The Chiapas Report

Taking photos is prohibited in the indigenous village of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, but, as usual, someone did not honor the local rules. These photos are once again courtesy of Google. I am happy to say my students did not take photos (at least none that I know of) yet, as you can see from these photos, the temptation to do so is great, and I actually had mixed feelings about posting these photos.

My admonition to my students to not take photos received a great assist from the authorities inside the church who confiscated the camera of a tourist who was videotaping one of the processions. He looked outraged that a mere native would dare to do something like that; I doubt he got his camera back. We all cheered silently.

At the same time, students realized they were truly the outsiders and that all of the ceremonies, processions and customs were not being staged for their benefit like a ballet folklorico. The ability to observe the local rituals both in rural Chiapas and in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas generated much thoughtful discussion and many, many questions about what we were seeing, about our own customs and beliefs regarding death, and about our role as tourists.

We saw howler monkeys, tucans and wild parrots in the archeological site of Palenque, our first stop in Chiapas. Everyone shopped. Only one student got sick. None were robbed. No one was injured.

The trip is long...a total of 14 hours of travel time each way. While en route, students have several assignments to complete regarding the changes in geography and how those changes affect daily life (housing, clothing, politics, food, transportation, etc.) On the way home, we turn to the DVD player in the bus to keep us from losing our minds. This trip, I was the only one who came prepared with DVDs. As a result, we watched 24 episodes of "Modern Family" which turned out to be an excellent choice especially compared to last spring when we all had to sit through such classics as "Stepbrothers." "Modern Family" is witty and entertaining. We laughed.

In other news, a program evaluation team arrives on Sunday evening and will be here until next Saturday. The team consists of a biology professor from Central, a Spanish professor from Dakota Wesleyan and the director of a study abroad program from Susquahana University in Pennsylvania. They are charged with evaluating the administrative side of the program, the academics and what they are calling "opportunities for experiential learning" which means homestays, internships, cultural activities, excursions, classes at our affiliated universities, and any other thing they can think of. They will be using an evaluation tool created by an organization called the Forum on Education Abroad. Their schedule is packed.

I have been preparing for this visit for about a year and feel confident and sick to my stomach all at the same time. Tune in next week to hear the results.