Wow....Guanajuato

We decided to make a quick dash on the bus yesterday over to this small university town nearby. Although we didn't trek up into the hills, this is where some of the most productive silver mines in the world were. A lot of silver. And all the Euros that pocketed that plata built a very cool town here. Lots of German and Italian architecture that was quite lovely to look at.
We went to Diego Riveras birthplace and saw a very diverse collection of work, (no fotos please) and another museum with the mask collection you see a couple of samples of.
The flan on Annie's plate with lunch was almost as good as the culinary art that accompanied it!
I could just go on and on here, and as usual, the history is slithering all around your feet. We've read some fabulous books to fill in the details ( including a wonderful interpretation of Alexander Von Humboldt's "Cosmos", written by a local author) and ...........it's just more than a BLOG CAN HOLD! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Moctezuma! Thank you Malinche!
Who has even heard of Malinche? I'm quite sure my wife will tell you.

The Spring Equinox

Huge crowds filled the town square here in San Miguel de Allende, as hundreds of children marched through the streets welcoming Spring. Delighted parents and tourists lined the central Jarin, snapping photos and getting showered with confetti, as costumed classes of elementary school age butterflies, rabbits, lions, jaguars, princesses, soldiers and turtles paraded by under the hot sun. I thought of our annual Pacific Grove (CA) "Butterfly Parade" and the years Nic and Cella joined their classes as '49er miners, pioneer girls, sea otters, jellyfish, Plains Indians. And the kindergardeners were always butterflies, as we welcomed the migrating monarchs back each year to the PG pines.

The first day of spring, when night and day are finally on equal footing again, is a big deal here in Mexico. Thousands of people gathered at dawn down south near Mexico City, climbing the towering Pyramid of the Sun at ancient site of Teotihuacan, dressed in white to receive the "special energy" transmited on that day. Others travel to Chichen Itza, the Mayan ruins on the Yucatan, to watch a giant serpent-shaped shadow slither down the Temple of Kukulkan at daybreak.

It also happened to be the 200th anniversary of Mexican reformist president Benito Juarez, the only full-blooded Indian to ever rule Mexico. His presidency is viewed with much controversy at this point, since his dismantling of the traditional system of communal lands (supposidly to help incorporate the Indians into modern Mexico life) actually made them more vulnerable to exploitation. One Mexican historian has written that "of the whites who determined the history of the country, Juarez was the whitest of them all." Nevertheless, San Miguel was crammed with families from all over the region on Monday, celebrating a noisy 3-day weekend in his honor. We read the news of the upcoming summer presidential election with interest, and wonder who will be next to lead this complex nation....

-ASG

S. Miguel con Cella

We're having a lovely, relaxing, intimate time with our daughter. Ahhh. Photos tell. Cuban music on the Jardin. Our friends from Grand Marais. And fabulous storm weather. This is unusual ( changes all over huh?) with dust storms ... it is 2 months before the rainy season. Lightening. Stuff blowing over. Giggling. Probably more ominous then we know. And certainly tough for the "local" folk downwind, trying to do business and have a life amidst the flying debris and exhaust.

Fat Tuesday in Amantenango

As the afternoon in Amantenango progressed, the local pre-Lenten "Mardi Gras" (Fat Tuesday) celebrations began. First photo is of the town band (with brass, guitars, drums) playing for a group of young men who are dresssed in masks (a few in dresses and heels, in drag) who shuffled around the town square. As we were gathered under one of the zocalo trees, I heard noises up in the branches and spotted a few little boys who were giggling and watching us. I made some of my famous monkey noises, which brought more laughter and monkey hoots from the tree branches, and was soon surrounded by a gaggle of curious boys who peppered us with questions about "how do you say in English...?" and who proceeded to follow us as we walked through the town.

We were invited up the street where a house ceremony had begun, in which older men and women slowly shuffled upon a pine needle strewn floor of the patio, "reverencing the ground" to the sounds of clay flute, guitar and percussion instruments. Soon several men slowly gathered up the tall processional flags, crossed themselves and handed young boys giant stalks of corn, banana palm and sugar cane. Women carried burning "cobal" inscence and fresh flowers, and the procession moved out into the street. We followed quietly behind, and sat in the back pews as the women filled the altar spaces with the flowers, candles were placed on the floor and lit, and prayers were sung in the gathering twilight.

Mid-way through this simple liturgy inside the sanctuary, the town band and the costumed dancers appeared at the open door, playing and laughing loudly. The young girls in the pews ahead of us turned in excitement; the older women cast disapproving looks; the band played some more and then drifted off onto the zocolo. All the time, the prayers and singing continued within the sanctuary. "Sacred" and "profane" all co-mingling together, and so the Season of Lent begins.

We traveled by taxi, plane, bus, another taxi the next day, to arrive in San Miguel de Allende after dark. We found this beautiful colonial city, with it's brightly lit cathedrals and old buildings, to be filled with people observing the holy day of Ash Wednesday. People filled the center town square (El Jardin), most with carefully drawn black crosses on their foreheads. No simple ash-smudges here. People "wear" their faith and observances openly and without guile in this town, as families and couples, old people, young people, strolled through the warm evening air together.

-ASG

Minnesotans in Amantenango

Our last day in Chiapas began with breakfast at the Center for Intercultural Investigation in San Cristobal, where we finally met up with the small group from the First Congregational (UCC) Church of Grand Marais (pictured with me and Chris are Dave, Ben, Nancy and Pastor Peter). It was the day before Lent began, and the night before had been filled with noisey firecrackers throughout the city. A young German Swiss staff woman from the Center sat with us and described her work with the Center's Gender Program, which provides faith-based empowerment workshops and groups for local women on communication skills and self-esteem. Her assignment is to connect with the women through building relationships with their evangelical pastors (who refuse to address issues of women's health and domestic violence through the more secular feminist organizations in the city). The Center is one of the few progressive Chrisitan organizations working at these kinds of interfaith and social justice projects in the city, and has been the point of connection for the GM church on their trips to Chiapas.

Although our time with the Grand Marais group only overlapped one day, instead of the week that we had hoped for, it gave Chris and me a taste of the mission partnerships of our denomination and our new GM congregation in this region. The UCC initially got involved in this part of Mexico by helping with refugees fleeing the Guatemalan civil war in the 1980's, and later bridging the expanding hostile gulf between the Catholic Mayan congregations and the burgeoning evangelical Protestant churches.

The Grand Marais church has been coming down here for about six years now, and has developed a close relationship with the Catholic Mayan parish in Amantenango, which lies about an hour's drive outside of San Cristobal. We piled in a van and headed out to this small town, which is known for its strong indegenous Mayan culture and colorful pottery (see photo of clay roosters). Several years ago, the GM church contributed funds to help build the community room you see in the third photo. Peter also showed me a duffle bag filled with this year's contribution of dozens of hand-knit wool sweaters from the knitter's in our congregation, which are appreciated by the local children in the cool mountainous climate.

The local priest, Padre Carlo, cooked us a feast of Italian pasta (he is on "loan" from his dicoese in Tuscany!), tortillas, potatoes, and roasted chicken, and described to us (in Spanish/Italian/English) the ceremony of flowering the church sanctuary that was to be held later that afternoon. Again, in the statues and rituals in the church, we witnessed the "veneer" of Catholicism over the deep flow of Mayan spirituality and tradition.

-ASG

San Miguel hot spots

Pretty deserty here folks. 6500 feet. Cactus. Ever been to New Mexico? But the little town is Very Spanish (Neo-Classical) with cobblestone streets , many galleries and shops and all lit at night, church spires up into the darkness. Rooftop bars (dos por uno Mojitos los Martes, Danny) and a nice trio (with drummer on Caja...very tasty) played for us "St. Thomas"!
But the most fun has been (sorry)... the wilderness! The cacti you see is at a very quiet and lovely preserve outside of town called El Charco. A dammed wetlands, once used a water wheel to grind corn and textiles, is now full of birds and walking paths. And we went out to the local hot mineral baths. A fun mixture of Euros and families and you see the "cavern" with Annie, that thing goes back in for 100 feet to an inner sanctum with a cascade of hot water you can sit under. Gonna take Marcella out there with a gang we know here from the Grand Marais area. They winter here (from Finland, MN. ) and manage organicconsumers.org. A fun bunch.
Well, gotta go...it's the start of third annual Cuban Festival with a band on the Jardin.

C

Chris' 55th Birthday, Part 2

We finally arrived at "Parque Nacional Palenque" in the early afternoon and, along with a couple from Rome, engaged an English and Italian speaking guide. Unfortunately, the guide's commentary became increasingly dogmatic and surly as we climbed up and down the steep steps of the ruins, and he insistantly contended that all other guidebooks/guides were inaccurate and that he had THE novel perspective on the Mayans. Basically, he argued that there was no indigenous Mayan race, and that this civilization created nothing new because it was a mix of peoples from China, the African continent, Egypt, India, Leif Erikson's decendents...not to mention a few hints of possible extra-terresterials. As the rain drizzle turned into a down-pour, he became more adament, briskly scampering up the slick stone steps and pointing-out architectural and sculptural elements to "prove" his thesis. Exhausted and drenched by this point, the four of us offered some mildly skeptical comments (ASG: "hmmm....guess I will have to read up a bit on this topic") and were met with his turned back and a sulking "tour is over." And yet, the enormity and ancientness of this solemn place was certainly evident, and Chris and I stood quietly at one point trying to imaginine how of the 12 or so unearthed temples and buildings, there could still be over 1400 structures still "undiscovered" under the jungle cover. Mayans inhabited this site probably as early as 300 BCE, as a huge city that was a ceremonial center for the high priests, and political and trade center spreading over miles and miles, probably peaking at 600-700 CE. The local Mayans here today speak Tzeltal, and some translate Palenque to mean "chief town or capital of People of the Snake." Snakes were reverenced as sacred in Mayan tradition, which explains in part why early Spanish Catholic depictions of the Virgin Mary have her in domination over these natural elements as she stands on a crescent moon (also reverenced by the Mayans) which rests upon a wriggling snake.

The first photo you see in this blog is Chris and me standing at the top of Temple 13 (with the "Palace" in background) which has recently received archaeological attention due to the discovery of an inner burial site of a richly adorned man. The photo of the skull is an indication that "Day of the Dead" celebrations are pre-Christian traditions that took on the veneer of "All Saints' Day," death being considered by Mayan people's as the culmination of one's life (not a negative "ending") as one transition to another manisfestation. The final photo is of unreadable symbols; scholars have yet to decifer their meaning. A mysterious, haunting place, filled with a teaming sense of complex peoples and purposes. It was a long van ride home, twisting along mountain roads in rain and thick fog, arriving down into the warm and lively San Cristobal streets filled with today's Mayan people.

-ASG

Chris' 55th Birthday, Part 1

Having recovered from fever and aches of several days, Chris valiently joined me on the trek to the Mayan ruins of Palenque. We left right after dawn, on a 12 passanger van, climbing through dry rolling hills of tall pine and scrub oak and then into rain (for the rest of the journey) of the lush rainforest itself high in the mountains. Passing through small villages and larger towns, filled with small concrete houses and tiny stores along the road selling the ever-present sodas, chips, packaged sweets (another of our finer USA exports...), we spotted numerous murals and references both to the EZLN (Zapatistas) and to Che Quevarra. This is the region where the EZLN has received alot of local support, as they have challenged government forces to return ancestral lands to the indigenous Mayan people here. Some of these towns up here have actually succeded from the state and are providing their own schools, electricity, water, etc. We first stopped at a popular site called "Aqua Azul" to view the "Blue Waters." Well, as you can see from the first photo of the Birthday Guy, that day it was "Aqua Caffe con Leche" due to the large amount of rain recently. We spotted one of the jungle "ceiba" trees, from which the Mayan people (up to the present) construct their large green/blue/aqua colored crosses (see previous blog of cross in Chamula). These crosses are often in front of homes and always in front of Chiapas region Catholic churches, representing the complex Mayan symbolism that the people incorporated into their veneer of the imposed Catholicism after the Conquest. The next photos of "banos" for "caballeros y damas" next to the satillite dish seems to summarize much of what I see throughout the Chiapas region....rustic and poor mixing with new and modern. As we drove home that night, winding forever on the rain splattered dark road filled with huge trucks, speeding cabs, small local buses, big tourist buses, I could see the blue-grey glow of televisions from inside even the most modest dwellings and small stores. And to think they are watching stations from the States which, to me, show us in our most consumptive and unreflective light. The final photo is Chris and a young couple who traveled with us that day, at the "Casaba de Misol Ha," high falls which plummet into a large pool below. Helen and Matt are from the UK, and have just finished a year in Guatemala City and surrounds, working for an NGO called "Peace Brigade." Serving with this human rights watch group, they would be assigned to accompany a variety local community activists and politicians whose lives had been threatened by the government (or sometimes by guerrilla forces), thereby assuring local embassy and national attention to the harassment and possible imprisionment/injury/death. Helen and Matt talked about how many more Europeans travel to Guatemala and Chiapas than North Americans, simply because they are more aware of and in simpathy with the Zapatistas. "We are in solidarity with them and their cause," remarked Helen. They were headed next to the Yucatan and then Cuba (which one can do on a UK passport.....but not one from USA at this point). I write this now from San Miguel de Allende, where we will be for the next 6 weeks. It's always great to hear responses to our blog postings, and we send you all our warm regards....

-ASG