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LIVING & TRAVEL by andrew dean nystrom Sixth in a Series Index WEB TOOLS Mexico's Indigenous Homepage Mexico Map Pacific Coast Map Huatulco Coast Map Puerto Angel Map Oaxaca Oaxaca City Huatulco Puerto Angel San Cristobal

Entry 6: Monday, April 18, 1996: Posada Jovel, San Cristobal de las Casas Spring Fever When it comes to blood, pomp and circumstance, it's hard to match bull and cock fighting. It seems as though southern Mexico has more excuses for a fiesta than any other region in the Americas. Anniversaries of revolutions, dispositions of power, foundings of towns, myriad patron saints, deaths, birthdays and the changing of seasons are all excuses for a "pachanga" (serious party). No visit to Mexico is complete without attending one of these events. Fortunately they occur almost daily. Following a week of solemn processions and sedated reverence for "Semana Santa" (Holy Week), San Cristobal de las Casas, former capital of Chiapas, let loose on Easter Sunday with their annual "Feria de la Primavera y la Paz." For one week, locals from around the state celebrated the coming of spring in a variety of ways. Those not consumed by alcohol attended bull fights, cock fights, basketball tournaments, ballet and folklore dance presentations, art and agricultural expositions, and frequent musical performances held in the central plaza or county fairgrounds. The "ferias" are part county-fair, part carnival (with large traveling amusement parks), part culinary exposition (think Chiapan Chili cook-off), and part World's Fair, with the governmental sectors maintaining large booths boasting ingenious development projects in the works that seldom come to pass. Above all, these celebrations bring together a diverse representation of the numerous Chiapan groups, from Indian families eating cotton candy to dapper doctors kicking off their shoes to perform a traditional folk dance. Other festivities worth planning a trip around include: Carnival (week preceding Ash Wednesday) If you're not in New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro for Mardi Gras, you ought to be in Mexico for this one. Parades, fireworks (many at eye level!), dancing and general hedonism. Dia de la Primavera (March 21) This coincides with the birthday of former Mexican president and national hero Benito Juarez, who was the first and only indigenous leader of Mexico. Imagine a combination of lively spring equinox gaiety mixed with the patriotic fervor of the 4th of July, celebrated most raucously in Oaxaca (where Juarez hailed from). Dia de los Muertos (Nov. 1-2) Or, "Day of the Dead." This festival is rooted in the same tradition as Halloween, but is more complex and less commercial. It is a time to honor dead friends, relatives and "antepasados" (ancestors) with visits to graves and liberal amounts of grieving. There are elaborate altars constructed from fruit, flowers and candies, and finally light-hearted jesting, at death -- everyone eats candy skulls and skeletons, meant to show children that death is not something to fear. Almost analogous to a New Orleans jazz funeral. Also -- any day with a street named after it (e.g. Cinco de Mayo) is likely to be a holiday! Next week: My date with the Zapatistas. Andrew Nystrom is a 21 year-old Geography-Linguistics student at the University of California at Berkeley. Currently on sabbatical, he has been working as a freelance editor/travel correspondent. Previous travels have taken him to Indonesia, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Guatemala. He was most recently the editor of the Berkeley Guide to Central America for 1996.