The Wanderer » San Cristobal de las Casas

Mexico (Part 22) A special visit to a school on the outskirts of San Cristobal de las Casas

sbarrymore — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:00:57 +0000

The last day in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Since we are from Oklahoma, we asked Helga at Instituto Jovel to try to set up a tour of an agricultural project for our last afternoon in San Cristobal de las Casas. She obliged.

A taxi took us out to the outskirts of town, dropped us off and we ended up a school that was similar to a vo-tech training school with lots of activities going on such as carpenter shop, bakery, welding shop, vegetable gardens, etc.

We went into the office, explained who we were, and why we were there. The director assigned a young lady to give us a walking tour—totally in Spanish. She spoke no English.

Have to say, it was really interesting to see the students all focusing on learning a trade. We stopped in several of the buildings and spoke with students. They seemed as interested in us as we did in them.

One of the school buildings-

More of the school buildings–

Typical students walking to class–

In the bakery, they wanted us to sample some of their cooking. I could have stayed in there all day!!

Carol going into the bakery-

After about an hour, our tour guide said goodbye and allowed us to walk through the property by ourselves. We promised to obey any signs dictating where not to walk, etc.

The Carpenter Shop

As we strolled through the vegetable gardens (all organic)the health and size of the plants was really amazing.

Translation of the above sign–You are prohibited from cutting the medicinal plants

Carol pulling a weed–who is kidding who?

The corn looked to be at least 10 feet high. High as an elephant’s eye!

At one point, one of the workers came out of the field to speak with us. He answered all of our questions and asked us questions in return about what types of vegetables we grew in our garden at home.

At the end of the afternoon, we certainly felt like we may have been two of only a handful of outsiders that had been privileged to have observed this training school.

Next-Final comments about San Cristobal de las Casas

If you want some great Mexican food recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/ Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico(Part 21)The market of San Juan de Chamula and the opportunity for a new wife!

sbarrymore — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:30:56 +0000

It was in the market where we had our chance to practice all the Spanish we had learned.

The street surrounding the market of San Juan de Chamula

The Market of San Juan de Chamula

Teresa introduced me to one of her personal friends who ran a small food stand. The lady was interested in my life in the U.S. I told her about my vegetable garden that I tended as a hobby.

Check out the fresh vegetables of the San Juan de Chamula market

Soon, other vendors began to gather around evesdropping on my story, until there was an audience of (9) nine vendors encircling me listening intently to my description of my garden. Of course, this was all in Spanish.

We suddenly were no longer tourists in their market, but had evolved into their friends sharing information about our life in the U.S.

Teresa finally told us it was time to go. One of the vendors, a woman, followed us to the car. She spoke to me very quickly in a Mayan dialect. Since I don’t speak Mayan I asked Teresa to translate. She said the woman was intrigued by my garden stories and wanted to come to the U.S. with us and work beside me in my vegetable garden!

It was at this time that Carol gently whispered into my ear “your stories of your vegetable garden are over lover-boy—you are not bringing any strange women back with you to help in the garden. No new wives!”. With that, we hurredly left San Juan de Chamula. It was a fun day.

Next-A special visit to a school on the outskirts of San Cristobal de las Casas

If you want some great Mexican food holiday recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 20) Eating REAL Mexican tortillas in San Juan de Chamula

sbarrymore — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:06:55 +0000

Carol bought a couple of inexpensive fabrics in the house/shop we were visiting. We then sat down in the kitchen with the family and ate the REAL Mexican tortillas made over an open fire on the floor.

This is the entrance to the kitchen

Preparing the tortillas from scratch

Time to throw more tortillas on the fire

Carol throwing down some tortillas-notice how stuffed her cheeks are–Hey, save some for me!!

I wasn’t sure the health department would approve of our dining situation, but it is one of those experiences you cannot afford to pass up and we were better for it. We probably ate 20 tortillas. Some of the helpers with the dishes We were leaving the house when I saw the above photo opp which I thought was interesting. I turned around and quickly captured it.

In SJC there is a very interesting church with an incredible religious history that is much too complicated to go into on a blog, so you will just have to go yourself. Don’t miss it! I will tease you with a photo of the doors of the church. After the church tour we went out into the plaza and were in the middle of a huge market.

Next- The Market of San Juan de Chamula and an opportunity for a new wife!

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico(Part 19)The fabrics of San Juan de Chamula, Chiapas

sbarrymore — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:21:34 +0000

San Juan de Chamula

This was a trip that Helga from the school set up for Carol and me with a private guide.

At the end of classes on Wednesday, our guide, Teresa, came to the school and off we went in a taxi up into the hills to visit one of the most colorful villages in the area–San Juan de Chamula!

In SJC we went into the home of a local family who sold some beautiful fabrics that you can see here in the photos.

Pretty neat stuff, huh? But, we weren’t leaving the house quite yet….there were still tortillas to eat in the kitchen.

Next-Eating REAL Mexican tortillas

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/ Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 18) Photos of the colors and architecture of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

sbarrymore — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:18:15 +0000

Again, I think photos tell the best story. Here is a very small sample of the colors and architecture you will find when strolling the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. Enjoy.

Next-The fabrics of San Juan de Chamula

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 16)-Finishing Spanish classes at Instituto Jovel in Chiapas

sbarrymore — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:29:18 +0000

The school was very modern and the classrooms very comfortable. It was in a great area with lots of great restaurants and shops nearby.

Here is Carol checking out the school library

When I travel to foreign destinations, I always like to have some real localized experiences. Helga, the director of the school, set up several side trips for Carol and me that I will discuss in subsequent blogs. Helga also offered us several trips that had we had more time we could have had some other great local experiences.

One of my classes was with Regnaldo who is one of the directors of the school. Regnaldo kept us on the edge of our seats explaining in graphic detail the battles the state of Chiapas had with the Zapatistas who tried to overthrow the government. Many people know of Chiapas because of the Zapatista movement.

One of the most riveting stories was the one of how his injured father had been forced out of his home by the Zapatistas into the cold night. He had been told he would return and find his house burned to the ground. Fortunately, when he returned, his home was intact except for some personal belongings.

To hear these stories from someone who had experienced them was incredible! Thanks Regnaldo!!

This is the banner that was hanging in a Zapatista co-op that we visited so we could find out what this Zapatista stuff is all about.

After a week at Instituto Jovel we felt our Spanish had definitely improved.

If you are interested in attending the school here is the web address:www.institutojovel.com. I highly recommend them.

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

Next Posting-some interesting photos of the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/ San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 15) Learning Spanish at Instituto Jovel in San Cristobal

sbarrymore — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:45:43 +0000

While I have done a number of Spanish language immersion programs in Latin America, this was the first time that Carol and I had done a language immersion program together. Have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at first about us attending school together, but it worked out great! I even carried her backpack to school a couple of days. Just like highschool!!

I spent a great deal of time researching schools in San Cristobal and finally decided on Instituto Jovel. One of the owners, Helga Loebell was very responsive to my initial
e-mails and was very quick to answer all of my questions. It turned out to be a great choice for us.

We chose the 4 hour daily schedule. We attended school from 8 a.m. to 12 noon each day. It was an 8 block walk to school from Bela’s.

This is the street in front of the school

Below are some photos of the school building.

The school building is very modern

We both had outstanding teachers. We felt the quality of the education was extremely high. There were only about 10 students in the school, so most of our classes were one-on-one instruction, which made learning easier.

Next-Finishing our classes in San Cristóbal de las Casas-

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico(Part 14), The food photos of San Cristobal de las Casas

sbarrymore — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:01:42 +0000

I have often times found that people are very interested in the photos of the food that I eat in the various countries. With that in mind, I decided to group some photos of some of the food we ate in the various restaurants in San Cristobal de las Casas. You can roll the cursor on the photo for a very brief description. Here goes:

So there you have it. We found the food in San Cristobal de las Casas to be of excellent quality and quite reasonable.

Next-Instituto Jovel-Our Spanish language immersion program in San Cristóbal.

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:

Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 13) Bela’s B&B in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

sbarrymore — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:56:43 +0000

Bela’s was a great place to enjoy our stay in San Cristóbal. She has 5 rooms she rents to the myriad of travelers that are either using San Cristóbal as a destination or simply a stopover while traveling the Mayan route through Mexico.

Bela is an extremely warm and friendly hostess, and an American if you need someone who speaks English. Included in the price is a great breakfast every morning where you get to meet the other guests from around the world that are staying with her. During our 6 days there, we met people from Spain, Chile, Panama, Canada, and France. Everyone took time to introduce themselves. I believe this part of travel is the best…….meeting other people who share their travel experiences. You become instant friends.

Bela has two great cooks that really know how to prepare fantastic meals. Take a look at this photo of the kitchen below. Can you imagine the delicious food that is prepared there?

The Kitchen where the great meals were prepared

We had the blue room at the top of the house (pictured below) that had a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding mountains.

The view from the window of our room

The rooms were extremely well decorated and spic and span clean.

Our Bedroom

Even though only breakfast was included in our price, Bela invited all of her guests for a special lunch one day. Her cook, Manuela, prepared absolutely the best chile rellenos I have ever eaten in the world. The 8 guests at the luncheon table all shared their own stories of their journeys through Mexico.

The dining room: breakfast is almost ready

A typical, very healthy breakfast at Bela’s

The cozy fire in the corner of the dining room

The sitting area in the other corner of the dining room at Bela’s

Bela (Left), chatting with Carol (right). The dog could care less about the conversation.

Bottom line: If you plan to visit San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico you need to consider Bela’s. It is a very reasonable place to stay. Here is the link to her web site for more information:

www.belasbandb.com

I have some interesting photos coming up in the next few posts giving you good idea of what the town looks like and the language school we attended

Next-The food photos of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:

Colombia:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Mexico (Part 12) Taking the bus from Palenque to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

sbarrymore — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:43:08 +0000

At 2 p.m. we left on a 5 hour bus trip from Palenque to San Cristóbal.

Our bus

We had been told that it was such a winding road that we might need Dramamine if we had a propensity for motion sickness. We opted out of the Dramamine and found the journey to be very pleasant. It was one of the most beautiful drives on which I have ever been.. The countryside was stunning with very, very, green hills and many picturesque views.

The countryside as seen from the bus

After 2 ½ hours we stopped in the town of Ocosingo for a 30 minute rest stop.

From behind the gate in the bus yard of Ocosingo

Inside the bus station courtyard they were making various hot dishes for sale. Also there was a little tiny convenience store where you could buy drinks and snacks.

The backpackers are filling their backpacks with snacks

Off the road from Ocosingo are some other Mayan ruins in the town of Toniná. They are supposed to be well worth the drive, but it would have to be another time for us.

Time to leave Ocosingo

Finally about 8 p.m. that night (Sunday) about an hour behind schedule we pulled into San Cristóbal de las Casas. We had reservations at Bela’s B&B for the next 6 nights. I had researched it thoroughly on the internet and had found it had great reviews. Bela had sent me directions to her place, so we just simply grabbed a taxi. As he wove through the town we were immediately attracted to it and knew we had made a great choice.

On my next blog I will give a complete overview of Bela’s

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/