Day 9. There are many indigenous hill tribes in the area surrounding San Cristobal including the Chamulla who we visited today. We were guided by the excellent Cezar, whose grandfather was from Chamulla.
Factoid: The Chamulla consider themselves Catholic, however they recently expelled their Spanish Catholic priest and re-adopted their traditional Mayan rituals which they perform within the 16th century church in the town square. No photography was allowed within the church because they believe that photography can remove the Spirit of the Saints and of those within the church. The church had no pews and the floor was covered with pine needles. Statues of the Saints wearing mirrors round their necks in traditional Mayan style lined the walls. No formal Mass is held, rather, small groups of people perform rituals to their chosen Saint depending on their need. Ritual practices include the lighting of coloured candles and the offering of coloured fizzy drinks to the Saints. Chickens are sacrificed and eggs are placed on body for healing the sick.
We were invited to a traditional tribal home where we were shown the ancient ritual of tortilla cooking and got to sample the end product. We learnt how to “non-stick” the tortilla pan with a liberal dusting of ground limestone instead of Teflon!
We found the restaurant that Patti recommended only to discover that James’s recommended Northern Spanish red wine, Ribera Del Duerro was waiting for us on the table. We took it as a sign to spend the rest of the afternoon celebrating.
RPattiz recommendation
James's recommendation
Celebration
Back last night. Delays because of the snow in Manchester ( Airport Closed for few hrs). The way the Tortilla is cooked reminds me of how they cook Konafa in Egypt, I wounder if there is some relationship between them !!!.
Have fun
Didi
Awsome that you found Ribera our there! Love the non-stick idea much heathier than oil.
And it actually tastes quite good, not too chalky, and is a good source of calcium!