Night Life and Other Fun Things to do in San Cristobal

So now that you know a little about the environement of San Cristobal, we`ll describe the culture. Let me tell you there is a lot!!

San Cristobal de las Casas

The first day we as we wandered the streets we came upon this lovely bakery. They had cinnamon buns and chocolate crossiants ( among other things, including homemade yogurt and organic products.) I love sweeets, particularly home made ones - they just taste that much better. As it turns out this little place was part of a "cultural center," appropriately called El Punte ( the bridge.) It offered a language school, a cinema ( a projector and a large screen with plastic patio charis to view the movies from), the bakery, a shop and a resturant which had a fireplace (that they light for us one night when we had tea, cause Jay was a little under the weather.) We certainly made good use of the place and their bathrooms (typically you have to pay for the washrooms, especially if you are not a customer.)

During our stay there we saw a total of 4 movies. Each one was $2.50 and by the end the guy just kind of laughed when he saw us come to pay. Four is alot but the movies were predominatly documentaries about the state of Chiapas, the people and the struggles that hey have had. One was also about the WTO and the impact that globalization has had on the Mexican farmers. It wasn`t flattering but you got a better view into how compliacted it all is. The other 3 all focused on the Zapitistas.

The very first movie we saw was a compilation of interviews with elderly people who had joined forces with a prominent historical figure: Emmanuel Zapata. His goal was to fight for the land that was quickly being swept up by the rich, government folk. It gave you a positive impression of what this group strove to acheive and some of the faults of the leader. The people interviewed spoke highly of what happened. In the end violence was used. This has not been forgotten by the indigenous people.

These very people who respected Zapata used his methods to create an uprising starting in 1994. The other two films explained the modern day revoltution with the Zapatistas, what had happened (disagreements lasted 10 years) and how in many ways they were unsuccessful. The indigenous people were no longer simply fighting for land, but their basic rights to health care, schooling and other such things. Currently they continue to fight for these sorts of political and economical struggles but thatnkfully it is not with violence.

The films were informative and forming. They forced us to consider what peaceful living really means. It is an understatement to say that we take health