Independence day weekend in San Cristobal
Stan and I are settling into our casa (a friend of a friend of Stan’s). It is close to downtown on a not too busy street. Both of us are catching up on some much-needed sleep. I arrived in Mexico with a runny nose, and I didn’t know if it was from the smoke in Seattle and the smog in DF, but by the time I got to San Cristobal, it was much worse. With the help of a volunteer helping THP, I went to a traditional medicine doctor healer. The treatment was interesting in that he checked my pulse (like an acupuncturist would), then he did an interview. Then he configured the alter an I sat on a small chair and lit 5 candles, he knelt next to me and recited a series of prayers for 10 minutes or so. Then he brushed me with some branches and rolled a smooth rock around my head, neck, and shoulders while reciting some more prayers. He stopped and said OK we are finished. He said I would probably have a fever later today and tonight. Within minutes, I had stopped coughing and my nose had stopped running?. We then went to the herbal dispensary to get some special tea mixture and a tincture for my sinuses. He was right, We went back to the office and I then headed to our casa. I went to sleep at about 4:30 pm. I slept until about 7 am and had a fever all night. When I awoke I felt GREAT?.
Saturday was another work day at the THP offices. Again with the help of the volunteer I got some warmer clothes (long underwear and a pile shirt). I left a lot of clothes in Seattle because my rucksack was full of tools and to keep it under the weight limit of 50 lb I had to leave a bunch of stuff at home. I figured I could get what I needed much cheaper than the $75 extra bag fee. We had hoped the shipment from DF would arrive on Friday, but no luck it is to arrive on Tuesday. Because the wood shop in DF could not make some of the wood parts we need, I have been making new drawings that are easier to understand for the woodshop here in Chiapas. Saturday night was a HUGE party at the Zoloco to celebrate Independence Day. We didn’t go. We are not partyers.
Sunday was sort of a day off. We started by searching for a grocery store (supermarket). We did find some good breakfast and later the market. Then walking back toward the Zoloco, I found a store that sells plastic cups and everything for takeout food service. This was a great find as we found a bunch of different sized cups that we can use as measuring cups to mix our materials. I then went on a search for some sweatpants. Stan and I walked all over up and down through the street vendors with no luck. I have given up on the idea and was about to call Juan (THP staff in DF) to bring some from DF for me. But as we were walking down one of the market streets something said I needed to stop into this shop. I could not believe it. They had a bunch of them in different sizes and styles! I found a good pair for $220P ($12USD). We then went back to our casa and not 20 minutes later we had a HUGE thunderstorm with hail and lots of rain.
Rain at our casa
We went over the drawings I made to ensure that they are correct with we waited out the rain. the power went out a few times, however now (1 hour later the rain has stopped).
