San Cristobal de Las Casas

Arrived in Calle Tapacula in the cold grey pre-dawn just hoping that someone at Poasada Abuelito is informed of my early arrival direct from the overnight but from Oaxaca.  Hmmm everything dark and silent.  Gate firmly locked shut.  Doesn't look promising.  I knock very very quietly. Nothing moving.  Only a little dog sticks his head out from next door. He looks very much like an Australian blue cattle dog.   Wedge-shaped triangular head and a stocky little body.  He trots up and wags his tail, sniffs my ugg boots (some deeply engrained ancestral response to the sheep skin maybe) and then sits down looking prepared to wait the distance with me.  Maybe he's done this before - he seems to know something I don't.   I wait 10 minutes then knock again - really really quietly.   Nothing.  It's only 6:45.  The sign on the gate says reception opens at 8am.  Sigh. Sit down on the curb and pull my hoodie up over my head.  5 minutes.  I pat the dog.  My only companion on this long lonely trip I think (somewhat melodramatically).  I hear the lock rattle and the gate swings open.  Yay!  Sleepy tousled head sticks out. Hey there he says (in spanish).  "Sorry for the early arrival I hope you got my emails about it" I say all in a rush.  "I'm just a guest here actually" he says switching to English.  "I don't think there's anyone here yet to help you with reservations" and goes immediately back to his room. Oh great.  Way to make friends in a backpackers hostel.  Wake up whole dorm at an ungodly hour the first day I arrive.  Its enough to make me turn tail but instead I grab my bags and go in.  The dog follows me. I don't know if he lives there but haven't the heart to turf him out.  Sit freezing in the courtyard endeavoring to be as quiet as possible.  Reflect (in a kind of despondent and bitter way) how I really don't see what the fuss is about - San Cristobal is not all that.  And this posada is just really shabby and unwelcoming.  Grrr maybe I'll just stay one night and head to Lake Atitlan a day early.  Where the nice people hang out.  8am promptly the gate swings open and in bustles a young couple speaking to each other in French.  Give me a brief nod and pass me by.  What!  I've been sitting here in the freezing cold for two hours and not so much as a "can I help you?". GRRRRRRRR.
Im pondering the feasibility of dragging my heavily overloaded suitcase down the cobble stone street in search of a more welcoming venue when the heavenly smell of fresh coffee and freshly toasted bread comes wafting out of the window along with the mellow sounds of Brazilian samba.  Well maybe I should just wait a minute longer.  Then comes the gorgeous Simon and Agatha to say "hello lovely to meet you can I help you and would you like to join us for a coffee".  YES YES PLEASE.  It seems that there had been a problem with email the day before so my reservation request had not been seen but there is a private room available and it is cozy and spotlessly clean.  There is an activity and tour book aimed at getting to know San Cristobal better and I am able to sign up for a mexican cooking class which will feature MOLE!  Yay!
During breakfast I am drawn into a conversation with two girls who are super cool and amazing.  Nina, from Sydney Australia, is taking a year to travel around the world (alone!) after gradulating high school and is charming and mature beyond her years.  Alif a turkish girl who is biking (alone!) from Florida through mexico and Central America.  Wow.  What a woman.
SMILE.  This is the best posada on the planet.  
My cooking teacher is a tiny Maya women with a HUGE smile.  She arrives with all the ingredients we need.  When you see it all laid out: solid cacao; plantains; garlic; thyme; oregano; cinnamon; onion; tomatoe; bread; chillies; sesame seeds; peanuts; and more - you wonder how on earth this recipe ever cam into being.  Let alone produce a perfectly balanced, complex and completely unique plate of deliciousness.  The preparation is long and each ingredient has a very specific method of preparation.  The end result is incredible and I share my lunch with Nina and Alif.
After lunch Nina and I decide to go to the textile museum.  We haven't gone more than two blocks when the dark clouds overhead open up to a full on deluge.  We flag a cab and perservere through narrow steep streets that within minutes have torrents of water raging down them.  Finally arrive at the textile museum to find it closed till Sunday.   With the rain still pouring down we quickly agree to return to the Poasada and I find it a good excuse to cozy up in bed and watch "Anna Kerenina".  Wow what an amazing movie.  It goes direct to the heart of the real story without having to wade through all of Tolstoy's endless,  boring and incredibly detailed insights to the farming techniques of the Russian peasant.  Keira Knightly is wonderful in it.  I join a lively group in the posada kitchen for some more mole and then to bed.

Check out the LALA Gallery page at Latin American Lifestyle and Art (LALA)