It has been a long week. After countless attempts to find a place to live I was finally able to nail one down. I did take a little break from the apartment search on Wednesday afternoon (May 23) because it was the UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan. I am thinking it was a good idea to take a break because it seemed like more than half of the town took the afternoon off to watch the match as well. As I was eating my tacos al pastor I realized pretty quick I was the only one in the taquería cheering for the Reds (Liverpool). The owner came over to me and said he was cheering for the “English team” too, so he sat with me for the second half and bought me a beer, even though AC Milan defeated Liverpool 2-1.
I get the feeling that picture taking or walking around with a camera is a little taboo and many people avoid you the minute they see that camera in your hand. I have been trying to go out earlier in the morning when there are not as many people out in order to take some photos. I have been intrigued by the graffiti on the walls. Much of it is just a quick spray paint job of a short sentence or a couple words but they stand out like billboards on the small, tight quartered streets. Many of my photos of the graffiti have turned out quite nicely and I am thinking that this could be a side project on its own. I will definitely keep taking pictures of the street art, whether legal or illegal, when I have the opportunity.
One day this week while I was taking pictures to send to friends and family I had a weird moment of déjà vu, I suddenly felt this overwhelming sense of “I’ve seen this before”. At the north end of the main square stands the Palacio Municipal (City Hall). I can’t find the exact picture I’m thinking of but it might be in John Ross’s book Rebellion from the Roots, which sadly might be out of print. The picture shows dead bodies outside of the Palacio Municipal and it is a very grueling image. The picture I took shows what that same outdoor hallway looks like today. The moment was pretty surreal knowing that there were dead bodies killed in the fire fight in this very same hall way I am walking through and searching the public boards to find an apartment.
I finally made it to the market this week. I ended up buying some blackberries (zarzamoras) and for 10 pesos (93 cents) the lady gave me well over a pound! The market is a rainbow explosion of every color possible and very beautiful. The majority of the people milling around buying and selling were indigenous and I quickly came to the realization that, as ironic as it is, I might be one of the few people here that speak Spanish. I’m not quite sure about the exact numbers but of the 60 or 62 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico I have heard from varying sources that Chiapas is home to about almost 30 of them.
To be brief, I have to return to the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (Frayba) on Monday (May 28) at 4:00pm. At that time, I will find out to which community I will be going to for 15 days to do observation and documentation for Frayba. One thing I am not quite clear on is that I have heard that Frayba doesn’t exclusively work with Zapatista communities but before brigadistas (observers like me) go out to a community it has to be approved by the Caracol…interesting. Remember the Carcoles? Hopefully we will be able to talk more about what is happening with them when I return. JT
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