Tag Archives: Yucatan

The Mystery of the Black Christ at Chumayel

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , ,

Note: If you are under the impression, from the suggestive title “The Mystery of the Black Christ at Chumayel” that I am going to explain in definite terms why the altar in the church at Chumayel has a black Christ on it’s cross, then stop reading now, because I haven’t found the answers. If you have the answer or know of a good theory, let me know!

On a very recent (last week) visit to the church at Chumayel some friends remarked on the black Christ, finding it most unusual and so asked me about it. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s your typical representation of Jesus on the cross except the material seems to be black. While the fact that the Christ is black is unusual, what is certainly not unusual is that I don’t have a clue, being a lapsed catholic who has turned further and further from organized religion and so I was not able to answer their question on why the usually Nordic looking Jesus was in this case, black (without the facial features associated with the black race, of course)

After some poking around, superficially I admit on the internet, I have come to the preliminary conclusion that there is nothing tremendously scandalous or mysterious about the black Christ in Chumayel. Nor is it particularly unique, as there a few others literally hanging around.

For example, one of the more popular ‘Black Christs’ is on display in Guatemala in a village called Esquipulas. Beyond the usual back story on why a carved Christ is commissioned in the first place (humble villagers, miracles, rural area, etc.) the reason given for its blackness is the darker wood used combined with natural aging over the years.(1) The local arquitect Eduardo Andrade indicates that it’s color is due to years of being prayed to amidst candle smoke and soot.(4)

The Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City also features a black statue of Christ, known there also as Lord of Poison which is a pretty interesting name for a Christ figure. This is the most venerated statue in the entire cathedral and is located at the Altar of Forgiveness and apparently dates back to the 18th of August, 1602 when the Dominican Fathers came to Mexico with several Christ sculptures, all white.

Legend has it (2) that this particular figure was installed in a small chapel in Tlanepantla where the regent archbishop prayed daily and at the end of a prayer, would kiss the feet of this statue. When his enemies saw what his routine was, they applied poison to the feet of the statue in the hopes that they could off him in this way after his next prayer. Alas, their cunning plan was foiled when the statue (faith, people, faith) shrank back from the archbishops approaching lips, thereby saving his life and providing for yet another biblical story. The most interesting part of this tale – for the purposes of this article anyway – is that the statue then absorbed the poison that had been applied by the evildoers and this is what turned it black.

The story quickly got out and spread rapidly amongst the flock; the great back story and the fact that the chapel was not open to the public heightened the mystery and devotion to this black Christ. After being under wraps for many years (ie the marketing plan had worked and the product was ready) in 1935 the now heroic black Christ was moved from its private location to the Metropolitan Cathedral so as to be available for worship by all.

Apparently there is another black Christ in Veracruz, in the town of Otatitlan.(3) The investigator Carlos Navarrete proposes another theory; that these black Christs were made on purpose (as opposed to “Oops, it turned black we need a legend here, people”) and that they can be found on ancient trade routes established by the Pochtecas or prehispanic traders. In the work there is a mention of a substitution in Otatitlan, of a singular black Christ that replaced Yacaecutli or God of Commerce, who happened to be black also.

An article about Campeche mentions 3 black Christs; one in Merida, one in Calkini and one in the church of San Roman in Campeche itself (5), making the one in Chumayel another in a whole series of non-Nordic statues of Jesus.

And finally, beyond Mexico and Guatemala, there is another one of these statues in Portobelo, Panama. From the website: (6)

  • Nobody knows exactly how or when the Black Christ (El Cristo Negro) arrived in the tiny community of Portobelo on Panama’s Caribbean coast. Some put the date at around 1658. But the stories of miracles surrounding the eight-foot wooden statue of the Black Christ are enough to overwhelm the village with tens of thousands of pilgrims every October 21.

So there you have a brief look at the black Christ. Now the next time I am in Chumayel with out of town guests asking in hushed voices about the mysterious figure on the cross, I’ll be able to tell something reasonably intelligent.
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1. http://peregrinacion.org.ar
2. http://www.elnuevoheraldo.com/articles/cristo-12171-negro-catedral.html
3. http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/notas/1882-El-Cristo-Negro-de-Otatitl%E1n,-Veracruz
4. http://www.viajeaguatemala.com/Chiquimula/200411293719.htm
5. http://calkini.net/municipio/festividades3.htm
6. http://www.yourpanama.com/black-christ.html

Tecoh is a Charmer!

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , , , ,

When traveling with friends and relatives around the Yucatan, I am often struck by the difference in ‘feel’ from town to Yucatecan town; Mani, while famous for its’ convent and history and of course the Tutul Xiu restaurant always gives me a neutral impression. Some people are very friendly, like the lady who embroiders dresses in front of the unfortunately closed-during-a-large-part-of-the-day convent; others are outright sullen and hostile. In Uayalceh, there are many suspicious looks and a kind of hardness in faces that is difficult to describe but perceptible.

Yesterdays excursion through the so-called ‘Convent Route’ had a similar result. The inhabitants of the tiny villages of Telchaquillo and Mama were indifferent and the towns themselves lackluster bordering on decrepit in spite of their attractions.

Tecoh was a different story altogether. Maybe it was because it was Sunday, everyone was dressed up, in church and feeling celebratory or maybe it was the impression you get from the moment you leave the highway and approach the town, noticing that there are trees and flowers planted along the way to welcome you. As what seemed to be the entire population of the town exited the church upon the conclusion of Sunday mass, Yours Truly and company got plenty of stares and a giggle or three from the kids but also many a Buenos Dias and a smile. Friendliness seemed to ooze from the pores of everyone we came into contact with.

The thought came to my neurotic foreigners mind that this might be one of those places that Yucatans reputation for friendly people, peaceful provincial life, comes from. It even crossed my mind that this might be a good place to retire.

Is the neurotic foreigner getting soft in his old age?

Dzibilchaltun Museum is an Embarassment

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , ,

As I alluded to on William Lawson’s Driving blog, yesterday I took some folks to Dzibilchaltun. I had told them about the site and it’s small but well-put-together museum.

I was shocked at the state of the museum: it is literally falling apart around the exhibits. Not that you are going to get hit in the head with falling plaster, but you may stumble a bit on the floor, which is made of wooden slats which have either rotted or fallen prey to an insect invasion, known here as comejen, that make it sag and uneven. Some of the wooden slats have been crudely replaced by someone with about as much skill in carpentry as I have, using approximate-sized replacement unfinished wooden strips nailed down with the flair of an 8 year old backyard fort builder. Other slats are covered with pieces of carpeting; the sag you feel as you step on them makes you feel you are on the dance floor of the Mambo Café.

Looking up, it is evident that the finishing coat of cement has fallen off in places, leaving rebar and concrete roofing material exposed. Also, while you are gazing up that way, note that the illumination is at about 30% capacity ie. 70% of the light bulbs are burnt out or off. In any case, they are not working, and many of the exhibits suffer from this lack of proper illumination.

It seems both a shame and a disgrace that the INAH does not or cannot maintain this building that must have hundreds of visitors each week, especially during this ‘high’ season (and the just finished Christmas holidays which saw Yucatan’s attractions mobbed by tourists both national and international) and now that Dzibilchaltun is on the cruise ship excursion map.

Very embarrassing, and as a Yucatecan – according to the definition proposed by Tony in the Diario de Yucatan a few weeks ago, a Yucatecan is everyone that resides here and contributes, in one form or another, to the political, social or commercial life of the Yucatan – I find it unacceptable that our so-called authorities show such disdain towards this important showcase for Mayan and Yucatecan culture.

Roadblocks in Merida

Life in the Yucatan, , ,

I don’t know why I don’t pick up the local paper more often; there’s so much to catch the eye of the neurotic foreigner!

Besides the happy ending article, there’s another on page 9 of the Local section (where all the good stuff is) which proclaims that police roadblocks in Merida, particularly the ones where motorists are stopped and checked for alcoholic breath, are being modernized.

There’ll be more lights, no roadblocks after overpasses or curves, that sort of thing. All because an officer was run over by a truck because the driver ‘didn’t see’ the roadblock.

Which is fine.

The thing they didn’t get around to ‘modernizing’ is their method by which they obtain their breath sample, as shown in the photo accompanying the article. The officer, and I know this from personal experience as well, is holding a piece of cardboard by the drivers face and is sniffing the drivers breath as it is blown towards his highly trained nostrils.

Surely this is modernization! And what a thrill it must be for any aspiring police officer to have to perform this degrading duty. What if urine samples had to be taken? It’s a disturbing thought…

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More on the “happy finish” story

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , ,

It seems the Diario de Yucatan is determined to get the word out about those massages on Progreso’s beach.

In an article on page 14 of todays’ Local section, the headline reads: “Critica la Iglesia un ‘final feliz’ (Church criticizes a ‘happy ending’). Apparently Progresos’ head church person heard about the story and called it a ‘vulgarity’ and stated that the citizens of Progreso have much more to offer than these types of ‘sexual attentions’.

Personally, I don’t know what he means; there’s precious little in Progreso to offer the cruise ship tourists besides beer, fried fish and tired handicrafts mass-produced elsewhere.

His closing remarks exhort people to ‘avoid’ these services (not abstain, avoid) to preserve their health and good morals.

I think it might actually be good for the Progreso economy and may result in some more money in the municipal coffers that could be used for say picking up the trash the good citizens of the port happily leave strewn about without a care.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

La(s) Mestiza(s) Restaurant, Piste (Chichen Itzá) Yucatan, Mexico

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , ,

The other day the Casual Restaurant Critic found himself in the charming hamlet of Pisté, adjacent to the majestic Mayan ruins of Chichen Itzá, where Sarah Brightman will sing at the end of this month.

Having heard of this restaurant, the Critic stopped for a quick breakfast of huevos con longaniza which seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive. This was, as the Critic later discovered, because the kitchen was taking the trouble to accompany the plate with fresh, thick, hand-made tortillas! A real treat in this age where Maseca cardboard tortillas are the accepted (by some) norm.

Food was good, the tortillas excellent, service fine and the coffee awful.


The Trotters Burger Trio

Casual Restaurant Critic, , ,

At this time of the year, Merida restaurants respond to the decline in attendance by offering promotions and specials, especially for those husbands or spouses that have to stay and work in Merida while the rest of the family vacations in and around Progreso. These husbands have no one at home to ‘serve’ them their lunch and so the restaurateurs of the formerly white city take it upon themselves to fill in for the duration.

One of these is Trotters, who have an excellently priced lunch special that runs around $150 pesos or so and includes a soup, refillable refresco, a main course and a dessert.

The Critic and his Better Half had the opportunity to sample this lunch the other day. The verdict? Take it or leave it.

The service was really rough at the beginning with an extended gap between the seating and the appearing of a menu and the offer of a drink. Drink refills were sporadic. Appetizer delivery was clueless; the busboy offered the appetizer to an adjacent table (where the diners were finishing their main courses), did not look around and headed back to the kitchen where the appetizer remained for quite some time.

Air conditioning was minimal, making it just a little uncomfortable with the humid heat Merida is suffering these days.

The soup, a cream of asparagus, was too obviously made with Carnation canned milk. The Mini Burger Trio however, was excellent. Juicy and tasty, each little burger had its own little theme going on.

The Critic can not really say that this is a Do Not Miss promotion. Take it or leave it.

Elections in Yucatan!

Life in the Yucatan, Politics, , , , , ,

Hooray for democracy!

Yucatecos and Yucatecas have, once again, the wonderful opportunity to exercise their hallowed democratic rights and obligations, and elect a diputado!

What the heck is a diputado, you might ask? It is said that the diputado is some kind of legislative political creature, that is supposed to represent the interests of the people in the district that voted for him or her. However, voting always along party lines, the diputado is about as representative of the people as a panucho would be representative of Swiss culture.

This time around, we have a few candidates to choose from according to the distrito to be ‘represented’. Today we will look at two: the PRI offers up Angelica and the PAN suggests former police chief Javier Medina.

A quick look at their websites (linked above) shows this casual observer that while the PAN continues its use of the traditional blue colors, the PRI has abandoned its green white and red colors to distance itself from its rather unpopular track record, while at the same time banking on that record and emphasizing it’s experience. OK. If you say so.

The PAN Javier website home page features a serious Javier making a speech, with carefully furrowed brows and much animated finger pointing and waving, indicating his experience and seriousness, while the PRI/PV home page loads up a video of a crowd of happy singing red-tshirt clad jovenes singing, clapping and dancing around Angelica in a kind of rapturous, can’t wait for the tortas and refrescos/I’m on TV!!/Michael Jackson We Are the World kind of way.

Oh and if you are wondering what this PV is about, it’s the Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (Green Party) who have allied themselves with the PRI. This is the most hypocritical of all political parties; if they have done one thing to protect the ecology or a blade of grass, I would be enormously surprised. I suspect the ‘green’ part refers to their political acumen, as in lack thereof.

As for their novel ideas, of which practically all sound very populistas, Javier’s sound a little more coherent, while Angelica stresses her ‘sensitivity to the needs of the family’ which begs the question “Whose family?” Yours? Mine? Hers, maybe? Neither of these candidates is saying “Yucatecos and Yucatecas, get off your butts and work” Probably not a real popular message.

Which brings me to the subject of how much the diputado makes in a year! According to El Semanario, in an article from 2008 (it’s probably increased by now) a diputado earned 77,888 pesos a month, along with another 45,786 to attend legislative sessions and 28,772 pesos to cover other activities. This makes a tidy little sum of $152446 pesos. A month. There is, on top of that, a savings program equal to 12% of their regular salary, medical coverage (you can bet they are not standing in line at the local IMSS (Importa Madres Su Salud) and an aguinaldo or Christmas bonus, equivalent to 40 days of salary.

No wonder they are so excited to ‘serve’ selflessly the needs of the population. And no wonder we have to pay more taxes!
Have a look at the candidates, their proposals and make up your mind. Imagine who you would vote for if you could vote. If you can, but don’t want to, you could try the Voto Blanco option, proposed by former elected officials now out of the running, who are now saying that the voting system is flawed and people should abstain from participating (in the system that elected them in the past) Sour grapes? Gee, ya think?

Have a great election season, enjoy the visual and audio pollution!

Viva la democracia!

More on Tourism in the Yucatan

Life in the Yucatan, , ,

Staying on-theme with the tourism comments in the previous posts, I wanted to quickly give you my impressions on the state of the art facilities at Ek Balam.

Ek Balam is one of those Mayan archaeological sites that is not in the same league, promotion and money-invested wise, as say, Chichen Itza and Uxmal, it’s more famous cousins. Along with Mayapan and places like Aké, it is a site seen by far fewer visitors and usually only on the itinerary of the more die-hard Yucatan explorer.

There is, however, some government involvement in the restoration and running of Ek Balam and so we have the caseta de cobro where all visitors must stop and pay their fee to enter the site. Presumably the entrance fee covers basic maintenance and the salary of the sour-faced employee who has no knowledge of basic math (addition and subtraction) and is allowed to have no change on hand for breaking anything larger than a 20 peso bill. Also, and in spite of being a government-run site, which should imply some sort of amiable exchange rate for the almighty dollar, the rate offered is considerably less than that provided by the banks.

The highlight of the awful, unpainted concrete monstrosity making up the entrance is – as is so often the case – the bathroom. Maybe I have a bathroom fetish but as a resident of the Yucatan and occasionally charged with the responsibility of ferrying relatives and friends to these ‘touristic’ places, I feel enormously embarrassed at the crude-ness of the facilities provided to the tourists our government is trying to woo.

Please look at the photos below. This is the welcome, as in the case of the previous post on Progreso, that tourists and visitors will have should they require the use of a bathroom. Next to the toilet, please note the traditional waste paper basket containing used toilet paper. Heaven forbid that they should make the effort to actually install a proper septic system that can handle toilet paper! And after your precarious hovering experience – note the absence of any toilet seat or something to hold onto when you are in fact, hovering – with the toilet, you can proceed to the modern ‘sink’ and dip your fingers into that charming little plastic dish of brown liquid soap, where unknown hands have dipped before you.

This primitive set-up would be fine if perhaps, I was camping, although I have seen campsites with outhouses that look more hygienic. Or visiting someone who was very poor.

But this is a federally (INAH) and state (Secretaria de Turismo or Cultura) run attraction. They spend all kinds of money, not so much the INAH but the Tourism people, on ads and campaigns and and and to get people to come here. Then, when they do, they offer them this.

Yes, the Mayan civilization was very advanced and has left a cultural legacy that has endured for thousands of years. Those days, however are gone.

In the absence of anyone in government building or doing ANYTHING these days to make the Yucatan more attractive or even a better place to live for its inhabitants, these Mayan sites are a cash cow for the mindless, unimaginative and self-serving bureaucrats that run them today. They should be turned over to the private sector and all the leeches living on the proceeds of the Mayans remains should be forced to get a real job.

Cruiseship Tourism and Progreso

Life in the Yucatan,

I have been saying lately, and after having lived here for 20-plus years, that the real name of Progreso should be Atraso, since the word progreso means progress (atraso means the exact opposite) and that is the last thing that this little town has seen in the 20 years of my living here.

Cruise ships arrive at the port and disgorge inordinate amounts of somewhat curious tourists (they can’t be that curious if they are taking a cruise) who then either take some sort of guided tour or amble about the town, Corona in hand, oblivious both to the stares of those locals who are working or going to school and also the shouts and whistles of the simian-like vendors trying to bring the tourists’ attention to whatever trinket they are hawking on little tables set up on the crumbling sidewalks.

The tourist busses from the ship arrive at the Casa de Cultura (House of Culture, or Cultural Center) which as its name implies, showcases the culture, or in this case complete lack thereof, of the town. While I am not dissing the people of Progreso per se, I certainly am dissing the authorities that over the last 20 years have done nothing tangible for the people of Progreso, nor have they made any effort to make the port attractive in any visible way.

The “Cultural” Center itself is a maze of pseudo market activity (it only materializes on cruise ship days), with everything from honey to stone to clothing. Anything produced in the Yucatan in it’s infinitely limited variety is on display, one booth differentiatable (is that even a word?) from the next only by a different yawning or gum-chewing and completely bored person staring listlessly into the distance, numbed by the sheer number of chubby foreigners walking by.

There is a long lineup of tourists waiting to have their turn at purchasing one of the many ‘authorized’ tours available; Dzibilchaltun, Merida and points beyond. One couple mentioned they had paid 28 USD for a trip to the Marina Silcer, presumably to drink themselves into oblivion or something since I cannot for the life of me imagine what else they would do there.

Another table set up sells the Progreso tour, which takes place on giant, partially painted metallic structures on wheels that in a previous life had perhaps been busses, but are now double decker open air cattle corrals with blue seats upon which the hapless tourists perch their generally ample bottoms, while enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Progreso. The ‘guide’ is up front, microphone in hand, pointing out the few highlights that remain after decades of neglect, which logically includes those shops that have good prices (and have most likely previously paid for the privelege of being named in the tour) in a Cancun way that anyone familiar with the ‘hey amigo‘ time share crowd will recognize immediately and with some concern.

You can buy Cohiba cigars right there on the street! Yes, authentic cigars for those victims of USA foreign policy and addicted to tobacco. I am unqualified to judge whether or not these are real, but we are in Mexico and anything is possible; therefore, I have my suspicions.

Back to the ‘Cultural’ center; inside, there are barely-painted walls with works of art ie paintings hanging on them along with a plastic nativity setup complete with Chinese lights. The paintings are minimally lit. Not minimalist. Minimal. Some flourescent tubes here and there.

In one corner, and deserving of a very special mention, are the bathrooms. These are a particularly 3rd world welcome for those tourists needing a WC. There is a table featuring the lady with a shallow basket containing previously torn pieces of toilet paper (there is none inside) and another basket that sports a hand-lettered black felt pen sign: “Tips”. You must tip to pee. Men are waved into their bathroom (which has a sign, but perhaps you will miss it and this gives the lady a chance to ‘earn’ her tip from you) while the women are stopped as they enter their bathroom by the outstretched arm and hand holding a basket full of toilet paper pieces. They stare at the basket, then at the lady and back at the basket, unbelieving and not comprehending the gesture. That is, until the lady authoritatively says – in what is probably a major portion of her English vocabulary – “toilet paper!” Then it suddenly dawns on them as to what they can expect inside and they gingerly take the pieces they feel will be needing.

I did peek inside the men’s stall and was able to confirm that there is no semblance of an actual toilet seat, just the bare porcelain over which you will suspend your anatomy as… well you get the picture.

Washing your hands will also present the no-soap and no paper towel dilemna, unless of course you ask the lady outside – I am sure she can help.

This is the environment in and around the Progreso de Castro Cultural Center. A truly retro and cliche-reinforcing welcome for the very people Progreso claims it and the Yucatan government is trying to attract so that there can be some economic trickledown.

Bullshit I say.

As citizens and residents of the state of Yucatan, we should be insisting that all that money being wasted on the promotion of the Yucatan should be put to better use and all those doing the promoting, via trips to New York and Barcelona tourism shows, should be fired and then jailed for fraud. Other immediate steps should include:

  • firing without any indemnization of whoever is in charge of the Cultural Center; this is a shameful disgrace and absolutely disgusting and the department of health should shut it down
  • bulldozing all abandoned and wrecked buildings on the beach front; they are an eyesore
  • immediate firing of whoever approves new building plans for beach front and other areas properties. Some of the new constructions are so god-awful ugly that Fidel Castro would be ashamed to have them in Cuba and would look actually better in some war-torn place like Fallujah. It says a lot when one of the nicer buildings on the beach is an OXXO
  • send whoever is left to Campeche to learn how make a malecon (boardwalk) properly so that tourists and locals can enjoy the beachfront safely and in comfort.

There are more of course. But this would make a great start.

All in all, a very entertaining morning!