4 October 2006 - Smiles in San Cristobal

San Cristobal Zoccalo

It’s twilight in the magical city of San Cristobal, my second day here, and I have so much to tell.
I got here yesterday morning, and got into Posada Jaridn hostel, owned by a nice smiling couple. The hostel is really nice, an internal court yard (which is very typical to the Colonial architecture brought here by the Spanish people), and the smell of incense (apparently the couple is tightly religious and they have their very own little cathedral right at the entrance to my room, with candles and incense burning all day and all night...), but the place was totally empty from other guests (except for these two lesbian French girls...), and I said to myself that if it stays this way I will move to another one.
A bit foggy from the long bus ride, I started wandering through the streets, exploring the city. Ah, what a beautiful place this is. High up on the green mountains, so high that the clouds kiss their tops, narrow paved streets, small houses with different colors as if they were taken out of a fairy-tale, smiling Indian-looking people wearing colorful fabrics and everything looking very authentic. Unlike the almost-western, hot and humid Yukatan area, in this place, because of its height and isolation (it is mostly cold and cloudy and there are drizzles all through the day), the people maintain a very simple and inspiring way of life. When you explore the villages around or go to the local market you feel as if time stood still here.

The first hours of my stay here were pretty sad. I felt lonely and sorry for myself like a deserted cat. No matter where I went, I only saw locals, not a single tourist, and it felt like - where is everybody? Is there something they didn’t tell me? I became very introverted and missed my glorious days in Isla Mujeres, with Alit and Mor and the parties and the great many people we met there. A lump of tears was stuck in my throat. What an emotional fool I am.
But around the afternoon hours, when the sun was getting ready to set, I decided to get my acts together and make a switch. Got into this travel agency and booked myself a tour to the nearby villages of Mayan people for the day after. In the process I got engaged in a really fascinating conversation with the owner of the travel agency - Jo´se, a 32 year old guy, well traveled and well educated (and not so bad looking for a Mexican I might add), who eventually offered me to go out for a drink in the evening, but I gently said no, because although I think he was a really decent guy, it felt kind of weird to go out alone with him.
From there I went to have dinner at a famous bar that was empty and quiet at the beginning, but as I sat down and got my Sole beer (Mexican) and Quesadillas, a live band started playing this beautiful music and I was hypnotized by it, so I didn’t even notice how the place got filled up with locals and tourists (turns out that it’s one of the trendiest places around), and then right next to me set down this guy who started sketching the band and people around. After a while we started talking. He’s a German-American painter who considers himself a Buddhist, a very interesting person, who has been living in San Cristobal for the past year, painting. We also met an Israeli couple which I met on the bus and a 22 year old Salsa instructor named Raimundo, who promised to teach me some complicated moves...
From that bar we moved to another one, where a young band of Mexicans was playing a wonderful Reggae music and the atmosphere there was so cheerful!
And before I knew it, from a lonely and secluded feeling, this evening turned out to be so amazing and filled with people, conversations and fun.
When the night ended I went back to my hostel and fell right asleep with a smile on my face, a smile of happiness and yes, of pride.
That was my first day traveling all by myself and in spite of the initial shock and stress, I did just fine…
This morning I got up early to go on the tour. We were a group of 16 people from different countries and immediately I met Tehila - also a solo traveler that plans to go to Guatemala soon and we might go together!
The Van took us up the mountain to the Mayan village Chamuya, where you see people living the same way they did decades ago, wearing their Indian colorful clothes, carrying their babies on their back, women who work with wood and weave and have the longest braids ever, decorated with ribbons... it was really fascinating to learn about their beliefs and religion. As we got into their church - I wanted to cry: I saw the largest amount of candles I have ever seen in my life, the smell of pine needles burning filled the dense air and the big hall was packed with local people, on their knees, mumbling prayers in their special Mayan language with such devotion and deep belief.
These Mayan people believe in reincarnation, in which - just like the course of the day - when the sun rises life begins and when it sets life as we know it ends, but the sun isn’t dead, it just starts a journey on the other side which we cannot see, and then comes back to this life after this cycle is complete. Same with the human soul: It has it’s time here and then when the body dies it starts a journey on the other side, and in the end of it comes back to this world: Same soul, in a different body. How beautiful is that.
Everything in their religion is about duality - The good and the bad, the light and the darkness, male and female... and it all completes each other in a prefect way.
So these were the first two days alone on this trip, in San Cristobal. Soon I will meet Tehila for dinner and then we will go out. Now I will be the one showing her around and taking her to places I discovered after 1 day here by myself…
Tomorrow I’m meeting Mark the painter, he’s going to show me some of the hidden treasures of the city... how cool.