Ven a bailar con nosotros!

Hola compas! I have returned yet again to San Cristóbal after a very intense few days of preparation and a grueling excursion with an organization called CAPISE (the link to their website is at the right). This time around the work was much more intense than the work with Frayba. We visited Caracol V “Roberto Barrios” first to meet with the Junta and to be authorized to go work in communities that are in resistance. The Brigadas were created by the “Comosión Sexta” from the Caracoles asking that national and international people visit territories and communities that are under constant threat of being pushed off their land. We visited a total of three communities in order to listen to their stories and to document the multiple human rights abuses that are occurring. It is so sad to see big political party murals painted on the walls and on the side of government vehicles, including the police, with saying like “Chiapas – deeds, not words” or “Working for all of Chiapas” when it is blatantly obvious that a large part of the population is being excluded though a strong and conscious effort of the state and local government with help from paramilitaries.
Again, the communities we stayed in and the people who received us were amazing and very happy that we had come to visit. We were in the “Zona Norte” and let me tell you, it was/is hot! In the North and North eastern part of Chiapas the main language spoken is Ch’ol, so I wasn’t able to use the Tzotzil I have been learning over the last month, but some of the kids were more than eager to try to teach you some. From what I was able to understand from the Ch’ol/Spanish mixed conversations children do not being to learn Spanish until they are about 9 or 10 years old. So few of the children speak Spanish, the women almost never (very few exceptions), but usually most of the men speak Spanish to an extent. Spanish is a second language for me as well so we usually joked about the time and effort required to learn a foreign language. One of the great things is that we were always learning from each other, especially language. I’m not sure how useful some of the words and phrases I learned are….for examples, the Tzeltal word for “slingshot” is “ule”. (A lot of the little boys carried them around). Also, the Tzeltal word for “star” is “ek”. Ch’ol for “let’s go bathe (in the river)” is “k’uts’e u’me” (spelling?). Where some of the boys would teach me how to look for ocote (wood with dried tree sap that helped to start fires quickly) and teach me about very “local knowledge”, and I would tell them about how fast airplanes go. The people were always very grateful that you came to visit and walk and talk with them in this time of struggle, hoping someday they could get on an airplane that travels 950Km per hour to come visit you to learn how you live and how you resist “el mal gobierno”.
It was very eye opening seeing how isolated many of the places we visited are. Some days we traveled up to 8 hours in the back of 5 different pick-up trucks but only covered a distance of 120 km, which speaks to the lack of infrastructure proving that the state and local governments are not really “Working for Chiapas”.
I’m going to spend my last 2 weeks here in San Cristóbal trying to help CAPISE revise the documentation/interview form/guide that is used by brigadistas to try to record as much information as possible when visiting communities.
This weekend, however, we plan to attend the Encuentros. The Encuentros begin this Friday, July 20th at Caracol “Oventik” about an hour north of San Cristóbal. The Encuentros will be a chance for the rest of the world, with an invitation from all the communities living in resistance, to practice what the Zapatistas try to do daily. There will be round table discussions to learn about the current situations in Chiapas concerning health, education, organizing, work, autonomy, women’s rights, etc. The idea is to observe, listen, and ask questions in order to understand how others resist and organize but to also learn more about oneself and to reflect on the work that is being done in your community as well as here in Chiapas. We will be going to Oventik for sure, but I am not quite sure if we will make it to Caracol Morelia. Our Brigada did receive, however, a direct invitation from the Junta de Buen Gobierno at Caracol Roberto Barrios to attend the Encuentro in Carcol Morelia because the Junta is planning on being there. They want us to “Ven, ven a bailar con nosotros!”, the Junta wants you to know that they are inviting you. “C’mon, come and dance with us!”
I have so many stories to tell and pictures to show all of you when I return. The blog doesn’t do justice to the photos I post. Plus, I have so many stories there is no way I can type them all out on the blog for you all, lo siento mucho pero así es.
I almost forgot, El Sup will be in San Cristóbal on July 19th so we might get a chance to hear him speak, if not we’ll see him at the Encuentros for sure. That’s all for today…keep on resisting!