Chiapas (Part 3) Comitan

I thought I posted this. Oops.

Comitan is a very nice little town. It is the cleanest city I have ever visited in Mexico. There is not one scrap of trash on the streets. I can't figure it out.

We left the ranch after a few days of relaxing, riding horses, and talking to a bunch of very interesting people. That morning, Cristobal and Flor were going to drive the Jeep into Teopisca for a shopping run. This another one of those "only in Mexico" or maybe even a "always in Mexico" kind of mornings. If you have spent any time in Mexico (especially on any kind of driving trip) you know that it isn't a Mexico trip until you pull a car out of a ditch, repair a car with aluminum foil, or perhaps buy gasoline from someone who lives in a camper shell and makes his pregnant wife siphon the gas (yes, that happened on a Baja trip). Cristobal tried to start the jeep, which had been sitting for a month but it was dead. Fortunately the ranch is up on a hill so we could just push the jeep down and bump start it. The Kernal, Flor, and I all got behind the jeep and started pushing. And pushing. And pushing. Until we go to the bottom of the hill. We couldn't push anymore and Cristobal realized that he had been in reverse the whole time and that the jeep was out of gas. Oops. What to do? The Kernal and Flor decided to walk the ten minutes up the road back the ranch for some reason. I can't remember why. Cristobal, Atman (three or four year old boy) and I stayed at the jeep. Some locals came along and Cristobal asked them if the could catch a ride into town. They said yes and off he went. And left me with someone else's kid. Now that might seem strange to you but remember this is Mexico. People just need to get shit done. They can't worry about following a bunch of rules or regulations. We are a very rule-based society. This British guy I met who is riding his bike to South America told me about being scolded by some random citizen in Orange County because he barely rode across the corner of a sidewalk. This is deep Mexico and we needed gas. The Kernal and Flor come back and there I am picking daiseys with the kid. The Kernal kind of says, "what the fuck?" I just told him that "hey it's Mexico", which of course he understood being a Mexico veteran. He said something to the effect that it was classic that someone would just leave me with the kid without thinking twice. And it would only happen in Mexico. Fortuantely Cristobal found a Gringo with a big truck and jumper cables to bring him back with the gas. He wouldn't have gotten it started without my automotive experise though. So, you're saying, "but you don't have any automotive expertise and are basically a mechanical retard." True. But I did mow a lot of lawns as a kid and I remembered that sometimes I needed to prime the engine to get it started, a concept Cristobal was not familair with. We eventually got the Jeep fired up and the three of them were off to town and the Kernal and I went back up the hill to wait for our taxi.

It's amazing the power of a 100 Peso tip. Our taxi driver made it up the someewhat sketchy dirt road and picked us up within 15 minutes of our agreed time. Then he told us he could take us all the way to Comitan for 200 more Pesos even though he was technically not allowed to do it. Another loophole. Something about picking us up on a dirt road and not the highway which made it ok. Whatever. He took us back to Teopisca to return our bottles and then made 20 more dangerous passes on the way to Comitan.


As I said, Comitan is a very clean little town. But the vibe is so different than Oaxaca or even San Cristobal de las Casas. We defintely had the "animal in a zoo" feeling at times. I mean, people stare at you like they are seeing Bigfoot walk down the street. I think, for one thing, people see lots of Gringos and Europeans in Oaxaca. We simply didn't see any Americans or Euros in Comitan so I think people were thinking "what the hell are you doing here?" At least that was feeling. People are much more closed. But it is also right next to Guatemala and there is a heavy Zapatista (rebel) influence in the area. However, like other similar parts of Mexico, people will totally open up to you once you speak to them, especially if you speak Spanish. The women will not make eye contact but they make more overt gestures (like yelling "papito" from cars). They will also say things like "guapito" (handsome) as they pass you on the street. But they just keep walking/driving. They don't hang around to talk. The men have a more aggressive or angry disposition than a place like Oaxaca. In Oaxaca they are just indifferent. Again, until you talk to them. We definitely got some glares and even some threatening stares in Comitan. But mostly people were just curious. "What the hell are you two Gringos doing here, anyway?"


The highlight of our trip was probably the torta shop and the girl who worked there. I don't think I have ever had a more charismatic person make me a sandwich. She was very plain looking but at the same time extremely attractive. As an added bonus, she let us bring beer into the restaurant because they didn't sell it. I can't explain it, but she just had this thing that pulled us both in. Ane then there were the tortas. If you are ever within 200 miles of Comitan (which you never will be), make the trip into town and go to Tortas Mickey. You will stay an extra day so that you can go back again and have more tortas. On our second day we didn't waste any time and just ordered two. Each.


The one thing that will stick with me the most was the girl that I spoke with from Guatemala. It was another reminder (although they come daily) of how lucky I am. She was 24 and had a four year old son who lived in Guatemala with her parents. She was working in Comitan as a stripper and sharing a very small and dirty apartment with another girl from her country doing the same thing. She simply could not make any money in Guatemala and had to work in some hideous club on the outskirts of town. She kind of dodged the question about whether or not they made her work as a prostitute although it was all in Spanish so I could have missed something. All she wanted was to buy a computer for her son. She said she had 4000 pesos saved which was a fortune to her (about $300). Everyday is a struggle for her and she was such a lovely person. Her story really moved me and I gave her 1000 pesos and made her promise me that it would go toward the computer. All she wants is another thing we all take for granted - an education for her son. She dropped out in 9th grade. She's not proud of that. She called it a loan and said she would pay me back some day. I told her that would be fine.

Then it was back to Oaxaca.