Goodbye
I was very excited to come home. I missed the homeland and all my friends. I’m looking forward to seeing so many people and being done with school for a little bit. I’m also glad I only have one more quarter left at UCSC. I’m looking forward to the reverse culture shock and all the amenities I missed out on. So thanks for reading!
Last of the pictures
The Critic
So before finals I watched a ton of movies and after since I had nothing to do but wait until the flight home I did the same.
Tropic Thunder – hilarious. You should watch it.
New Scrubs – Really good. Consistently hilarious. You should watch it.
Hamlet 2 – Funnier than expected and you should watch it.
Lucky Number Slevin – If you can wait then you should watch it. Everything ties together at the very end and was well executed.
Pick of Destiny – Now this is a musical. Ridiculous and not what I was expecting but I recommend it.
Social Conduct
Aside from saying good morning, good afternoon, and good night whenever you pass someone or are about talk to someone. Aside from saying provecho whenever you pass someone eating a meal. There are some other social codes that I didn’t realize until Jill and I were at the grocery store.
For example it is not acceptable to toss produce. One women glared at me the entire time I was in the produce section.
For example it is not acceptable to almost run into someone, slip, and do a funny dance to stabilize yourself. You will be stared at awkwardly for the duration of your time in the dairy aisle.
School Update
We finished Spanish class and had a little party. We also played a fun game. Basically someone goes through the alphabet and stops then you have to think of a name, city/place, florwer/fruit, animal, thing, and verb that starts with it. It was great. So that one is done and good. We only have Migration class for an hour on Monday to pick up assignments and get grades. We had a test that went pretty well, I finished my paper for Migration, and we had a roundtable to discuss our papers. Then Gender class is only on Tuesday. Lately we have been examining the 3rd wave and modern feminisms. We watched a really intense movie called Backyard which is about the femicides in Juarez across the border from El Paso. It was really intense and disturbing. In Cities we talked about disasters, water, and power. So the only class that wants us there both days so far is Cities. I only have finals for Gender and Cities left. I’m hoping to get rid of at least one of them this weekend.
We got to fill out an evaluation of the Casa and the professors. I would invite back the Spanish and Gender teachers, consider the Migration teacher, and just plain fire the Cities teachers. For the facility I would like to see better journal access, gym, and extracurricular activities happening at the Casa.
I am now in my last weekend of Mexico City. Unfortunately I feel like I won’t get out to do many cultural things due to finals. Oh well. I’m looking forward to coming back.
Thanksgiving and Other Tales
I had this funky Spanish dream. I am sitting in a high school classroom portable. The chairs are stiff and have many iron bars. I am trying to conjugate the word ‘blue’. I move onto many other Spanish words. I realize this is too difficult and toss the paper aside. The papers scatter briefly but land in one pile. I decide I should retry the assignment. The paper is gone. I search the classroom but it is nowhere to be found.
I found this great movie, Zombieland. I definitely recommend it. It was funny and probably going to be one of those ‘in the know’ classics. Basically we follow this kid with all of these weird social problems on his journey back home to see if his folks made it through the zombie apocalypse. He has all these funny rules that he follows. He meets up with a crazy middle age man who likes being mean to zombies and breaking shit. Fantastic. It only gets better from there and I don’t really want to spoil the plot.
I watched the entire 1st season of The Clone Wars from Cartoon Network. I found it enjoyable. Parts of it are laughable and not really worthy of recognition but I felt overall the little half hour stories were nice additions to the histories. There were a few plotholes and why on Earth would you do that moments but in terms of absolute terribleness it doesn’t even come close to episodes 1-3.
Milagros Concidos was a film we watched in Cities. It was about the practice of leaving offerings to saints who performed a miracle for you. I was completely unfamiliar with the practice of leaving offerings to saints prior to the showing of the film. I found it interesting that there was such a long history and that the tradition had lasted and changed over the years. I also enjoyed the span of topics these paintings can encompass and was glad that the book was brought to supplement the film. I am also curious as to how common it is for the church to display these paintings on the walls as was sometimes shown in the film. The individual stories were interesting but I wonder how much was coincidence rather than miracle. In some of the stories I got the impression that these people felt powerless and the only way to exercise agency was to give it to the divine as in the case of the alcoholic. For the bullfighter and elderly man, I think it was just luck that they healed so well. I also think that the artist was in part doing this for charity and the other for profit. I do not think that the artist believed all the miracles he paints are true. I’m glad that the artist was able to find work painting as the Mexican economy is not the best at creating employment opportunities. I would be interested in knowing how the films and books he has been featured in affected him and his work.
We had Thanksgiving at the Casa. Jill and I woke up late due to a power outage and not really wanting to get up early. We got ready and headed over to the Casa. Consuelo had been cooking since the night before. I’m pretty sure she didn’t sleep until we made her leave until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. So Jill and I got there around noon and cooked for the next 6 hours with intermittent breaks for studying. We crumbled cornbread, chopped vegetables, and made gravy along with with numerous other tasks. Danielle’s family even showed up and helped. It was pretty nifty. Sometime after 6 we had dinner and there was way to much food even for the 25-odd people we had. I must say that the 2 gravies I made turned out stupendous. You may now call me the gravy king. Jill and I ate a little and I passed on the wine. Jill and I ended up having a stomach for the next few days. I believe it was unrelated because we bought Rica Burgers from the store. In my opinion avoid at all costs. They taste like shit and they make you shit.
A couple of my friends wrote a song and made a music video for it. Shown Below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qMDFeCH-A]
One of our friends adopted a street dog. As of now his name is Pogey, he’s around 6 or 7 years old and scrawny. He was grey when she found him and after a bath he was a light golden color. He was very shaggy and she took them to the groomers where they shaved him bald. All the Americans thought he looked fine with a coat while the Mexicans think he looks bald. It is probably one of the weirdest cultural differences I’ve noticed. The dog has the gnarliest breath and is missing some teeth. She is hoping to get all of his papers in order so she can take him back to the US. I hope it all works out. In my opinion as long as you get the vaccines and a clean bill of health there isn’t much trouble moving between borders with a dog.
One of my friends, Liz ended up being in Oaxaca and Mexico City Thanksgiving weekend. Well we absolutely missed out on each other. She was running around and doing all this cultural stuff while I was feeling sick and working on my finals. Bummer and major International Fail. On the upside I got the majority of my finals taken care of. I wrote my 4 page essay in Spanish which I am quite proud of and thank Jill tremendously for. I did all of the fun little write ups for Cities and I think I’ll be able to turn in my 10 page Migration paper on Monday when we have our Final Test. So at this moment I’m pretty sure I just have my Gender Essay Final which I should get this week and a 10pg Cities paper. It is absolutely insane that I have one more weekend in Mexico.
11/17-23
11/17 -I slept pretty shit and wasn’t feeling to hot so I missed out on the meteor shower although I have no idea if it was even visible considering how far south I am. Well I woke up to an odd dream about being chased by zombies. Lately the dreams I do remember have been weird. Spanish is hard. We are moving at a ridiculous pace. I think we are in 4th or 5th year at this point. In Gender we talked about the 2nd wave and I had numerous revelations as usual.
11/18 -One of the longer days. 9-5 just like a job. Spanish was relaxed as usual. Cities had a discussion on muralism and handed our papers back. I don’t feel like I got a solid discussion or understanding of what makes mural. I more got the impression that everything Mexico does is a mural while everything Los Angeles does is art. Seriously what the fuck. Then we got our papers back. This is the kind of grading I hate. They graded based on their opinions and material presented. If they didn’t like your opinion then you got marked down. It was brutal and it seemed like the majority of the class was pissed. Migration was long because we had to make up a holiday, that is something I will never understand. Well we had a discussion on education and then went to a movie called Mi Vida Dentro. Which is about a 17 year old immigrant accused of murdering a child she was caring for. In my opinion it’s another great example of Texas fucking up justice. I didn’t see it as being proven beyond a reasonable doubt. I also saw the prosecution as relying on emotion and no facts. Here imagine a baby being killed, oh you wanted a medical evidence well too bad. The jury eats up the emotional evidence and ruins this woman’s life. Nice job Texas, maybe you won’t fuck it up when you review it in 2030.
11/19 -I had a 2 hour long talk with one of my professors about everything. I talked to her about Eddie Izzard, plastics, gender, museums, coca leaves, and llama meat just to name a few topics. It was nice and I felt like I really got to connect with her.
11/20 -I spent the morning at the library in UNAM to research my paper. I found some pretty good sources to back up the historical context for my labor conditions paper.
11/22 -I spent the day working on Migration Paper and I want to bring home foods and have a Mexican themed BBQ.
11/23 -We had Spanish and the professor flattered me when she discussed my advancement. Then we had migration and luckily were able to push back the paper and the test. Yay more study time. Then we had a field trip to see some murals unfortunately it ended up being at least 5 hours. We started with the Palacio Nacional and we saw Diego Rivera’s murals then we went to a market and saw some murals there. We ended at Bellas Artes which was immensely awkward. There was some fancy ritzy event that we crashed to look at the paintings. The professors defined murals as only by 4 people from Mexico. The whole discussion was poorly informed and elitist.
Just Another Week
11/10
I stayed home again for pretty much the same reason. We went to Potzollcalli for soup. The soup was amazing. It was a wonderful restaurant and I hope to go back.
11/11
Finally back to school. Spanish was fairly uneventful and then we watched En El Hoyo in Cities. I was unsure about what to expect when the film was first put on. I found it entertaining and interesting how the workers interacted with each other. The film shows us how these men are doing this to take care of their families and how it is the only the option available. Through their difficult labor they are still able to maintain a sense of self and humor. The individuals are all very colorful and funny. The nicknames and quirks of each character and the way they interact shows us that there is a sense of family among the workers. Each member of the group seems to feel comfortable with the other members and is able to joke with each other. The construction workers are talking about terrible things and it seems that everything is going to be ok because they are. I also noticed a division placed between the night and day workers and am not sure how intentional it was. The day workers were lighter and funnier than the night workers who seemed more serious and superstitious. I found it nice that the documentary didn’t try to take sides but simply represent opinions. It seems that the grim topics coupled with the humor is designed to let one make up their own mind. I wonder how many other people working on the freeway are poorly paid or have experienced the tragedies these men talk about. After all the final clip of the long freeway is meant to show one the enormity of the project and imply that these men are a small part of it. I also wonder if the freeway was viewed as a success by these men or if it truly helped the traffic? Perhaps it only facilitated pollution in an already congested city.
In Migration we discussed our final paper, a quiz and some current events involving East Bay Sanctuary and Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. We then had a really interesting discussion focusing on the ideas of privilege and what leads people to college. Our group determined that peer pressure from teachers, family, and friends as well as programs and school newspapers played a role. The next important factor being personal ambition and that simply having the goal or want to go was significant. The next was seeing a positive example of college and then being able to internalize and use that as a reason to go.
Then we had a Gender Make Up Class. I don’t get this but everytime something comes up or we decide to miss a class we make it up. I don’t feel like this would ever happen in the states. We watched Mujeres y Genero by Colmex made for the 25th Anniversary of PIEM in 2008. Back at home we all brainstormed about the paper we needed to right for the next morning.
11/12
We had Gender again and talked about the women’s liberation movement. I turned in my paper around 2, so just a smidge late. It ended up being a comparison of working conditions in the 19th century US cotton mills and the modern day maquiladoras. A bunch of people headed to Acapulco for the weekend while Jill and I opted to stay home.
11/13-11/16
Not much. We stayed home most of the time. We rested and had a little couples retreat. We ate home cooked meals, went shopping, tried new food. I watched a ton of shows to see what I was interested in. I figure DVD sets are the way to go for entertainment as a college student. I had a crazy dream about being an Indian boy. I did some make up work and other homework. I started planning out my final papers. At night some people showed up from there trip. It sounded rather raucous.
Week with Mom
11/3
Up early and off to Spanish. Mom hangs out in the comp lab and we had some classes cancelled so we get an early start. We knock out some time in the lab and plan our college schedules. We head to Milagritos to show mom the glory of the gordita. I take the 3 of us on a walking tour. I show off the churches, monasteries, and the St Patricks plaza. We head down to the MB and take it to Zona Rosa. We walk around, see some statues and the angel, and laugh at the vendors on the street selling sexy costumes. We drop into the piercing shop for Jill’s supplies. We take a taxi back to Casa and hit up the grocery store. We make taquitos and drink the Bohemia Hef. I liked the beer it was a really good wheat beer. We take it easy the rest of the night.
11/4
We have Spanish class and then a movie in Migration. The movie was called Letters from the Other Side and I thought it was pretty good and a unique approach to documentary film making. We hang out in the comp lab trying to figure out the weekend. At night was the FRP Goodbye Party. So we say goodbye and enjoy the food and drinks. There was dancing and loud music. Jill had a headache and we went home to sleep.
11/5
We had Gender in the morning and then mom and I hit the National Anthropology Museum. The museum was simply incredible. It took as a good 5 hours to see just the bottom floor and we were rushing. I hope to go back and see the 2nd floor sometime. From there we went to the Zocalo and I gave a walking tour. We started out near the cathedral and we peered into the Templo Mayor. We saw different parts of the historic center and several sunken churches. After making a loop we walked down towards Bellas Artes. We hopped back on the metro and went home. Jill was a doll and made us some ground beef.
11/6
We packed and got on a bus to Cuernavaca. The center was very beautiful. We got a taxi straight to our hostel Posado Morelos. It was a very weird experience and I highly recommend staying as far away as possible from this hostel. A guy was waiting for us, hands us keys, and lets us in. This is the last time we will see anyone at the hostel. We never formally checked in and they screwed up our reservation. We didn’t get the rooms we reserved, there were dead cockroaches in the furniture, and Jill found blood on her sheets.
So we decided to hit the Zocalo. We went to Terrazas which is a bar and got some Hawaiian pizza. We walked around and saw the plazas. Since we had gotten in later than expected most of the cultural fun was closed. I met a drunk named Luis and he talked to me in broken English and Spanish. It was a very humorous experience. Jill got hit on by some street vendor and as soon as he learned about me he let me know there was no problem. We heard some other tourists trying to use Spanish and it was laughable. They asked Cuanto Anos? when they meant How Much? We walked by Cortez’s Palace and saw some churches. We had a conversation with a giant slice of pizza mascot. We considered seeing a movie but went back to our hostel instead.
In the middle of the night, there were several loud poundings on the door that woke me and mom up. After Panama, I don’t shout at the door unless someone says something first. A good tip Vy taught me. Well after the 3rd pound, someone used the keys, walked inside the room, took a look around and then left. Needless to say I was awake the rest of the night. A few hours later someone pounded on the door again but this time didn’t come in. This directly influenced our course of action the following morning.
11/7
We went to Caffee Mexico for breakfast and had crepes and coffee. It was very good and I say go there if you happen to be in Cuernavaca. We decided to switch to Hosteria de Sol. We would not spend another night feeling incredibly uncomfortable and besides it was located more centrally. We were able to make the switch so Jill and I headed over to the crap hostel and like usual no one was there. We grabbed our stuff, looked for someone there, said fuck it, and left the keys. I don’t think they deserved payment and would have fought it but realistically I don’t think they gave a rat’s ass. I found Hosteria de Sol to be the exact opposite of Posada Morelos. It was centrally located, the staff gave a shit, it was nicely furnished, and they asked what you wanted and gave it to you.
From there we went to the archaeological site, Teopanzolco. This was a site where they were in the middle of building a pyramid around an older one when the Spanish arrived. It was cool. We then went to Cortes Palace and enjoyed the museum inside. It had an amazing Diego Rivera mural. We then stopped off at 1521 El Paraiso for lunch. It was nice and we even got serenaded…TWICE! Then it was off to the Robert Brady Museum. This guy was rich and an eccentric collector. It was an interesting look at some weird guys stuff. Next we went to the dulceria across the street. Jill went wild and blew a 100 there. We walked back to the hostel and I finished On the Road.
We had dinner at Los Arcos which was a bumping cafeteria. We had sangria and a ton of food. The food could have been better but ca va. There was Street Racing happening and it looked like the whole ton had come out to watch. Then there was a concert in the plaza that lasted for awhile. Jill and I attempted to go clubbing. Unfortunately only Rumbay – Latino Mundo was open with people inside and it sucked. The dance floor was shite and people were either trying to move to a table and bumping you or maddogging you from their table. It was incredibly loud at the hostel but at least it was secure. Eventually sleep was had.
11/8
We had breakfast at La Universal and then went for a wander. We finally found Jardin Borda which was modeled after Versaille. I didn’t get that feeling but oh well. We then hopped on the bus to D.F. We took it easy for the rest of the night.
11/9
Mom left to go back to the States. Jill wasn’t feeling well and I chose to use that as an opportunity to work while I made sure she was doing well. The paper research went poorly and we watched a lot of True Blood. It’s a show that I highly recommend.
Academic Cultural Trip: Oaxaca
After a wonderfully eventful 13 hour bus ride we made it Oaxaca City of Oaxaca. Mom met us at our hotel, Casona del Llano where we had breakfast. The breakfast was unacceptably overpriced but that is what you get for convenience I suppose. From there we had to go directly to an Ethno-linguistic Diversity Conference at Ciesas. The women spoke to us in a manner that made me wonder how much about linguistics she really understood (if someone doesn’t speak your language no matter how slow and loud you talk, you will not be understood). Everyone of us there was tired and I think most of us dozed off at some point. We were able to head back to the hotel and relax/groom. We had a marvelously spacious room. The bathroom was as large as other hotel rooms I’ve stayed in. Mom met back up with us and we walked down Alcala to the Zocalo. We encountered numerous parades and events since we were coming up on the Day of the Dead. On our way we bought some coffee at the Italian Coffee Company. There were kids dancing and playing as well. We stopped at a little market and I bought some art from this guy.
Not what I bought but still pretty impressive.
Once at the Zocalo we saw some pretty amazing sand sculptures. I also bought some things and then we headed back and looked for food. We decided on Que Lejoys Estoy for dinner. It was nice.
One of many sand sculptures.
10/30
I had a ridiculous dream. Jill was sleeping as I got ready. We meet my mom and head out for breakfast at Las Quince Letras where I forget my back and have to run back. On the way to the conference I knocked my head and skinned a section of my scalp. It was pretty gross, blood everywhere. We had a conference on Migration and then on Biodiversity. The gentleman leading the conference was by far the most entertaining of the bunch. I wish all of them could have been like that.
We had lunch at a taco place called Fogancito which was really good. They had really amazing tables. The tables had a glass shadowbox with tequila and native foods inside. On the walk back we saw an adorable little puppy who happened to be in a yard with a bunch of chickens. We stopped to grab some info on Vive la Muerte. I got a sweet poster out of the deal. We then dropped by my mom’s hotel and the bus station to get her travel arrangements. We took a cap to Mercado 20 Noviembre. We saw shoes, dresses, and ponches. Pretty much all the usual fair one encounters. We bought chapulines (grasshoppers) and munched on a couple of those. I met the Bargain Master who basically wore me down and I consented. We started heading to the Zocalo and ended up going in Milano before and after the Zocalo.
Jill and I were sitting in the women’s underwear section of Milano eating a coconut sweet. I was remarking how weird this particular situation was when all of a sudden a group of kids in halloween costumes with signs bursts in. They walk up the steps and to us. One of them gives us candy and the other who is dressed as a wolf proceeds to sniff me for several minutes. I very much enjoyed the chile pineapple sucker I was given. We walk to the hostel and meet in the lobby for a group dinner. The group decided to head back to 15 Letras and after that we got to walk home in the rain.
10/31
We head to Cafe La Olla for breakfast which had a photo gallery feel. We then hop on the bus and go to Monte Alban. They hope to excavate some of the surrounding hills as there seems to be a more ruins to be uncovered.
Monte Alban
Next stop was Arrazola were they have the most gorgeous carved wood handicrafts.
This was hand carved and hand painted.
Then we stopped at Cuilapan which is the site of an unfinished Dominican monastery. It has been somewhat reconstructed but still remains open air. There were quite a few Corona caps scattered around so I told Jill the Corona Myth which I will now retell. Corona was founded in 1432 using a secret Mixtec recipe which the Zapotecs took over when the Mixtecs fells. It was far more detailed and Jill called bullshit but what can you do. Then it was off to the Oaxacan Buffet Lunch. This place had pretty much every regional specialty. It was good but overpriced and not much was something I wanted to try more than once. Next was San Bartolo Coyotepec home of the black pottery. Where we saw a guy use the prehispanic method to make pottery and then showed us the ovens. They made it sound like the pottery turned black due to magic but I’m pretty sure the smoke and iron oxide in the clay are more plausible. Then it was back to the hotel for a Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror Marathon.
11/1
We got up early for breakfast and didn’t realize it was Sunday. We walked over several square blocks and not a thing was open. We dropped by the farmacia and then hit up the hotel restaurant. We hopped on the bus to see El Tule. It’s a giant tree. The trunk is 120 around and 38 thick. It is believed to be the largest tree in the world and its over 2000 years old. It was pretty impressive. Next it was to the town of Teotitlan to see handmade textiles. We saw how the thread is woven, dyed, and assembled into gorgeous rugs. Interestingly enough the nonsynthetic textiles don’t burn well and the little bit that they do gives off white smoke while synthetics don’t go out easily and burn black.
My favorite textile, it's a Monkey
Next was a tour of Beneva Mezcal. We saw how it is produced and then did a tasting. I ate the worm with a lime and sal de gusano. It tasted like a fireplace. Then we went to Hierva el Agua which is a collection of mineral formations that look like frozen waterfalls. We met Jesse The Drunk Australian. He was a hoot. He described mezcal as vodka and tequila mixed together. He told me that if someone had told him there was a Californian standing on a cliff in Mexico he would have pictured me. He then asked Jill if she had a sister. Jill let him know she was a bit young. He proceeded to say that’s ok in Australia, just kidding only if they’re aboriginals. Fascinatingly terrible. One other bit of hilarity from this gent was when we were getting a snack at one of the restaurants. He let us know that if he didn’t speak English, he’d speak Californian.
Then it was on to Mitla. This site was interesting because when the Spanish arrived people were still living in the city. This is fairly rare. The town is actually built around the ruins and parts of the town were constructed from parts of it.
Irony.
From the ruins we went to families house. We hung out and one and then went to another. They gave long winded speeches and fed us mezcal and cerveza. Eventually food. We got to celebrate the Day of the Dead with them. We went to at least 5 houses and were not allowed to turn down drinks. We saw the offerings and altars of many families. I really liked the experience. Afterwards we got free bread and that was pretty awesome. At a late hour we went back to the hostel and passed out.
11/2
We groomed and packed. Then we had breakfast at 100% Natural. The food was good if overpriced and the service could have been better. We relaxed at our hotel and then headed over to the Veracruz. We chilled out in the restaurant until we had to go to the bus station. We got to the Mexico Taxquena station, took a taxi and headed to a late dinner at Watsy’s
It was a good trip.
Academic Cultural Trip: Palenque to San Cristobal de las Casas
10/26
We had breakfast at the hotel as a group and then went to the Palenque Ruins. Palenque was gorgeous. It is one of the few sites that has some invention to it. The site was excavated before there was much credibility in the field. In those days you were allowed to invent how you thought it was without any evidence. So we saw the whole area and it was gorgeous as you can see by the photo below.
After that we went to Cascadas Aqua Azul. We had lunch there and then hiked up the hill until we saw a relatively calm pool above the main falls. Lucky for us it had a rope swing. So we spent quite a bit of time swinging and swimming. That place was marvelous.
ACTION SHOT!
Well after all that fun it was a marvelous 4 hour drive to San Cristobal de las Casas. We arrived and checked in the Hotel Ciudad Real. This one wasn’t as nice as the one at Palenque but it was still good. So we groomed and then went for a walk on the town. This town was a good fit for me. It was up in the mountains and cool. In front of the cathedral there groups of people camping out. We found out they were a Zapatista group protesting the taking of political prisoners from there community. From there we went on to dinner at a taqueria and then went to El Zirko, a bar and dance club. There were some smooth movers out there that night. I will never understand why every other country knows how to dance. After a couple of drinks and dances with Jill, we called it a night.
10/27
We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant which I thought was pretty cool. The hotel is organized in a courtyard style and the restaurant is on the bottom floor under the enclosed roof. We had our first conference right after the meal. It was about Suicide Among the Chol Maya. It sounds far more morbid than it was. We dealt with ideas of death and spirituality for the most part. After that we started walking to our next destination when I witnessed a motorcycle accident. Basically a car decided to go at the same time as a motorcycle. Well the car knocked the motorcycle over and there was a gnarly crash. The guy wasn’t wearing a helmet and he was crumpled in a ball clutching his head. Well I suppose stop signs and helmets were necessary in this situation. We walked past a bunch of amazing graffiti on the way to Taller Lenateros, which is a handmade paper cooperative. It was all very gorgeous and informative. On the walk back it started raining but I was able to spot a Lucha Libre backpack which I bought for about 2USD. 
Jill and I chose to go out for food at Emiliano’s Moustache (their logo above). I had one of the best burgers of my life there. It reminds me of the fresh handmade beef we had at Two Nations in Peru. From there we went to Lagrimas de la Selva, an amber store, where we saw some gorgeous pieces. We were even able to watch the jewelers work a bit. I picked up a 36million year old piece with bugs inside for my mom. Jill also bought something nice. After that we walked towards Nemi Zapata but stopped at Maria Flores along the way. At the Zapatista store I picked up a woven Zapatista key chain and a sticker to support the cause. We were quite tired and went back to the hotel. We watched some seriously bad movies. I will express a warning, if you ever have the chance to see El Pulpo Dos (The Octopus 2), do not under any circumstances do it. There are movies that are so bad they are good but this is not one of them. Jill and I then slunk down to the hotel restaurant for dinner.
10/28
As the night before ended with a meal at the hotel so did this day. We hopped on over to the university for our lecture on Zapatistas. The university was gorgeous and full of revolutionary imagery. The lecture was tremendously long but informative. We even had a surprise visit from the displaced villagers that were camping out in the square.
Revolutionary Imagery in the School
From the school we went to Zincanatan where we met some of the rudest children on the face of the planet. This kid ran at me screaming peso and started trying to take things out of my pocket. I can honestly say, I feel zero remorse for kicking him. We walked around, saw a church and some traditional weaving. From there we went to Chamula, which I liked a lot more. It was a more traditional layout and was bustling. We walked into the church was an amazing example of syncreticism. Alongside Jesus and every saint imaginable were shamans in furs chanting in indigenous languages on a floor covered in pine needles and candle wax. Incredible. The kids here were not nearly as annoying but a few tried.
We went back to San Cristobal and had lunch at Crocodrilo. It was a pretty hip bar and cafe. It actually had a skinned crocodile on the wall so clearly it was amazing. We then went out with some of the girls on the amber hunt. We ended up at the market on the otherside of town. It started pouring rain so we ran to the nearest cafe. It happened to stop right as we got there. Irony. So we had some hot drinks and snack food. Danielle and Kerk set themselves on Ice Cream so we hit up a ice cream and bar place. It was odd. After we left Jill was surrounded by 11 4ft tall women trying to sell her stuff. It was an amazing sight. We went searching for more amber and then went to the hotel. The girls had wine and I sat around. We were ticking down the time until we needed to be on the road again. Well the time finally came and we walked to the bus station.
