Community & Smores

 Welcome to Pueblo Nuevo Sitala!

After a 5 hour ride, crammed in the backseat of a pick-up truck, up the winding and rocky mountain road we made it to our second community visit with the wonderful people from K'inal.

Main Street

Pueblo Nuevo Sitala is a rural, indigenous community almost a mile high in the Sierra del Madre mountain range of Southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas.  The women from the Jolom Mayaetik Cooperative who are from Pueblo Nuevo Sitala have a new center where they meet, eat, work and welcome guests.    My job during this trip was to observe, take photos and present my design for a mural that will eventually cover a wall in their new center.  

Mural Design Draft

I briefly shared the mural design and observed the women plan and discuss the development of the cooperative-- while the rest of our two days in Pueblo Nuevo was spent struggling to stay "entertained" as we did not have anything familiar to do or anywhere to go on our downtime.   Without our usual electronic devices and distractions we were ended up picking fruit, examining bugs and throwing rocks down the mountainside with the children who were also unoccupied and waiting for their mothers.  Still, I felt stuck as I was forced to face my acquired need to be entertained, despite standing in the midst of beautiful people and breathtaking landscape.

I knew that I was far outside of my usual comforts and conveniences of daily life. I wanted to check my email, take a shower when I felt like it, eat what I wanted. In the midst of my frustration, I thought to myself "why do I complicate my life so much with so many distractions and manufactured needs?"    I have not found an answer for this question and I am still aggravated by the grip that modern conveniences have on my life.

Back to what was happening in the backdrop of my existential dilemma... During the day, the women were presented with a skirt which a textiles student from Mexico City designed for the women to use.   Several women tried the skirt on and modeled it for the others, discussing how they could replicate the skirt with their traditional design and embellishments.  In the evening, the center filled up with husbands and sons of the women of Pueblo Nuevo.  Cesar, our driver, who we thought was just a skilled conductor, was also there to assist the men in the promotion and maintenance of their coffee production.

Community Elders-First Smore

First Roasted Marsmallow!

While he spoke with the men, we anxiously waited for dinner with the 3 other Mexican students and the children.  Despite the fact that this sounds like a very United States American idea, I swear that the students from Mexico city, Camila, Pepe and Sofi, suggested that we make smores while we wait. So we made our way through the woods to the small convenience store on the main street of Pueblo Nuevo.    We bought a the only bag of marshmallows they had, 2 rolls of Maria cookies, and the last of their chocolate.    Though, making smores did not ease the sting of my earlier frustration with myself, the sugar renewed my energy and I definitely wouldn't trade anything for this chance to see the community elders eating the strange treat which we presented them.

The Center

The next day, as we made our way down the rocky road and listened to Abba, I felt grateful for the beautiful people who shared their community and lives with us, for our coworkers at K'inal for bringing us so far to observe, and for the opportunity to be here in Chiapas.