Southern Dispatch

at the request of various persons i am starting this blog in order to keep those who want to know comprised of my situation. first things first.

in october (about 2 months) ago i decided once and for all philadelphia wasn’t the place for me. i’d just found a buyer for our house and i was starting to grow weary of my job. just to be clear, i still love the rosenbach and its amazing staff — i made what i consider to be very dear, life-long friends there, i learned a lot about non-profit marketing, i very much enjoyed being thoroughly entrenched in the phialdelphia arts community, and i am thankful for the opportunity to have worked at such an interesting place. but i felt as if i was running into brick wall after brick wall and that many of my attempts to make beneficial changes weren’t being taken as seriously as i would have liked. in short, i was growing frustrated and i didn’t see much hope for substantial change anytime soon. the house sale went through and i was suddenly facing the opportunity to do something i’d always wanted to do, so i decided to move to mexico and devote more attention to writing.

fast-forward about six weeks, all of which were spent living out of suitcases and wrapping up loose ends. i put the belongings in storage (thanks roger!), left the jeep with a friend to be picked up by another mover (thanks kara!), said good-bye to philly and i flew to chiapas on saturday, november 25. as you might already know, san cristobal is in northern chiapas. the weather is basically 70 to 80 degrees during the day and 50-60 degrees at night. since it’s near the equator and situated in the mountains, the seasonal weather pattern doesn’t change much, though there is a rainy season (july-october-ish).

you might also recall that san cristrobal made international headlines almost 13 years ago on new year’s day when the previously-unknown zapatista army emerged from the jungle, took over the city and held it for a few days before federal troops came in and drove them out, killing about 150 rebels. incidentally, i wrote my graduate thesis on news coverage of this event, the first-ever attempt at revolution in the age of the internet and a revolt that deftly used the web to avoid being crushed immediately by the government. (largely a success, as the zapatistas continue to receive popular support from all corners of the world via the web — in january of 2007, more thna 4,000 people showed up in the remote mountain town of oventic to celebrate the anniversary of the uprising and discuss future plans.)

san cristobal is a city of about 100,000 people, depending on how you count. it is growing, but not for the same reasons most mexican cities are rapidly expanding (e.g. tourism). there are tourists here, but it’s a far cry from the sprawling eyesores of cancun, mazatlan, and even rocky point. most of the gringos i see here tend to be from europe or australia. go figure. my guess is that the reason for this is because (1) san cristobal isn’t instantly accessible, as you must fly into the much larger capitol city of tuxtla gutierrez then drive an hour up into the mountains to get here, and (2) there is no beach.

the city has always been a cultural hub, but being put on the map by the zapatista uprising in 1994 really started to attract the bohemian set. there is live music everywhere and a vibrant arts scene. there are political protests and random celebrations almost daily, it seems. people are environmentally aware and socially conscious to the extent that i’ve never experienced, at least in this country. locally grown coffee is big here and most places go out of their way to sell free-trade beans and support local farmers. the city also boast the second-highest number of fireworks in all of mexico. this is perhaps a much more impressive statistic than it seems at first… there are fireworks exploding overhead ALL THE TIME, day and night, rain or shine. the sheer numbers are really quite amazing. after living in germantown for 4+ years i still cringe when i hear them, but i am looking forward to the day when my first thought isn’t “gunshots!” (more on that later, mom.)

there is a very strong indigenous community in san crisrtobal, which cannot be separated from the zapatistas’ effort to improve land rights and social justice for the underprivileged. the surrounding countryside is peppered with villages that, ironically, remain fiercely independent from modern and religious pressures the closer they are to the city. if san cristobal is growing, it is largely because these villages send any dissenters into exile when they decide to adopt new customs and conform to contemporary ways. thus, the edges of the city are comprised almost exclusively of indigenous residents who have nowhere else to go when their village kicks them out.

as you might expect, this makes san cristobal an amazing melting pot of diverse cultures. the markets are filled with tiny “indos” wearing thick, black woolen vests and skirts and brilliantly colored shirts and blouses. they come to sell almost anything you can imagine. the mercado (market) here is honestly one of the best i’ve seen in all of mexico, and i consider myself somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to mercados. things you would never expect to find in mexico can be bought here for pennies. fresh ginger, pumpkins, turkey bacon, pine nuts, tiny little avocados with edible skin, morel mushrooms, vanilla beans, tofu, enormous blackberries, farm-fresh eggs (30 for about $2), thai basil, freshly baked baguettes of french bread, goat cheese, hummus, sesame seeds, and about 1,000 different kinds of exotic fruit i can’t even name.

anyway, that’s san cristobal and that’s where i’ll be for the coming months, and perhaps beyond. i rented a little house near the center of town and am slowly filling it up with the bare necessities (a bed, a table-top stove, a modest desk, etc.). as andrea has been telling me since she got down to chiapas a few months ago, life is different here. NOTHING is wasted. the cost of living is very, very low. to think how differently i was living a mere month ago already makes me cringe. cliches be damned, it is becoming increasingly apparent that material possessions really don’t matter at all when it comes to basic contentment. simplicity isn’t necessarily a bad thing. that’s not to say i was about to leave behind my laptop, digital camera, and iPod, but still….

so that’s a summary of my last couple of months and a brief overview san crisrobal. this post has already become entirely too long and my internet access is limited, so i’ll wrap up my first entry here. in closing, let me say what many of you have already heard a number of times. my door is wide open and i encourage you to come visit! i have plenty of space and the price is right, with a flight to/from tuxtla gutierrez being the only real expense. i won’t even make you sleep in the courtyard.

actually, one last bit of information. i have a skype account (marshall.leroy.smith) and phone number (602-490-8066). if you’re not familiar with skype, it is basically an online service that allows people to make free international calls from their computer. you can call me anytime at no charge. if i happen to be online i will answer. if not, you can leave voicemail and i can call you back. lastly, my physical address is below but please understand that the mexican mail system has a way of making anything that even sniffs of value disappear en route. so please don’t send cash or drugs via post if you expect me to actually receive them.

Leo Smith
Calle Isabel la Catolica, No. 8-C
Barrio de Guadalupe
C.P. 29230
San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
Mexico

as always, feel free to drop me an email — i promise to write you back. i don’t have a proper phone or a TV or internet access at my house but i will be checking email on a semi-regular basis in coffee shops and “ciber” cafes.

and with that, i’m signing off. i hope all is well on your end. check back here for more updates, south-of-the-border style.

saludos,
leroy