mayan medicine museum

The amazing Museo de la Medicina Maya in San Cristobal de las Casas shows some of the traditional medicine of the Chiapas highlands including many of the plants used.  Connecting with the earth and the soul of the person are key features.  Basil is an important plant in healing and the good feelings it brings are deeply appreciated.  You can watch a video of a tribal birth (not explicit) and find out about the customs of the midwives.  

This is one of my favourite places I have visited.  So many aspects of Mayan life I already resonate with before I came to Chiapas, the use of basil, the love of corn, the way they make chocolate, the beadwork, the style of dress, the love of flowers, the plant medicine, the appreciation of the movements of the sun and the moon, it goes on, maybe it's just innate humanness.

garden of the Mayan Medicine Museum

zinacantan indigenous village

weaving in traditional house

garden of traditional house

Zinacantan is an indigenous pueblo (village/town) near san Cristobal de las Casas.  There you can visit a local family and take photographs, something not possible in general as many indigenous people do not like to have their photographs taken, understandably.  You can see their amazing weaving and embroidery and learn a little of their lifestyle.  In Zinacantan 31,000 people speak Tzotzil only, no Spanish.  For the indigenous people here Spanish is a second language too, which is comforting for me to remember when shopping in the markets here with my stumbling rudimentary Spanish.

The dietary staples are corn, beans and pumpkin.  There are four colours of corn:
white representing the north
yellow representing the south
red representing the east
black representing the west

We  were given corn tortillas with some beans, powdered dried pumpkin and a little cheese.  They tasted amazing, very different to 'Mexican food' I had previously encountered.