Chiapas Chonicle #2.....

Hi Everyone,

This past week at Oventik has been both amazing and difficult. I have been staying at an autonomous Zapatista center. To get in we first had to wait two hours to present our passports to the Buen Gobeirno (the local Zapatista governing body for that area. The people in El Buen Gobeirno "The Good Government" are constantly rotating and are made up of both men and women). Finally they opened the gates and we were let in. The center is truly amazing.

There are several shops, a free clinic, a free middle school, a weaving and artesan cooperative, an internet "cafe" (not much of a cafe and it takes about five minutes for a page to load), education centers, a shoe and leather making cooperative, and political centers. Every single building has a beautiful mural on it, including the free clinic. At the clinic they also have an ambulance. The center itself was built communally by Zapatistas after their first center was taken over the Mexican government and turned into a military base. Every few days we can hear helicopters overhead.

At the free middle school we are studying at the "Escuela De Lenguas" or the international language school. There are us 15 students and then about 5 more who are not in our group but are studying there. Our teachers are young "promotores" or promoters from ages 15-22. They do not speak English but do speak Spanish and Tzotzil. The school has no formal teachers but only has "promoters" who help the classes move along and to clarify issues. They teach in the spirit of Paulo Freire who wrote "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (I would recommend it strongly).

The center itself is incredibly simple. We are sleeping in simple barack style cabins with no indoor heating. This is a big deal because it is very cold in the Highlands of Chiapas, especially after dark. Most days are totally rainy or so foggy it feels like you are walking in a cloud. While this can be very magical, it also makes things very cold and soggy. All our water is found outdoors in spigots and is not hot. There are little showers but the water is cold and the weather is so damp that it only make sense to shower on days when it is warm, which is rare. The bathrooms are cement stalls outdoors that we pour water into the toilets to make them flush. Missing all the comforts of home is actually harder than I imagined, especially after a week of it being too cold to shower and being cold. I also was very sick for a day, which made it worse. Still, we can come back on the weekends to San Cristobal if we want and it makes me so much more thankful for what I do have.

One of the amazing things about the Zapatistas is their attitude towards women. Everyone at the center is taught to use "nosotros and nosotras" and include both genders when they are talking. There was also a big discussion about the Women's Zapatista Revolutionary Law" (http://www.spunk.org/texts/places/mexico/sp000905.txt) with the young middle school students. Afterwards the female students had to articulate their interpretation of the law which they did with strength and conviction. We sing a lot of songs about the Zapatista, including a Zapatista anthem and a song telling women that they are not slaves they are women and they deserve happiness and a partner who treats them with love and respect. Very cool.

Last week we also went to a Zapateria cooperative, or shoemakers cooperative. The men working their (though it is open to women, no women want to work there and most of the women are in women's cooperatives) put in about three hours a week. They make the most beautiful shoes as well as wallets, belts, and other leather products. There is no boss, only people who help organize the shop and the men do not make money from their work. Instead with some of the money they collectively buy food products that they share amongst the people in the cooperative and the rest of the money goes back to the community to help with the school or community.

The kids there are very nice but also shy and I think they think we are pretty weird. We must appear to be weird, lumbering giants who can't speak spanish and don't know how to work the toilets. There are also lots of little kids of the people who work there (the only people who really live in Oventik are the people who work there, the kids at the school, and us). The really little kids are super cute and there are a lot of nice fathers there, which is always wonderful to see. The kids favorite game is basketball, which both the men and women play. Next weekend we will be staying all week for a big celebration (International Women's Day i think) where there will be a women's basketball tournament. I am planning to enter with some of our friends, though our only advantage is our height and we will probably get our asses kicked.

More later! I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer everyone's email. I have very little access to internet and there is always a lot to do on the internet, like applying for internships (let me know if you know of any in NYC!) so I can't answer everyone. I love getting your messages though and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. I'm sorry, I forgot to take pictures this week but I will have some when I email later (probably two weeks from now).

Much much much love,

Marlena