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San Cristobal de las Casas, San Juan Chomula and Zincantan

I was finally freed from the city of Tuxtla Gutirrez, drove my car over a mountain in the sky, and was spit out into the magical little town of San Cristobal de las Casas.  San Cristobal is my new favorite place in Mexico thus far, maybe with the exception of Mexico City, although the two are so different that they feel like they are not even part of the same country. Maybe because much of Chiapas state, was actually part of Guatemala until less than 100 years ago.  Maybe because one third of Chiapas is made up of Indigenous people, many of whom do not speak Spanish, and govern their own land, much like our reservations in the United States.  I...

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La Reforma

I woke up at 5 am to check my twitter feed.  I was sure that something would have happened overnight, as the teachers once again met with government official the night before.  The government has been pleading with them to open the roads- that their actions are causing innocent civilians to suffer, with both imports and exports unable to make their way in or out of the state, these road blocks could easily cause the economy to collapse.

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Day Two: Tuxtla

This is not the first time I've been stranded in a hotel room, unable to go more than a block or two from the hotel.  The first time it happened was in Nouackchott, Mauritania, when the government was suddenly overthrown.  I had just gotten back from a three week trip to the US, and had gotten to the capital city the night before.  I woke up that morning to go to the bank, and on my way out the door I received a panicked call from my father asking me if I was ok.  My father, in the United States, had known about the coup before I did.  Shortly thereafter I received a call from the Peace Corps, telling us...

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A Pack of Marlboro Reds

However, once I was spit out of the jungle, I came over a hill, only to see that there were miles of semi trucks backed up.  I was able to sneak around them, and as I came to a police officer with a road block, and asked him if it was ok, he happily waved me on.  I knew as I drove on that something was definitely not ok.  There were no other cars.  For at least three miles.  I came over another hill to see a tree laying across the road, with a small fire burning next to it.

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Veracruz

Lonely Planet's section on Veracruz starts, "Be Careful.  Veracruz is intoxicating... both regal and trashy, Veracruz could make even the most stoic traveler wax poetic."I'd have to agree, and it's  a much needed respite from all the "prettiness" of San Miguel de Allende. Veracruz is like nowhere I've ever been in Mexico, but more like a combination of everywhere I've ever traveled.  The harbor reminds me of Baltimore.  The run down, colonial buildings remind me of St Louis, Senegal.  The occasional scent of urine, also reminds me of Africa.  My hotel room is like everywhere I ever stayed in Southeast Asia- just nice enough with amazing air conditioning.  The zocolo, is all things wonderful about Mexico- last night dancers and musicians...

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