Greetings from Chiapas!

November 13, 2016

Dear Friends and Family:

On my first morning in the bunk room at the Institute for Intercultural Study and Research (INESIN),  the organization  I will be working with in the city San Cristobal de las Casas, state of Chiapas, México, a familiar buzzing sound greets me on my way to the bathroom.  I veer off course, hunting through the flowers, my eyes flicking back and forth as I know I will only catch a glimpse of the sound-maker.  It is there and then in an instant, gone.  The sound disappears.  A hummingbird has welcomed me to the city and to this new life.

As I seek to get my bearings in a maze of narrow streets with sidewalks so thin that they disappear at intervals where the lamp posts sprout, I wonder and wander: new sounds of Mayan people chattering in tseltal or tzotzil, comforting childhood smells of "tortillerías" (shops where corn tortillas are made),  sights of tiled roofs superimposed on memories of similar roofs in rural Paraguay or Chile.  One moment I feel right at home; the next I speculate that I must have arrived on a different planet.

On Sunday I attend a tiny church on the edges of another tourist town, Chiapa de Corzo, which was founded in 1400 before Christ.  It was a center of commerce for the Olmec and Mayan people, two of the oldest known pre-Hispanic civilizations.  Today the town is best known for a January festival with both pre-Hispanic and Colonial roots where male dancers wear white masks and fuzzy yellow mushroom like hats, and there is music, food, and crafts.  The women wear dresses made from black netting and elaborate embroidery.   In the midst of the flood of new information as I walk through the town, I am again comforted by the familiar.   I know every song in the worship service by heart; we sing to the tune of a guitar as we would in a small semi-rural church in Chile. 

Monday morning, the administrator at INESIN, takes me to visit a house he has scouted out for me to consider as I hunt for living quarters.  I don´t like the house.  It is dark and has empty lots on three sides.  "Patience," says Brother Natanael. "We have plenty of time and many options to look at."  On our way back to the office, we spot a "for rent" sign on a house only a block away.  We call the number and early Tuesday morning we go look at the house.  Over the wall, in the neighbor's flowering bushes, I hear the familiar sound:  Hummingbirds welcoming me home!  This house has plenty of light,  the kitchen, living room and dining room  are all in one big downstairs space with a bathroom off to one side,  and two rooms upstairs with another bathroom.  And the cherry on the cake is wifi and telephone already installed!  Natanael has already warned me that it could take up to three months to get telephone and wifi service.    My house hunting ends after one day and after looking at only one other house.  I know that this is God's  answer to the prayers of many!  The last few days I have been tracking down furniture and appliances, washing windows, cleaning, and trying to make this rental house into my home.  

Everyone here is talking about the US elections.  Most people have been understanding and gentle in discussing the results while at the same time remembering the saying that goes, "when the US sneezes, Mexico catches pneumonia."  I have already been warned never to visit an indigenous community without a guide.  US, Canadian and European mining companies are known to be scouting out the region looking for new mineral deposits.  In Mexico, according to an old Spanish law, people own what is on the surface of the land, but if a company buys the rights,  it can legally extract the minerals even if it means ousting legal land owners or communities.  Native communities are resisting the mining companies as best they know how.  Many people in Chiapas have either traveled to seek work in the US or have family members who have immigrated.   Yesterday my  cab driver stated sadly while solemnly shaking his head, "if new policies cause more Mexicans to be mistreated in the US,  I don´t know if we will be able to keep people from mistreating US citizens living in Mexico."  

I want to thank each of you for your prayers on my behalf in this new ministry.  After one week in San Cristobal de las Casas, I know I have a lot to learn.  I am grateful for my new colleagues at INESIN for all the ways that they have made me feel welcome (fresh bouquet of flowers in my room when I arrived, a set of keys to the grounds and main rooms, and my own office space with a computer!)  Please continue to pray for me as I settle in, build relationships,  and find my way around. 

As I finish this letter, I can hear the hummingbirds even though I can´t see them on the other side of the wall.   The Guaraní people of Paraguay believe that hummingbirds indicate the place and instant where heaven caresses  the earth.   I am reminded of Psalm 85:10-13 "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.  Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.  The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.  Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps."  I pray  that my new home, with hummingbirds as neighbors, might be just such a place. 

Shalom,

Elena