Article written by Emily Dulcan
December Newsletter
Well, the holiday season is in full swing here in San Cristobal de las Casas, and we have a bunch of news for you CPHP fans. This month saw a lot of excitement. There was a festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint; this featured a week of parades, including Mexican Guadalupe-themed pilgrimage/x-country teams from all over Mexico, who ran all around San Cris bare-foot and wielding torches. There was also the celebration of the 20-10 year anniversary of the EZLN and the uprising (see essay below). We recently re-vamped our volunteer page and application, so you should visit the website and check them out. Finally, we celebrated the arrival of our first volunteers, who are all getting along well here in Chiapas.
In this Newsletter you will find:
I. New volunteer possibilities
II. CPHP/Mexico Solidarity Network Delegation in March
III. Analysis: EZLN, the 20 and the 10
IV. Food: The strange lives of Grapefruit
Last month we met with Melel Xojobal, an organization that works on issues pertaining to education and Indigenous culture and youth. They run a daycare; are currently conducting a study on racism in the schools in and around San Cristobal, including working with teachers on that and other issues; are working on a project to provide news to and between rural communities in Chiapas, and do outreach work with street children in San Cristobal.
Delegation to Chiapas March 13-21, 2004 Sponsored by Mexico Solidarity Network and Chiapas Peace House Project Information: 773-834-4216
The Mexico Solidarity Network and the Chiapas Peace House Project invite you to join a delegation to Chiapas from March 13-21, 2004. The delegation will arrive during a time of celebration, but also a time full of difficult challenges. On January 1, the Zapatista movement will celebrate ten years of resistance to corporate-centered globalization, and the movement continues to grow. The establishment of regional autonomous governments - Juntas de Buen Gobierno - last summer marked an important new phase in the development of Zapatismo. At the same time, paramilitary groups and the army continue to threaten the Zapatista movement at every turn. The need for international presence to document their activities is more pressing than ever.
The delegation will:
- Provide an international presence in communities that are under threat of attack by paramilitary groups, putting the paramilitaries on notice that the communities can count on international support.
- Meet with activists and organizers to discuss 10 years of resistance to neoliberalism in Chiapas and around the world.
- Develop strategies to deepen solidarity work in the United States, and organizing against the Free Trade Area of the Americas, CAFTA, and Plan Pueblo Panama. Delegates will meet with sister organizations in Chiapas to discuss medium and long term strategies for international solidarity work.
Scholarships are available, with strong preference for youth of color under the age of 30. You can apply for a scholarship on-line by completing both the scholarship and delegation application at www.mexicosolidarity.org.
Schedule
March 13: Travel to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Evening orientation and reflection.
March 14: Meetings with members of human rights organizations, environmental groups, economic and political analysts. Background orientation on the current situation in Chiapas.
March 15-19: Travel to threatened autonomous Zapatista communities.
March 20: Further meetings with members of human rights organizations. Debriefing/reflection.
March 21: Depart for home.
The cost of the delegation is $450, covering ground transportation within Chiapas, meals in the communities, hotels, translation, background materials, and program. Delegates are responsible for their own travel arrangements to Chiapas. Most delegates will fly to Mexico City, and then either catch a public bus (about $160 round trip to San Cristobal) or a connecting flight to Tuxtla Gutierrez (about $275 round trip). Those who fly to Tuxtla will be provided ground transportation to San Cristobal. It is also possible to fly into Cancun and take a public bus to San Cristobal, which could potentially be less expensive given spring break discounts.
To reserve a space on the delegation, please complete the application and return it with a $100 deposit to Mexico Solidarity Network, 4834 N. Springfield, Chicago, IL 60625.
For more information contact the Mexico Solidarity Network at msn@mexicosolidarity.org or the Chiapas Peace House at info@uupeacehouse.org.
Article here.
"If food is a phenomenon characterized by limitation, cuisine is a phenomenon characterized by variegation" --Jonathan Z. Smith, "Imagining Religion"
As Jonathan Z. Smith-the greatest historian of religion of the later half of the Twentieth century-tells us, food is not natural, but social. After a culture makes the arbitrary reduction of the basic elements of what they might eat, what follows is the introduction of variety and interest, what the French call cuisine (Smith, "Imagining Religion," 40). The culinary exploitation of the grapefruit in the United States is very limited; so as someone who is a great fan of that larger, bitterer cousin of orange, I was most interested to see the proliferation of grapefruit related beverages here in southern Mexico. Grapefruits are widely available here, and are delicious dipped in honey, or just plain. Probably the most notable grapefruit product here in Mexico is the wide variety of grapefruit sodas. The example of these that we know best in the United States is Fresca, made by the Coca Cola Company. But American Fresca would be nearly unidentifiable to a Mexican arriving in the!
U.S. While Fresca in the United States is a fickle, diet soda with no recognizable taste, here in Mexico it is "Fresca Toronja", a delightful, full-bodied beverage with the enticing aroma and flavor of grapefruit. While in the U.S. there is just the one variety, here in Mexico there is Fresca Toronja, and Fresca Toronja Rosa, which has an even more aggressive grapefruit flavor, and is pink, to match the succulent meat of the variety of grapefruit available here in San Cristobal. The Pepsi Corporation has also tried to get in on the pink citrus soft-drink market with their contender, the Eastern-European-sounding Kaaz. Kaaz is by far the most inferior grapefruit beverage available. While not as bad as Fresca from the U.S. (it's not diet), it does not match the subtlety of flavor that is Fresca Toronja Rosa. Another variation of grapefruit soda is Squirt, which is perhaps more the equivalent of regular Fresca Toronja, and which is a better attempt at a grapefruit soda than t! he pink Kaaz. And, if you are not the soda type, at many restaurants a nd torta stands in San Cris you can get good old-fashioned grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed (and much better than that "ocean spray" stuff). For this month's recipe, I'd like to suggest an interesting variation on your typical salsa, made with grapefruit:
Grapefruit and pumpkin seed Salsa
(If you are allergic to pumpkin, you can leave the seeds out)
- one medium grapefruit
- 1/3 of a cup pumpkin seeds, roasted and salted
- one shallot, finely chopped
- chili pepper, finely chopped
- cilantro
Peal the grapefruit, remove the white membrane, and cut the pink insides into1/4 inch pieces. Add other ingredients and chill. It tastes better if left to sit for a day I think.
