We're getting ready to go back to Q after a quick night in San Cristobal. We lost CB to Tuxtla this morning around 2 or 3 am! It feels strange to be continuing without half the Chiapas crew, but Anna and I are planning out the last few days of data collection. I can't believe we'll be back in Junax ready to leave Chiapas for good the day after tomorrow. It's sad!
Last night we had a jam-packed schedule, involving (thankfully) our favorite taqueria, Tacos al Norteno, and some wild entertainment of various sorts. After dinner, we went to a posada at CIDECI where we had dinner (or strawberry atole for us) with the people staying at the center (more on that later). We had arranged to meet up with John Rose aka Jose there so it was nice to see him for the first time here in Chiapas. It was also great to see Wilifredo, our contact at CIDECI. I admire his passion and staunch support of indigenous well-being. More importantly, I like that he has gone beyond words and has actually done something about it, and is looking for ways to do more to bridge the inequalities in health in his state (he's a Chiapaneco). However, I think the desire to be completely independent of the government, like the Zapatistas, is utopic (as Wilifredo himself acknowledges) and ultimately runs the risk of being short-sighted.
After dinner, while Jose and Wilifredo tried to talk social justice theory over deafening but very lively marimba music, a lot of the dinner guests gathered around to dance(they are mostly from Zinacantan, they stay at the center and take advantage of free apprenticeships in vital trades). After trying to follow the social justice conversation over all the noise, Anna, Wilifredo's wife and I gave up and decided to join the grandmas, teenagers and little kids on the dance floor. It was awesome! Plus, it restored feeling to my toes. It's freezing here.
After CIDECI, we went to Bar Revolucion to meet up with Mariana's crew. She's the leader of a pack of upper crust Mexican students working on various projects in the highlands. She approached us in Colonia Puebla because she heard we were "trabajando en estufas". Indeed. So we met her and her swank posse last night and talked stoves, social justice and sustainability with them. It was interesting but left me frankly drained. So a little past midnight I went home and CB and Anna went to a hippie party that they said I would have really enjoyed. Bummer.
There's so much more for us to tell but no time to reflect! Greetings and love to CB and Yaqui who we miss dearly in our last few days here - Chiapas is not the same without you!
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