Various Places in Chiapas

I thought that I would just take a few minutes and post some more pictures from my trip to Chiapas. One of my favorite places to visit (other than the archaeological sites) was the indigenous town of Zinacantan (it's the town tucked away in between those mountains in one of my pics below). We were only given an hour here, but we had a guide, Felipa, who joined us for the twenty minute busride from San Cristobal over to her town of Zinacantan. She explained some things to us and taught us some expressions in her language, Tzotzil. I can only remember how to say 'buenos dias' which is "mili oh shike' (I'm just writing it out phonetically because of course I don't know how to spell in Tzotzil- it's mee lee oh shee kay or something like that). I found all of the language lessons to be fascinating. She even sang us a couple of songs in Tzotzil. Anyways, here I am with Felipa's sister whose name escapes me. But these women weave for a living and Felipa was kind enough to invite us (all 46 of us) into her home to see all of the things that she and her family weave. They were also kind enough to let us take some pictures; in many indigenous towns across Mexico (as in the Southwestern US), you aren't allowed to take pictures at all and it's very rude to take pics without asking first (you may be charged to take a picture but for a minimal fee). So I asked a group of women if I could take their picture as they came walking by but only one of them responded in Spanish and the others just smiled and nodded 'yes'. I hope to be able to come back to Chiapas one day and spend a lot more time here. Oh, the last picture in this series of five photos is of Felipa with two of the students from the UDLA dressed in the "traditional" bride and groom outfits for those getting married in Zinacantan.

Then we went to San Juan Chamula (part of the collection of towns that were known simply as Chamula) and got to spend a whopping 45mins here. I had a funny experience here: as soon as we pulled into a parking lot, tons of these indigenous women and children came running over to the bus, even before we got off, to start trying to sell their crafts. I was first approached by a woman named Maria and she tied a cool, well-made bracelet onto my wrist, letting me know that this was a "gift" from her. She asked me my name and then said that she would look for me when we returned to the bus. Well, the 45mins were up and so we went back to the bus and Maria found me, called me by name, and began to try to sell me one of her many items that she had made. I eventually bought two "hand-made" sunglass cases (which look machine-made to me) because Maria informed me that she would have to take back the bracelet that she gave me if I did not buy something from her. It was funny to me; a lot of the indigenous peoples in Chiapas are astute business people and as soon as they see foreigners coming, they turn on that charm. But from my perspective, studying Mexican Anthropology now for over a year, it's difficult for me to say no to them or to haggle with them when I know that the prices that they originally offer are really good (for both the consumer and the producer-maybe not so much for the producer). I just wish that I could have spent more time here in San Juan Chamula. The men that have on the white, fuzzy vests are Tzeltal (I believe). There are lots of indigenous groups in Chiapas, each with their own language, history, and culture.

These are some pics from Agua Azul (and one can definitely observe why this place is called Blue Water). It was beautiful here and I tried to enjoy it as much as I could even though I couldn't breathe very well (due to illness). It did feel nice to be close to the calming effects of the cool, serene water. Some people from our group went swimming here but I try to avoid getting into confined bodies of water with hundreds of other people (this must be not only a touristy kind of place to see but also a local hotspot because there were so many people and only a few large buses but several cars with Chiapas license plates).

Here are a few pictures of Misol-Ha ('Ha' means 'water' in one of the many Mayan languages and 'Misol-Ha' means 'Streaming Water'), a beautiful little spot tucked away in the forest/jungle of Chiapas, not too far from the town of Palenque. We didn't spend too much time here because the site consists of exactly what I have shown in these pictures; but the hour or so that we were here was nice and the climate felt cooler as we stood underneath the waterfall. There were a couple of people swimming but I was so sick that there was no way I was going swimming. Anyways, I truly enjoyed this trip to Chiapas and I only have one more entry left from this adventure: Palenque. And in the very last picture, you can see where people are standing underneath and behind the waterfall.

More Chiapas: Bonampak and Yaxchilan

Bonampak is a relatively small Maya site but I truly enjoyed being able to visit this place right smack in the middle of the jungle! Bonampak is a Classic Period (250CE-800/900CE) site that was subjected to Piedras Negras and then Yaxchilan. Most of its architecture dates from about 580CE-800CE. It is famous for its murals found in structure 1 (Temple of the Murals-in one of my pics below you can see structure 1 to the far right with scaffolding) but I was impressed with Bonampak because of its location in the middle of nowhere and even for its diminutive nature, I found it to be fascinating particularly for what we still do not know. I was very excited to see the murals for myself and to experience my 2nd Maya site (Yaxchilan was earlier that day and knowing now that Bonampak was subjected to the power of Yaxchilan makes sense because of its smaller size and its proximity to Yaxchilan). Anyways, I loved seeing two Maya sites in one day. I cannot wait to post my visit to Palenque, but these two sites were impressive in their own ways.

Here are some of the images from the famous Bonampak murals which date to about 790CE, just before the beginning of the ninth century. They were painted as frescos and I am amazed that they even still exist (after more than 1200 years!!) and can be seen! I was absolutely astounded by these murals; and so ecstatic to be able to see these firsthand, with my own eyes. I know that it's a bit difficult to see the images; over time they have really faded and we were only allowed into two of the three rooms as one of them, I guess, is being reconstructed. Also, it is difficult to take pictures of these murals without a flash (because of course that is not allowed) and you aren't allowed to really enter the room; there is railing that prevents you from going past the first two or three feet into the room. But I thoroughly enjoyed coming to Bonampak to see these still impressive murals that document a procession of musicians, the sacrifice of scribes (which is of special interest for me and my thesis), a king being dressed and attended to by royal courtiers, and other interesting court activities.

Although Bonampak is famous for the murals of structure 1, I found that these stelae were fascinating and very detailed. The largest one is quite large and found in the middle of the grounds at Bonampak. Bonampak is not a big site but it was very interesting and I am so glad that I was able to come to this site and witness the murals, the stelae, the dense jungle, and the intricacies of a smaller Maya site.

This final series of five photos are of Yaxchilan. I made a little error when creating this blog entry but I don't really care that it's a little out of sequence. So this shows what has been called the smallest ball court in Mesoamerica, the front of the Temple 33, some other buildings around the site of Yaxchilan (including the long descent from the Temple 33 to the ground), and the Ceiba tree which was and is an important element for the Maya.

So the very first Maya site that I have ever been to was Yaxchilan (Yash-chee-laan). I absolutely loved it! We had to get on these little boats and take a 45min ride on the Usumacinta River in order to get to Yaxchilan (in

the picture looking out from the boat Mexico is on the left and Guatemala is on the right). Yaxchilan is right in the middle of the jungle so it was rather humid. It is situated on a bend in the Usumacinta. It's location provides a natural area of surrounding hills that the Maya viewed as a horizon calendar and the early rulers of Yaxchilan no doubt substantiated their right to power by reading the interplay of astronomy and landscape. Some inscriptions found at Yaxchilan indicate that the Classic Period dynasty was started by King Yopaat B'alam I in 359CE. The inscriptions also display Yaxchilan's involvement in the skirmishes of the day, particularly in regards to Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan's closest neighbor. Yaxchilan is famous for some wooden lintels that were found at the site but that now reside in foreign museums. It is a rather large site and I loved seeing the main parts of it.

This is actually the backside of Temple 33. I thought that it was fascinating to see this structure through the trees as we came walking up the path. This site is literally right in the middle of the jungle. Also, when they first excavated this building, they found the beheaded statue and wondered where the head could be. As they further excavated, they found the head in the very next room. I thought that was interesting. It was extremely hot and humid as we walked around Yaxchilan but of course, I enjoyed it because it was, after all, my very first Maya site to visit.

And here are a few more images from Yaxchilan. It is a beautiful site and I really enjoyed being here. The Ancient Maya were great builders but they never figured out a "true" arch and I find that fact interesting. Because of that, I am including a picture of the "Maya" arch which allowed them to expand upon spaces but not like they could have if they had known about a true arch. Anyways, the site was pretty big but we were only given an hour and a half with the guide so we could only see and speak about the main buildings around Yaxchilan.