neat set of dominoes, so bought those so Si and I could play.

That night we weren’t sure what we were going to do. We came back to the hostel and there was a group of people hanging about. One guy said hello and I asked him what the group was there for. He told me it was a meeting for Campus Crusade for Christ for the local college. I was really excited! I told him that we were Christians too, and doing missions work for 6 months. He invited us to the meeting, so we went.

There were over 100 college kids there, and they needed music so I pulled out my computer and collection of music for them to listen to…they were able to hook it up to a big speaker so it would be loud. We played an ice breaker game where we all got balloons and had to blow them up, then throw them in the middle and pop one and pick it up. Each balloon had a small piece of paper inside with an animal written on it. I got “Leon”….lion….and we had to go around making that animals’ sound until we found the rest of the like animals. I felt a little silly, but it was fun anyway. After this we went in and had a service, and it was great to see all these college students there to hear about God.

After, I spoke with the young man I had met earlier, Jose Luis, who is assisting the Campus Crusade missionary. He graduates this Spring and plans to go into full-time missions with Campus Crusade in Central America. I also spoke with the missionary who is working there. She is a young woman named Heather and is from Georgia. Her friend was there visiting her, another young woman from Georgia named Shu-Che. Shu-Che is a missionary to China, and we talked for a long time about what she does there. I also spoke with many of the students, who were all very excited to practice their English with us. It was such a fun and uplifting night, and I was so excited to be a part of it and felt really blessed.

The next day we went to check out the Anthropological Museum. It is supposed to be one of the best museums in Mexico, and is home to the giant Olmec heads…these are heads that are over 6 feet high, carved out of stone…they weigh tons and tons. We went to the museum and were really impressed. It was amazing to look at things that these Pre-Hispanic cultures had done some 3 or 4,000 years ago! Some of the stuff was so elaborate and detailed and it was mind-boggling to think they did this work with no modern tools. It was fantastic fun to watch Sierra….she was really intrigued by the things we saw, especially the giant heads. We both had headphones and you would walk up to things and they would have a number assigned to them. You punched the number into the cassette and it would explain to what the item was. Her assignment was to draw some of the things she thought were interesting, and to write a paper about one thing the really caught her interest. She spent a lot of time really studying the artifacts and learning about the Pre-Hispanic cultures. We were there about 3 hours and she didn’t start to lose interest until about the last ½ hour. Here are some of the pictures we really liked:

This is another one of the big Olmec heads. The one above is considered the best preserved of them all, but this is also one of the really well preserved ones. They are truly amazing to behold in person!






Here you can get some perspective of the size of these heads. This one is one of the smaller heads!! They weigh some 8-10,000 pounds. How did these people move them and mount them????







Sierra is listening to her headphones about one of the displays, and taking notes. She was really into it, which I thought was awesome!







These are some small heads they found that were made out of clay and fired. I think it's really interesting how they look Asian in their facial features, and have Celtic knots in their headresses. There were lots of little things like this, and also small toys.






These are the twin Jaguars. The Olmecs worshipped the Jaguar, among many other things. These statues are worshipping the sun.






This is an alter, with twins holding it up. Many of the Pre-Hispanic cultures were pretty bloody and practiced human and animal sacrifice.







After the museum we went to check out some lakes that we’d heard about. We walked around the lakes and watched the people, and were amazed at the beautiful flowers. We found an old playground and had fun playing around. There was this impossibly high and steep slide which Sierra wanted to try out…she went up, up, up to the top and came barreling down. At the bottom, she slid on her feet for about 3 feet in the dirt, and then fell hard on her bum…she wasn’t sure if she should laugh or rub her bum, so she did both. She met another kid and they threw bread to the ducks for awhile. Later we found this guy renting these bike things…imagine a golf cart that has bike pedals and you get the idea. We thought this looked fun and so we rented one – it was hard work! We quickly found out the trails weren’t flat and we had to work hard to get up the hills. The downhills were a lot more fun! We were laughing and having a great time. Sierra was steering, which was really terrifying at times! We kept passing this one lady…it seemed like she was everywhere we were. She was wearing a polka dot slip under her black flowered dress, and the slip was hanging way out, which we thought was pretty funny. We finally made it back to return the bike when it started to sprinkle, and then to rain, so we headed out and caught a taxi to go home.

The next day it was time to move on, but we both agreed that we’d like to return to Xalapa and spend more time there.

Monkey Island

I was so tired when we finally found our hotel that I was tempted to crash for awhile, but decided we’d go out on a tour of the lake first.

The town of Catemaco is situated right on Lake Catemaco, which is a beautiful lake in Veracruz. There are several islands around the lake, and you can get a lancha to take you out to explore them. We were particularly excited to go to the Isla de Monos, or Monkey Island. We also wanted to check out Nanciyaga, a nature preserve and the place where they filmed Medicine Man with Sean Connery.


We headed down to the lakeside, stopping at a bakery along the way to pick up some fresh-baked bread. We got to the lake at about 8:30 am and signed up to get on a boat when it was full. There weren’t a lot of people around and we were the first ones signed up…only 10 to go! We decided to look around a bit, but there wasn’t a whole lot other than cheap and gaudy tourist souvenirs. We went back after an hour or so and no one had signed up yet, so I made the decision to just hire the boat for ourselves for $350 pesos.

We ran back to the bakery to get some more food for ourselves, our guide and the monkeys we would find on Monkey Island, and we were off! It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was just breaking through the clouds. The water was jet black and there were lilies growing on it in
places. We passed by one island and our guide told us it looked
like an alligator…Sierra thought it looked like a fat man laying on
his back.

We stopped by a shrine to the Virgin Mary set into a small cave,
and then continued on. Our next stop was at a spot along the
shore where they sell mud masks. They give you a free mud
mask, and then try to sell you the volcanic ash used to make the
mud mask. Sierra and I got the mask, but not the mud. We left there with the mud still on our faces, and went to another part of the lake where they have mineralized water to rinse your face with. It was all a little silly, but the mask was nice.

After the mud mask rinsing ritual we went to the Nanciyaga Preserve, where they filmed Medicine Man…I really liked that movie, so was excited to see where they filmed it. It’s a beautiful spot on the lake, and they’ve taken pains to make it a preserve. They have tried to make it a “mystical” place and have many reproductions of various Pre-Hispanic gods and goddesses throughout the property. A guide takes you through the property along very nicely laid out pathways, with all sorts of little “mini ruins” all over the place. On Saturday nights you can even take part in a “sweat lodge” experience with *real mayan Indians*!! And for only $35 per person! Like I said, it was fairly contrived. As we continued down the path, we came across a place where they would “cleanse the evil spirits” from us…again, for a price….by having us go into a little hut and having some guy waft some sort of smoking herb around us. We declined this treatment as well.

Now, one thing that was kind of cool…they these natural mineral springs there and they let you pull the mineral water up from the well and drink it out of these cups they’ve made from giant leaves. We liked the leaves! You can also get a full body mud mask, and then they put you in front of an old stone oven to dry it, or you can sit by the lake and let it dry…then you rinse off with the mineral water. They have a huge wall dedicated to all the Hollywood stars who have had this treatment, including Sean Connery and Mel Gibson.

Speaking of Mel Gibson…apparently he was there!! We inquired about the rooms at the preserve and were told they were all taken currently. We later found out that it was because Mel was there filming some new movie. We *almost* had a brush with fame….sigh. Oh well.

We finished up our tour of Nanciyaga by checking out the alligators and turtles at the little lagoon on the property and then watching our guide play a few rounds of dominoes.

Next we were off for our much anticipated destination of Monkey Island. I guess several years ago these monkeys were brought here from Southeast China for research, and have lived on the island since. You can go to the island to see them, and even bring food to give them…probably not the best thing, but we were excited anyway!

We got to the island and were a little disappointed to find out we didn’t get to get off the boat onto the island…but our disappointment didn’t last long as we quickly found a monkey sitting on a branch over the water. We got pretty close and began to give it some bread. Soon, other monkeys were making a clatter and we ended up with several that we got to feed. One was this humongous female with a bright red face. Sometimes fish would jump out of the water to get the bread, so if the monkey wasn’t a good catch or dropped their bread, the fish would get it. It was pretty cool. We really liked the monkeys.

After this we returned to where we started and headed back to the hotel. I was really tired by now, so I napped for awhile. After I got up, we went exploring the town a bit. Catemaco is not a tourist town, and is probably best known for its witches’ convention. Apparently, every year thousands of witches come to meet here to learn new practices of witchcraft and witch doctor cures….creepy!! There is a big church there, and I even saw some Christian churches as well, but also lots of occult stuff like palm reading, tarot cards and whatnot. We decided not to hang out for long and that we’d leave that night for Xalapa.

We spent a pleasant enough afternoon at the plaza, which was pretty, and then I noticed a medical clinic at the square. Sierra was still struggling with her stomach and diarrhea, so we decided to go to the clinic...a whole 15 pesos! About $1.50 US. The doctor agreed that Sierra had a stomach infection and prescribed 5 NEW medicines! We were glad to get a doctors opinion and afterward went to the hotel to get to bed early for our 2:30 am bus out of Catemaco.

My Baby Barfed, part 2

We made it into San Cristobal about 9 am, and Sierra was starting to fall apart. I wasn't sure if we should find a place to crash for the day and leave the next day for Palenque or push forward and crash later in the day. It's about 5 hours between San Cristobal and Palenque, so it would have been early afternoon before we crashed if we pushed on.

I did know that I wanted to contact my family and let them know we were out of the jungle. I didn't have a calling card on me, so I put our luggage in the storage area at the bus station and Sierra and I went in search of an internet cafe. It was a Sunday morning and most everything was still closed, so we wandered a bit before finding one as it was opening. Upon reading my email, I found out that my family had not realized I'd be out of touch as long as I had been and were worried. I shot off a quick email and we left in search of buying a calling card so we could call home.

We found a farmacy with calling cards, and I also told them about Sierra's on-going stomach and diarrhea problems...the pharmacist felt that due to the length of time she'd had it that it was a stomach infection and gave us some medicine for this. This is one pretty cool thing in Mexico...the pharmacists are familiar with most illnesses and can prescribe medicines for you - plus, many medicines that are prescription only in the States are available over the counter in Mexico. Anyway, we got our medicine and our calling card and went to call home.

My folks line was busy, so I called my sister. As soon as she heard it was me, she started crying and I started crying and she told me that she and her husband Bill were putting together a "missing" website. I felt terrible. I called my parents again and they were so excited to hear from us.

After this, Sierra and I went into the bus station to figure out what to do. She was sitting next to me and I was looking at the guide book and trying to figure out if we should skip Palenque, Agua Azul and Misol-Ha, or push forward. I even considerd just hopping on a 20 hour bus to Mexico City. As I was sitting there, Sierra suddenly threw up...all over her backpack and some guys bags. She didn't even TRY for the garbage can 10 feet away. She started to throw up again and I pulled her over to the garbage can...she missed it. What is it with this kid and throwing up where I have to clean it up and the world can see her handiwork????

I found someone so that I could confess about our mess and started to look for something to clean it up with. All I could find was newspaper, so I started to use that and I was trying to clean that poor guys bag...it was pretty much just gross.

My decision was made...now it was just a matter of finding a comfortable hotel to relax in for a day or two. I found a place and we took a cab there and settled in. Hot water!! A BATHTUB!! TV! Two beds with really, really good smelling sheets! Room service! Laundry service! We were in comfort heaven...you don't even know how much you mis these things until you have them in front of you again.

We spent the next couple of days doing...nothing. Sierra relaxed and slept and I read a lot and left her in the room occasionally to look around town a bit. I took baths. I was disappointed about missing Palenque and the other places, but figured we'd see them another time if it was meant to be.

Sierra seemed to be doing a lot better, so we got tickets to head north, specifically to Catemaco, Veracruz. The bus left at night...about 10 pm. We got to the station and Sierra started acting sick again...she flopped down on the floor and said she was tired and hot and the tile floor helped cool her down. I was so mad at that kid! All sorts of people were staring at her, and a woman and the security guard kept coming over to give me advice about stomach pills, motion sickness pills, water, rehydration fluids, etc. The security guard was so kind and helpful. He got some medicine for her and I ran and got a gatorade. She had just about fallen asleep when I gave it to her, and she took it and laid back down. I was trying to be understanding and motherly, although I was still wondering how real this was.

Suddenly (catch a theme, here??), she sits up and throws up all over some guys shoes...ok, she missed the shoes, but she came real close. I picked her up and we started running...she threw up again by the garbage, and again on the floor and then again...this time smack dab on top of some guys guitar case...we kept running, not afraid of being seen as rude, right into the bathroom, where she let 'er fly again in the sink. Having become accustomed to cleaning up my little princesses tummy contents, I got to the job...again. I started to realize that of the 4-5 times IN HER LIFE that she's thrown up, 3 times it had happened in Mexico. I came to the conclusion that she just didn't know the warning signs of getting sick, and thus it was always "sudden" to her...I'm hoping she's figured out the warning signs by now!

We came out and the guy with the guitar had already cleaned up the mess left for him. He was SO nice about it, and I was really thankful. The bus was set to board in 5 minutes and I was stuck with the dilemma of losing our money and trying to find a hotel at 10 pm, or getting on the bus and hoping for the best. Sierra had perked right up after emptying her stomach, and she felt she could go on the bus...so on the bus we went. And guess who we were sitting behind? Oh yeah, Mr. Guitar Case! I did not want a repeat-performance, so I came equipped with several plastic bags. Sierra fell right asleep on me, but I spent the night holding the bag in front of her face and jumping to attention every time she shifted. Needless to say, it was a long night for me.

We had to change buses about 4 am, and got to Catemaco around 7:30. We went to the hotel I had picked out. I had picked it out because supposedly the bathroom was in the middle of the room and I thought that would be interesting. When we got there, the bathrooms were not in the middle of the rooms, which were very unimpressive...and the price was double what it said in the guidebook. We decided to look around.

I was definitely under-impressed with the hotel options in Catemaco. We finally found a place that was reasonable and close to the lake, if not very charming. We were on the 5th floor...accessible by steep, hot stairs. Oh well! I was tired, and it was here we were staying!!

Time to Go

I was beginning to feel that it was time to go. Zapata is not designed to be a town for hanging out, and although I was spending my days helping as much as I could with cleaning, laundry, taking the kernels off the corn to make hand-made tortillas and cooking, I still felt that it was time to move on. I was getting anxious to make my way north to start work at the orphanage.

Leaving is not an entirely easy thing. I could have taken the camioneta out…another 9-12 hour ride in the back of an old truck with 30 other people and assorted luggage, animals and whatnot. However, the camioneta left at 3 am from another town, which meant we’d have to walk to that town at 2:30 am and I was just not up for that! The other options were to fly out when the plane happened by, but that was an expensive option, not to mention totally up in the air as you never know when the plane is coming by. We could also take the lancha, which is what I figured I would do. There was a lancha leaving immediately, but I didn’t feel that gave me the time to say goodbye, so I said we’d wait for the next one.

The next one didn’t leave for several days. There was a group of Italians who came to the lake to spend a few days and were going to leave by lancha, so I figured I’d leave with them. I was assured there were plenty of combi’s going to Comitan, so I wasn’t worried.

We were supposed to leave at Noon, and the lancha driver was there right on time. We were all packed up and ready to go and had spent a few days saying good-bye. I was ready to go. When it’s time to go, I hate waiting around because it feels like it’s just limbo and I’m all about getting a move-on. No awkward silences and re-hashing the same stuff for me!

Well, Noon passed, and then one. Where were these Italians?? Finally one showed up and said that all of their stuff was still up at the lake (a 2 hour hike!) because they didn’t want to carry it out and they wanted someone to go get it for them. They wanted me to run around and get someone to go. They said the girl with them was throwing up on the hike out and someone else had been stung. They said this all very expectantly, as though we should jump up and be outraged that this had happened to them.

A few more showed up. They took all their muddy clothes and just dumped them on Maria’s front porch…no apology, no asking if it was okay…and demanded some cold beers, sodas and waters. I thought they were incredibly rude, demanding and thoughtless.

The girl finally showed up and she seemed fine. I treated the insect bite with some anti-itch cream. Another guy twisted his ankle going to the river to rinse off. They all demanded plastic bags for their muddy clothes. I was not impressed with these young Italians!!

We FINALLY loaded up into the lancha and many of our friends walked with us to the river to say good-bye. Others made themselves scarce and refused to say good-bye to us! We were a little sad about this, but tried to understand. We took some last minute pictures and were on our way. We were all teasing each other about who would cry, and in the end we were all a little teary and thought this was funny. I find that the people of Mexico often meet sad times with laughter or pretending it doesn’t exist…I suppose lots of people are like that.

On the lancha, the Italians were passing around food, but didn’t offer us any. When we finally got to Amatitlan we had missed the last combi going to Comitan. I asked the Italians if we could ride with them as they had come in a tour group and had a private (12 passenger) van waiting for them – they said no!! I was so mad….there were 9 of them plus their luggage and they said they didn’t have room! They were going to leave a single woman and her child stranded. This just capped it off and I was totally offended. Jerks!

Well, I figured we could stay at the same place we had before and take a combi the next day. We started that way, but this old man insisted we come say hello to his wife and visit with his family first. He was not going to take no for an answer, so we went with him. His family was so nice, and I felt sorry for them because he was a crazy old drunk. They were very protective over me and Sierra and kept shooing him away, but he’d bring this little baby pig up to show us how he fed it from a bottle and kept trying to get Sierra to sit in a chair, but she wanted to be right at my feet. We finally left there and went up to the house we’d stayed at before.

Bad news…the room was already taken! What were we going to do? They said to wait there and watch tv for awhile, so we did. Karate Kid was on tv in English, so Sierra was watching that.

I heard some singing and asked what it was; the girl told me it was a church service. I decided to go check it out. I walked down the road about 25 yards and saw a little blue building and some people singing in it. I just went right in and started to sing with the people…well, I actually just listened because they were singing songs that were unfamiliar to me, not to mention they were in Spanish!

Mostly I just sat in the service and soaked in the love of people loving the Lord, and prayed. There were only 6 people there, but they were fervent. Afterward they each came up to me and welcomed me. I explained that Sierra and I were there with nowhere to stay and it turned out that one of the women there was visiting her family, who were all church members and Christians, and she was the one staying in the extra room. She said not to worry, we’d work it out.

We all walked back to the house and visited for awhile, and they invited us to have dinner with them. Meat!!! And no eggs!! It was the best meal we’d had yet and everyone was gathered around – there were about 15 of us in all. The dad had on a “Jesus for Mexico!” t-shirt and I commented that I liked it…he didn’t know what it said as he couldn’t read! I told him and he was very happy. One of the people eating with us asked if I remembered him, and I didn’t…turns out he was the guy with the horse in the back of his truck who gave us a ride from Maravilla previously. I felt so happy and secure being with a family of Christians, and was really thankful.

After dinner I broke out my harmonica and we spent the evening teaching each other songs and playing the harmonica.

We ended up being able to stay in the room. I was willing to share, and put a mattress (another gross one) on the floor, with Sierra on the top bunk and the bottom bunk available for the woman who was visiting. Si and I went to bed early since our combi was leaving at 3 am, and I woke up to see a few of the guys moving the lady’s mattress out of the room into the kitchen…turns out she slept on the floor in the kitchen to allow us some privacy. I felt badly about this, but thought it was really sweet. We were once again very thankful for our sleepsacks!

Two-thirty came quickly, and we got up to catch our combi. The combi’s park right in front of where we stayed, and when they are ready to go, they drive through the town honking their horns! I imagine people must learn to sleep through this racket. We climbed in and Sierra went back to sleep. It was a pretty uneventful couple of hours while we made our way to Comitan, and then from Comitan to San Cristobal de las Casas.

Pictures from Zapata

These are our friends Manuel and Manuela.








This was our bathroom and shower combination. One thing I can't figure out is why there is rarely a seat on the toilet???







This is Naya and Zuri, they are Manuel and Manuela's granddaughters. They are taking a bath in the backyard and having lots of fun!








These are our friend Maria del Rosario, Hugo and Sandra. They live across the street from where we stayed and were good friends.







This is the stove we cooked on...it gives new meaning to "keeping the homefires burning", doesn't it??







This is the kitchen, with the stove in the corner.









This man carried these heavy containers...all full...by the strap around his head. I bet he has strong neck muscles!







This is the lane going down to the river where the big tree was.










This is the area where the women would gather to do their laundry. You can see one woman washing her clothes on the log.








This is a group of kids who liked to follow us around a lot. We're in the backyard of Manuel's house. The tall girl didn't talk much...she just giggled all the time.








These are the girls I'd love to bring home with me...Maria del Rosario, Deysey and Magaly. They are really great kids.







It amazed me how everyone carried heavy loads on their heads. I tried, but couldn't keep it balanced.









As we were leaving we wanted pictures with our friends.










This is the tree the kids played on in the river...it was a great playground!









As we were leaving, Alex helped us carry our backpacks down
to the lancha.

Dead Chickens

So, I thought it would be really nice to offer to make dinner for my friends one night, and figured I'd make chicken something or other. There is another town that has electricity not too far from Zapata and I could walk there for the chicken.

My friend Maria said she would come with me to help with finding the appropriate stores. You see, there is not a large grocery store that has everything, but rather lots of little stores that sell a few things, so you have to go to a variety of stores to pick up the items you need. All in all, it can take the better part of the day to get the ingredients you need to make a meal.

We headed over to San Quintin to get the chicken and other ingredients such as onion, garlic, tomatoes, flour, potatoes, etc. We started out at a small store that had some vegetables, but not everything I needed. I picked up what I could and off we went in search of more. About an hour later and walking all over town, we got to a place that had chicken.

Now, having been raised in the USA, I am accustomed to going to the grocery store and having my chicken put nicely in the package, skinless and boneless and with no blood anywhere...let alone flies! It is stacked nicely with an expiration date and plastic covering it in a very nice and sanitary way. I have seen the butcher stores in Mexico and realized that the experience would be somewhat different. Generally, the whole chicken (beak, head, eyes, feet, skin) is hung up from a hook and there is no refrigeration. Flies are buzzing around and the smell is pretty strong. Sometimes there is refrigeration and the meat from chicken, pork and beef is just thrown in, all in a big lump of like meat. It is bloody and messy and doesn't look so sanitary!! Flies buzz around the meat and there is hardly ever a sink for the butcher to wash his hands at. He handles the money, the meat and everything else (bathroom???) with those hands. Have I painted a pretty picture?? Ok...well, I figured I could live with it and it is just a part of living in a developing country.

What never crossed my mind was that I'd have to buy a LIVE chicken. Yes, a live one. Turns out they don't even sell butchered meat...you buy the animal and butcher it yourself. Yes, that is correct…you have to kill it yourself! I was freaking out! I didn’t know if I should cry or laugh, but I felt like doing both. I have always thought that as a meat-eater I should be willing to kill my food if I am going to eat it, but when faced with the prospect, it was definitely not something I was up for.

I spent the evening fretting over what had to be done the next day. I felt so foolish for being such a big baby. I woke up several times in the night, nervously worried about our new friend “Feathers” (thank you to Sierra for giving him a name and making it personal!).

The next day I woke up and lingered over breakfast (eggs, of course!) and generally procrastinated as much as possible. I finally meandered over to Maria’s house and got ready to do “the job”…I told her how worried I was about it and she thought that was just the funniest thing. She had never bought meat from the store or a butcher, killing her own meat was just how things were done. My reluctance was cause for great jest. Finally, I was saved by Maria’s daughter, Maria del Rosario. She is 13 years old and declared to me that she thinks it’s fun to kill the chickens and she would do it! Sierra responded with “Cool!!” and off they went, with Feathers in one hand and a machete in the other.

A few minutes later the deed was done. I was feeling let down with myself for being such a wimp, but did run to get my camera to memorialize the event. I found out first hand that the phrase “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” is true…after they cut the throat and let the blood drain out, Maria del Rosario held the chicken down on it’s back while it’s feet kicked and ran for about two minutes. I thought it would be kind of cool to actually let it run around, but she didn’t.

Maria brought out a huge cauldron of boiling water and picked up the chicken by its’ feet and plunked it into the hot water for a few seconds. After she pulled it out, we all took turns taking handfuls of feathers and pulling them out. Next, we took the nearly bald chicken into the kitchen and held it over the flames. They were too hot for me and I was grossing out at holding the chicken by its feet and halfway cut off head, so Maria took it and held it right down in the fire.

You would be amazed at how tough the hands of the women are, from cooking over fire all their lives with little or no utensils…they reach right into the fire to get out the wood, or to turn over the tortillas or grab the pots. My hands were not at all accustomed to the heat and I couldn’t do this at all.

The fire crisped up the remaining feather stubs so we were able to get the rest of them out. Next we took some machetes and cut up the chicken…Maria saved the feet and head and innards to cook with.

I spent most of the afternoon removing meat from the bones so I could make some chicken nuggets, and put the remaining bones into water with vegetables to make soup for the next day. No one had had chicken without the bones in and this was quite a novelty. I think it went over pretty well and people seemed to like it. I was able to serve 12 people dinner for 2 days off that one chicken!

Sierra and I agreed that we weren’t too keen on eating our friend Feathers, so we didn’t really eat much for the next few days.

Welcome (Back)!!

We finally made it back to Zapata and I was a little nervous...I mean, what if the people were just being POLITE when they said they wanted us to come back??? As we got out of the lancha and started walking toward Manuel's house, I think we were both a little worried. Soon, a man approached us to see if we needed help. I could tell he'd been drinking and told him no, we knew where to go. He tried several times to take Sierra's backpack to carry it for her, but she was having nothing doing with this and I had to tell him we were just fine several times before he finally stumbled off.

As we got into town, we didn't see too many people. We got to Manuel's house and he wasn't there, but his family across the street were home and invited us over. We sat with them for several hours visiting and eating and our worries were over. They were very excited to have us back.

Manuel and his wife Manuela eventually returned from church and welcomed us into their home. There were two young men there renting one room already, so Sierra and I got the room with one big bed. The two guys were there to study the effects of some rat that had come into the jungle and how it was affecting the other animals. They would leave fairly early every morning and come home in the afternoon to write about about their findings.

We got settled in and had fun catching up with our friends. Over the next few weeks we spent a lot of time at the river swimming, bathing and doing laundry. We learned how to use rocks to wash our clothes. The river was my favorite place. All the women gather there to gossip and wash laundry and bathe themselves. After work the men head down to cool off and bathe and there are always dozens of children there helping their moms or bathing or just swimming and laughing. Even the animals head down to get washed and watered.

A huge tree had fallen across part of the river and it became a giant jungle gym for the kids. They would climb it and jump off it and hang from it. It was a blast. We were all very sad when one day some men cut off several of the branches to dry for firewood. It was still fun, but it wasn't the same.

I came to see the spiritual term "river of life" in a new light, after spending so much time a the Perla river, which most certainly gave life to these people...and not only life as in life and death, but the abundant life of connection and fun and laughter and support. I felt a deeper connection to my faith as a result.

A few days after we were back in Zapata, they were having a big party to celebrate the founding of their town. It was to be on Tuesday night with a big dance. On Monday night at 2 am, they slaughtered 2 cows in the river and the entire town...all 400 of them!...noisily made their way down to the river to get their portion, as everyone would receive some. Being that there is no electricity in Zapata, the only meat generally consumed is chicken or fish, as those can be consumed in a day...however, it is much more difficult (and expensive) to get beef. You can imagine the party!! It went on the rest of the night while they cut up the beef and gave it away. People were whooping and hollering and everyone was in high spirits. The few trucks in town were flashing their lights and honking their horns. Music was blaring and no one got any sleep that night, but everyone had beef the next day!

The next day was one of preparation for the party. The kids helped to decorate the hall and the band practiced most of the day...with electricity outages sprinkled throughout along with the rain. Ladies were taking special care with their bathing and hair and children were scrubbed up extra clean. People were coming into the little store to buy something new for the dance and everyone was practicing their dance steps, even kids as little as 3, like our little friend Hugo. Everywhere we went people would ask us if we would dance at the party and all the little boys from age 9 to 14 were bragging that they would dance with Sierra. Even Sierra wanted a new outfit, and so we bought her a new pink shirt for the dance.

I was disappointed to see many of the men drinking and stumbling around. When we did finally get to the dance, there were all the women and children, scrubbed clean and in their new clothes, the air of anticipation about them was high. It felt like my first junior high dance (yuck)! The men were all outside (more jr high dance similarities!) and there were about 5 men who were very, very drunk stumbling round in circles in the center. One old man would occasionally try to get one of the girls or women to dance with them, which they would refuse. I was in the process of explaining to Sierra how to stay away from him when he came up to me and tried to pull me out in the middle with him. I dropped my eyes and said "no" very forcefully and pulled away. He continued to pull at me and I continued to pull away and shake my head no. Suddenly he was trying to kiss my face! Sierra was shocked and did not know how to react. My friend Deysey came up and pulled him away and began to tell him off and tell him he needed to have "respecta". I was very glad for Deysey and her aunt, who helped me. Deysey is only 16, but she had no fear to get in that guys face!

The police came a few minutes later and escorted the drunken men out, but they were back later that night. The rest of the evening only a few people danced and most just watched. Later they handed out candy and cookies to everyone, which is one of the tradtion of the party. We didn't know we were supposed to bring a bag, but other people had extras they letus have. By about 11 pm I was tired and ready to leave. Sierra wanted to stay to see if any of those bragging boys would make good on their word, but we ended up leaving. Sleep, however, was elusive....the band played until 5 am!

All in all, I was disappointed that the drinking of those men seemed to put a damper on everyone's fun. Alcoholism is a big problem in the indigenous people, and I think they must have the same suscepibility to alcohol that Native American Indians have. This, coupled with a lack of work and poverty makes thier lives difficult and many turn to alcohol for an escape...the lack of hope is the hardest to combat, and I can see the deep need they have for a saviour who gives them a hope and a future.

The women are nothing less than amazing. Despite the troubles they face, they manage to laugh and love and live...all down at the river (shall we gather at the river?). They carry almost all the workload of the home and are too often the subject of abuse when the husbands are drinking. The have a dream of a better life, and many want to come to America to work. I found them to be such an inspiration.

I met many women who told me stories of husbands who had "gone North", never to return. Many leave with a false ideal of what they can accomplish in the US, but this is rarely realized. Too often the men find other women, have another family and abandon their families back in Mexico. I had not realized this happened and it made me very sad. I spent much time trying to give a realistic picture of what life is like in the US for an illegal immigrant, and it is very hard.

I don't want to give the impression that all the men were drinking, or that they all beat their wives or abandon their families when they come to the US...this is certainly not the case. Unfortunately, however, it is far too common and it is altogether heartbreaking.

Take 2...or 3...or...

Well, I got out of Zapata and into San Cristóbal de las Casas and entered the quick note about being safe and all...the next day I sat down to write a detailed entry about our time in Zapata and all was well. Then the NEXT day, noticed that the entry had gone in twice and in trying to rectify that situation ended up deleting the long blog about our time in Zapata! Frustration! I tried to recreate it, but that one deleted, too...so, basically...having some technical difficulties here!

I think I'll backtrack a bit to Guatemala.

After exploring the town of Xela a little bit, we ended up meeting a man named Ernie who invited us to prayer service at his church on Wednesday night. We were excited to meet with other Christians in the area and agreed to go. On Wednesday we started to leave the hostel to go to the church a few blocks away when Ernie pulled up outside to give us a ride. The church is very small, only about 25-40 people. We met with Ernie, the interim pastor and his wife, and two other men. They were all very happy to have us there and I had fun acting as a translator. Some of the prayer requests they had were (please excuse lack of specifics...I don't have my list with me...
* for the city of Xela, * for a pastor...they do not currently have one, * the nephew of one of the men was involved with drugs and gangs and has disappeared. They do not know where he is, but do know he was trying to leave this lifestyle and think he is possibly in hiding. His family is understandably frantic, * one of Ernie's friends who is a pastor is having marital problems.

The people here are hoping I will come to Guatemala to work with some of the many orphanages there. Ernie had heard of an orphanage that was for children with HIV/AIDS and we tried to find it, but weren't able to. The children here are the pariahs of society and are treated like leapors because the people are afraid of the disease and don't understand it. I think prayer for these children is also in order.

One day we thought we'd just get on a bus and see where it took us. We ended up in a small puebla and explored a bit...there was a really pretty view of a volcano from the church.

We decided to leave Guatemala and head back to Zapata. I was a bit wiser about the chicken bus prices!! We got to the border without any inicident, but there was a big traffic jam at the border, so we had to get off the bus and walk quite aways to get there. We finally made it and hailed a taxi to the border. I only had a few dollars with me and figured I'd head to the bank I saw at the border when we got there.

The bank was closed when we got there..."back in half an hour" said the sign. Now, I understand that time is relative and all that..but that was the longest 1/2 hour of my life! We were hungry and bought an ice cream and a bag of chips. The bank finally opened and I confidently went inside, wielding my ATM card, only to be told they only serviced clients of their own bank! Who ever HEARD of such a thing??? Panic set in as I realized I had only 53 pesos and no way to obtain any more money. I thought of begging the combi driver to take me to Comitan and waiting for me to run into a bank to get money to pay for the ride...I imagined the big tip I'd have to pay! I was heading across the street to do just this when the taxi driver who had brought us earlier drove up with another group. He started up a conversation and let me know that the combi ride would be 50 pesos!!!!! We were saved! Thank you Lord! We had enough and happily climbed into the combi.

Upon arrival in Comitan, we headed straight for the bank. It was dark by this time, so I was extra alert. As we approached the bank, a woman came up and asked if I would get money to give her for her sick mother who couldn't afford medicine. I said maybe...let me see. We went into the little booth and I instructed Sierra that this girl very well might have accomplices who want to rob us, so as soon as we stepped outside she was to make haste for the street and not stop! One of the lessons Sierra is learning in Mexico is how to have street smarts! As we headed for the door, I was relieved to see a family with children passing by. I pushed Sierra out and walked right to where the family was and stayed close to them. I hate to be so cynical, but you can never be sure and I wasn't about to be the unwitting victim of a robbery if I could help it! Once again..thank you Lord! If that girl was telling the truth, then I sincerely hope her mother gets the medicine she needs.

We headed into town and and went to the budget hotel...sold out. We went to the next one...sold out. I was not a happy camper! We ended up in a nice hotel that was a bit out of our budget, but it was pretty! The next morning we headed out to see the Centro a bit before we headed to Amatitlan to catch the lancha to Zapata. Comitan is said (according to my guidebook) to have the cleanest streets in Mexico. They were clean, and the Centro was really charming. I would like to return to see more of Comitan.

We took a taxi to the combi station...it was the nicest one I'd seen! Our combi took us to the town of Maravilla, the end of the line. You might notice that Amatitlan and Maravilla are not the same! Very astute. They are 40 minutes apart. There were no more combis or camionetas heading that direction. Also no hotels in town. I had been told the lancha would leave early Sunday morning, and it was late Saturday afternoon. About that time a guy with a horse in the back of his truck (as in...the pickup part....not a trailer!) offered us a ride there as that's where he was heading. We thought we might have to ride with the horse, but we got to sit up front.

We finally made it to Amatitlan! We headed over to the lancha site and were disappointed to find out that there were no more lanchas going out that day, unless of course we wanted to pay $80 USD for a private lancha. Well, we did not want to pay for a private lancha, so we started to ask around about a hotel. No hotels. Rooms for rent?? Possibly, ask at the house on the corner. We headed up there and they indeed had a room we could stay in for the night for $40 pesos. The room was an old storehouse with a bunkbed in it. The beds had fitted sheets and nothing else...we would not have flat sheets or blankets or pillows. And the sheets....oh my! They were filthy....dirty with who knows what. We did identify some blood (niiiiiiiiice) and basic grime and dust. It was so disgusting, and we were SOOOOO thankful for our own sleepsheets that my mom had bought us (thank you mom!). At any rate, we were safe and that was something. We went to bed without dinner and tried not to think too much about what we were sleeping on.

We awoke early the next morning and went to use the restroom. There is no running water, so after you go potty in the toilet, you get a bucket full of water and use that to flush it down. We decided against brushing our teeth for the time being and figured we'd just relish in our total nastiness until we could get to some clean, fresh water. We headed down to the river for a lancha and were told AGAIN there would be no public lancha heading to Zapata. Well, another night on those beds I could not fathom and figured I'd keep hanging around asking til the afternoon and then I'd bite the bullet and pay for a private lancha if I needed to. After awhile, we did meet a guy who was making a delivery upriver and could drop us off in Zapata for $200 pesos. Done! We finally had our lanch ride to Zapata. I was sitting up front and there was a little hole in the boat where someone had dropped their machete, so it was packed with mud to keep the water out...it wasn't very successful however and it was amusing to watch the water squirt up every so often.

Alive and Well in San Cristóbal

We just got out of the jungle after having been there for two weeks...we have been without telephone or internet (and essentially without electricity as well...) for two weeks, and just today got back to civilization! Needless to say, a hot shower was much enjoyed.

We're sorry that we worried everyone by not being in contact. I thought my family knew we'd be out of touch for these two weeks, and feel terribly that everyone was so worried. We are so appreciative of the outpouring of love, concern and support on our behalf...no one could ever claim we weren't loved!!! Please rest assured that we are doing fine.

Sierra has a stomach virus, or something, so we've holed up for a day or two to let her rest and veg out watching tv...then we'll start heading north toward Mexico City and Guadalajara - we'll take about 10 or so days to do it, and not rush TOO much.

I'll write more about our jungle adventures soon...just wanted everyone to know we're doing fine. I'm sure you'll all love the story about the night I decided to make chicken for dinner. Maybe the fact that there is no electricity (and thus no refrigeratation...) will give you some insight on the task that was before me.

One thing though...I've had enough eggs in the past two weeks to last a lifetime!

Guatemala

After we left Zapata, with a promise to return in a week or 10 days, we weren't sure what to do. Originally we had planned to go the Lagos de Montebello, a series of 14 lakes in the jungle, but the Dr said Sierra can't swim for a week to 10 days. We finally decided to go to Guatemala.

We originally thought we'd go to Antigua as I've heard it's beautiful, and we were told it was only 4 hours over the border.

We crossed the border about 2 pm and it was really easy. I almost think we missed some checkpoint or something because it was so easy. As I hadn't done ANY homework about Guatemala, I had no idea what the exchange rate for Quetzals (Q) to dollars OR pesos was. I changed my last $400 pesos over at a rate of 7 quetzals to 10 pesos. We asked about a bus to get us to Antigua and were told we'd have to get to Huehuetenango first, and then a bus to Quetzaltenango, and then on to Antigua. We were told it was $100 Q for the bus ride on a chicken bus. I was doubtful it was this much as that is about $12.50 US and I remembered reading it was only about $0.60. We went ahead and paid and hopped on the bus and I asked around about the price, but no one seemed to know for sure. This was a true chicken bus. The seats are about 1 foot apart and it's an old school bus all painted funky with Jesus stickers everywhere...right next to the profile of the naked woman sitting sideways you sometimes see on the big rig mud flaps. A land of contradictions! Everywhere we looked, there were christian churches, bookstores and signs proclaiming Jesus.

Sierra and I sat in our seats and we each had one to ourselves. Within 10 minutes however, the bus was filling up fast. They must have eventually squeezed 125 people or more on that bus! There were 3 adults to each seat, plus kids...with the two seats Sierra and I were in, there were 8 people across...this is on a bus that is intended to have 2 children in each seat. I couldn't sit straight because my legs simply were too long to fit. A man got on with a little girl and was holding her up and had nowhere to sit. I'd heard that in this situation you take their kid for them, so I offered to hold her. She was about 3 and just came right to me, no problem...quiet as a mouse. She ended up falling asleep on me and it was really sweet. Sierra was squished up against the side of the bus, but she seemed to be doing okay.

Three hours later we arrived in Huehuetenango. We hopped on another bus and they charged us another $100 Q...I was really feeling that I was being taken advantage of and asked the lady sitting next to me. She told me it should be $24Q for the ride, not $100Q!!!! I was being overcharged by about $10 USD. BIG STUPID GRINGO must have been painted on my forehead.

On this bus, Sierra had to sit on my lap for 3 hours....I had a numb leg! I was also crowded and the sound of chicks were in the background. The guy walked by and I told him I needed my change..he nodded and kept walking. Another lady and a guy from Spain found out about what the guy had charged me and were incensed and went to the front of the bus to confront him and get me my money back. He played dumb. We finally arrived in Quetzaltenango at about 9 pm and I cornered the guy, with the help of Victor, the guy from Spain, and got my money back (VERY reluctantly!!!)...he first gave me back 20Q, then with prodding he gave me 40Q...then with more, he gave me 42Q. The bus was pulling away and he wasn't going to give me the full 76Q...Victor stepped in and argued with him and he finally gave it all to me. I bet he was bummed!!

Victor and Alice, who was from Paris, helped us find a hotel and showed us a bit around. I didn't want to go further that night as it was dark and we'd already been going all day. They are volunteers here and Victor has been here 1 month and Alice for 2 weeks. I am eternally grateful the Lord brought them to me to help me out and that they were so kind.

We are now in Quetzaltenango, also called Xela (Shell-ah). It is the 2nd largest city in Guatemala and is over run with foreighners...we're seeing more Americans here than we've seen anywhere in Mexico. We'll stay here until Friday or Saturday, and then head back to Zapata for awhile. I like Guatemala, and think we'll come back after Zapata...and I'll be a little more savvy next time!

We haven't explored too much, mostly just relaxed yesterday and checked email and whatnot today. We will spend the next few days exploring and seeing what's around.

Zapata...a place to stay

You will realize that I have written several blogs instead of one big one...This is to make it a little easier to read. Don't miss the other new ones below!

I was down to about $500 pesos and our room at the cabaña was $100 pesos a night, plus about $100 pesos a day for food. All in all, it was costing us about $20 USD to stay there a day. The next lancha was supposed to Sunday, then moved to Saturday. I decided we'd have to leave. Sierra was heartbroken and wanted me to leave her there!!! I told her no way, but this was hard as many families were also begging me to let her stay with them!! I finally said, if we can find a place that is less expensive, we will come back.

Manuel and Manuela will let us stay with them for $50 pesos a day, so we are going back. We left via lancha with some other folks, including a veterinarian who goes up and down the way to treat animals, and some folks who were helping with some construction projects on the cabañas. They ended up taking us all the way to Comitan in their truck, and didn't even charge us! We think that we might meet up with them again in Zapata as they have to return to check on the construction project.

Toenails and Torture

We had a big storm one day. Sierra was up at the centro playing with the kids when the storm started, and I was doing laundry in the river. I had come back to the cabaña when the storm started. A few minutes later, a truck pulls up (one of the 6 in the town) and honks twice and a bunch of kids are helping Sierra into the room.

I look down and her toe is mushed. Apparently the kids were kicking the water and splashing each other when Si ended up kicking a little hole in the concrete. I tried to clean it, and the toenail was pretty bad. She was freaking out a bit, so I decided just to clean it, put on some anti-biotic and bandage it.

That night, it continued to bleed and I had to change the bandages 3 times. I told her we'd have to go to the doctor in the morning. She was not happy about this prospect.

The doctor is in another town called San Quintin and is about 15 minutes away. She wasn't up to walking, so I asked around and got a ride. We went to the doctor and he said he'd have to remove the toenail. Sierra was having a really hard time with it. The doctor was so kind, and another guy went and got his guitar and started playing it for her. She sat on my lap and they did it really quick and cleaned it up and bandaged it and she was done.

The doctor gave me anti-biotics in pill form and a prescription for some pain medicine. The doctor was free!! He didn't charge us anything. I bought the guys who gave us a ride a coke and gave them 20 pesos.

By the time we arrived back at town, Sierra was doing better and even having fun with her heightened celebrity status. That night we had to change the bandage and soak her foot in hot salt water and all the kids were gathered around to see it. At first she didn't want them to see, but finally she said it was okay and even ended up taking a picture of it.

I told her that in the old days during war that people would take off other peoples toenails to torture them.

That night as we walked back, the lightning bugs were so thick and the crickets were chirping. We pretended it was the papparazzi taking pictures of us because we are so famous. It was funny!

Friends at Last

There was a daily influx of one or two people showing up to go to the lake...as well as a daily departure of people who had gone to the lake the day before. We realized everyone stayed just one day and then left. No one seemed to take any time to get to know the people in the village.

We were getting to know the kids and some of the ladies of the village better and better every day. I decided I was going to figure out how to get Manuela a bit friendlier. Over breakfast one morning I talked with her a lot and complimented her and made an extra effort to get to know her. I could feel the ice thawing. After about an hour or so of visiting, I determined I had a new friend.

I finally left to go relax a bit. As I walked out, there were some ladies sitting on their porch across the way and they motioned to me to come sit with them. We went over and I ended up visiting with them for a few hours. Manuela was obviously listening to us and would poke her head out every so often to laugh with what we were saying. Sierra was playing with the kids and we were all having a great time. One lady was expressing how much she wanted to go tot he US and I was trying to let her know it is not all it's cracked up to be for immigrants and what a hard life it is for them and that she was better off staying here in her town. I explained that people are so busy in the US that they have to make an appointment days ahead of time to spend one hour together...that you would never just come sit on someone's porch for hours at a time to visit. They all thought that was very strange and laughed and laughed at that idea.

Finally I left to go back to my cabaña, but only made it a few more houses before more people motioned for me to come sit and relax with them. All in all, I didn't ever make it back to the cabaña, but I did cement in my mind that I loved Zapata and the people there.

Now we were like celebrities everywhere we went. We swam in the river with the kids, we visited with the people on the porches, the ladies taught me how to do my laundry in the river using the rocks. We were beginning to feel a part of the village and it's life. We decided not to leave on Thursday.

Laguna Miramar

We left at 7 am for the lake...it was a bit overcast, but still somewhat muggy. I was on Chapeco, a nice white stallion. I had some trouble getting on and off due my ankle being sprained, so I'm sure it was amusing for all of our admirers to watch! Ha!! It was NOT amusing to me and I was still struggling with whether or not I liked this town that was so fascinated with my size.

The ride was about 2 hours out to the lake, through mud that was sometimes up to the horses knees. It was beautiful and we saw an amazing number of birds, butterflies, and trees. We didn't see any monkeys which was a bummer, and we didn't see any exotic birds like parrots or toucans or quetzals. They told us that they are deeper in the jungle. This was a disappointment because our guidebook said they were prolific where we were going.

The butterflies here are beautiful...there are over 350 species of butterflies, and they flutter all around.

We finally got to the lake, and it was just simply gorgeous. It is a mountain lake, ringed by mountains all around. There is no settlement allowed within 1 km of the lake, so it is just as clear and pristine as can be. At this time of year, it is a beautiful green and you can see the bottom from over 20 feet above. The water is warm and inviting. We swam for hours. The Italians showed up after having hiked up and we all swam together. They were throwing Sierra into the air and she was having a ball.

Some kids from the town were there fishing and they would put a glass bottle into the water with a bit of maza in it and little fish would swim into the bottle to get the food and then they would use the little fish to catch bigger fish. We also took the kayak out on the lake and went around looking at the jungle around it. There were some beautiful caves and stunning scenery.

The lake is ringed with big rocks that jut out from the edge of the jungle, about 1 foot under the surface of the water. You can stand on the rocks and jump off the edge where it drops off 12-20 feet below.

We really loved the lake and were glad we went. We rode the horses back late in the afternoon and by the time we got back in town, I was definitely ready to get off the horse!

Sierra spent another afternoon playing with the kids and I spent some time talking with some of the women of the village. We found out there was a lancha that would leave on Thursday, which meant we would go out via a little boat on the river instead of the camioneta, and decided to do that.

That meant we'd be in town another day or so. I was still not so impressed by Manuela.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Lion sleeps tonight

Our first night in Zapata...we arrived via camioneta at approximately 4 pm and learned our first bit of trivia...they go by Maya Time here, which is an hour behind regular time. As we learned, many Mexicans call the different times "Tiempo de Dios" and "Tiempo de Fox"...this is because Mexico never recognized daylight savings until President Fox introduced the concept about 5 years ago. There are many chistes (jokes) about this, and people in general don't seem to like the concept...thus, we have Maya Time, which doesn't recognize Fox Time. It was quite confusing at first!

We were shown to our cabaña and I was somewhat nervous to realize we were the only people staying there and it was some distance from the town. I did not feel safe at all, despite Manuel's assurances that it was fine.

There are no restaraunts in Zapata...and only the 6 little cabañas for people going to the Laguna Miramar. We ate with Manuel and his wife Manuela. There is also no electricity in Zapata, so the people cook over fires and wash clothes in the river. At night they use candles for light. After dinner, it was dark and I asked Manuel to walk us to our cabaña because I was nervous. When we got there, there were some men there which made me more nervous, but he assured me all was fine. I prayed that God would keep me from having to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!!!! Thankfully, He did! This is a big feat for me as I normally have to go potty in the night about 2-3 times. Okay...I guess that was TMI (too much information).

The next day dawned bright and early, and we were supposed to go to the lake via horseback. We went with the guide, but there was only one little pony for Sierra. My ankles were swollen and in a lot of pain from twisting them (again!), and the terrain to the lake is deep mud, rocks and tree roots and steep up and downs. I said I would have to have a horse. We decided to go the next day.

At this point, I was ready to leave. I had decided I hated Zapata. The people kept making comments about how HUGE I was....even Sierra is bigger then most of the people there, but I was getting really offended by it and all their interest in how big I am. Manuel's wife seemed to be a penny pincher and out for every penny she could get...she was charging us 30 pesos per person per meal for rice and beans and tortillas. She seemed unfriendly at best and said I was too big for a horse. I was so mad!!

Sierra begged me not to leave...she really wanted to see the lake and give it one more day. I reluctantly said okay. That day, without much to do, we ended up walking around the small town a bit and all the kids were looking at us. We finally went to the center area where there was an open air building. While there, about 50 kids and several adults showed up just to watch us. They were all peering at us and giggling. Sierra started acting silly and they just laughed and laughed. Then she began chasing them and playing tag and it was all over...50 kids were running all over playing and laughing. We tried to get a game of Duck, Duck, Goose started, but it ended up being a new game we called Mono, Mono, Mordida (Monkey, Monkey, Bite!!)...it was lots of fun...Sierra would tag the kids and make them sit down and when everyone was seated, she would say Mono, Mono, Mordida and point to someone to be the next one to be "It"...they even got the adults involved, and the ice was broken, I started to make friends.

Manuela still didn't seem very friendly, but I decided to ignore her unfriendliness. After the game, everywhere we went the kids would yell out "Mono, Mono!!" whenever we would pass by. That same day, some more people came into town to go to the Lake..they were all from Italy. I felt much better about being in the cabaña that night with some neighbors and some friends.

The Camioneta

Hi there! We are in Guatemala currently, for a week...then we head back into the jungles of Mexico. We love it there!!

First off, a hint for the pictures...if you double click on them, you can seem them in bigger form.

Well, we headed into the jungle about a week or so ago. We went from San Cristobal de las Casas to Ocosingo and spent the night there. Then, we left and headed out on a camioneta for Zapata, a town in the jungle about 2-3 hour hike from Laguna Miramar, the most pristine and remote lake in Mexico.

The camioneta was quite an experience, and I was relieved that there were two other women and a guy from Italy on it with us. Imagine a 1 ton truck with the sides built up about 5 feet in wood and a metal frame overhead. Then imagine about 25 people in the bed of the truck, another 3 on top of the cab and another 3 or four inside the cab...now you have in mind how it looks. Add to this a couple of 50 gallon drums of gas, and another 10 gallon plastic drum, a 5 gallon drum, an extra tire, a few boxes of chickens, about 15 industrial sized packages of maza, a few flats of tomatoes, some 5 gallon buckets filled with machetes, saws and other various tools....PLUS everyones backpacks, packages, boxes, etc. You get the picture. It was crowded. And it was hot, and dusty, and sweaty. If you can believe it, Sierra slept for a few hours under these conditions!

We passed by little communities and the kids would all laugh and point at us gringos and wave and yell out HOLA...they seemed fascinated by us. As we were standing in the back of the camioneta you had to duck as we would go by trees and vines. At one point, Sierra didnt duck and got smacked in the eye with a branch and had (another) recuerdo...a souveigner. She had a big scratch on her eye, but was fine.

We were on the camioneta for roughly 8 hours. Eight lllloooooooonnnnnnngggggg hours! We were the first ones on and the last ones off. It was actually a beautiful, if bumpy, ride. Oh..did I mention there was not a road...at least not one to speak of. It was kind of an exciting adventure...but this is the kind of adventure that you would only want to do once!

At one point, the front tire blew out, so we all had to disembark while they changed the tire. There was a little stream nearby, so we got our faces washed off and got our hair wet, along with our hats. We both had to go potty, and it was a jungle experience complete with drip dry. We tried to shield each other from anyones view but as we were driving away a few minutes later, two guys with big machetes were sitting right by the place we relieved ourselves. I just hope they didnt see my white bum flappin in the wind!!!