San Juan Chamula

On Saturday morning, we left San Cristobal de las Casas (I was sad because I have fallen in love with the city). We headed up a mountain, fog surrounding the van, to 2 smaller towns. The first stop was San Juan Chamula. It had a population of about 40,000 people, but it truly felt smaller than Pella. The downtown area was packed full because it was Sunday market time, which is the biggest market of the week. We had a little problem getting through the crowds because everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and where they were going- except us!

We wanted to check out the church, which was amazing. It was a colonial era Catholic cathedral. However, because the people are Mayan, they mix ancient Mayan beliefs and traditions with the Catholic faith. We walked inside the church to find the floor covered in pine needles- it made it slippery so I had to be careful! People were seated all over the floor (there were no pews). They were lighting small candles and setting them in rows all over the floor, then letting them burn down into piles of wax. They also had bottles of coke or other pop alongside them. Part of their belief involves burping, so they drink pop to make themselves burp a lot. I would fit in quite well here! :)

We wandered slowly and quietly to the front of the church, where more people were little candles. Apparently they were sacrificing chickens, or preparing too, but I didn't see this- thankfully.

On our way out of the church, near the back, several women with babies were gathered. They were dressing their babies in white clothes. They were preparing to baptize their children, we think. A priest or someone was wandering around, watching the children, so we assume that the baptism was happening soon. We left quickly because another large tourist group was coming in.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the town of San Juan Chamula. In previous years, people's cameras have been taken away, not to be given back, if they took pictures anywhere in town. So we didn't risk it. However, other tourists were, but the townfolks didn't look too happy about it.

We had about an hour to explore the town, so Caleb and I set off to find some nice souvenirs for people. I found some nice souvenirs for a good price, which always makes me happy! Then we headed back up the big hill to get to the van. There were lots of little kids hanging around the van, ready to sell us stuff. That nearly breaks my heart to see young kids selling goods on the street. But man they are good sellers! It's pretty hard to refuse them.