Those of you who follow the blog regularly know that the stories of our travels are told chronologically. Thus, I have more posts to come about our time in Mexico, to be followed by tales from Guatemala and Cuba. Meanwhile,
What I’m juiced about right now:
are the people of San Cristobal de las Casas in the Mexican state of Chiapas. I sat on the curb of the street leading to the market and watched the world go by, fascinated by the many different trajes, or traditional outfits, of the women. This photo essay is the result. The big black lettering said NO MANCHES, MONSANTO. I can’t find a translation for the word manches.
We leave tomorrow for two weeks in Cuba. Internet there is slow and erratic. I may not be online much. I’ll catch up with everyone after we get back to Vancouver March 1st.
ETA: Thanks to the link provided by bkcitta I now know that “no manches” is a Mexican colloquialism for “no way!”
Next post: the Grande Fiesta de Enero at Chiapa de Corzo – a festival as only the Mexicans do them – crowds, colour, parades, masks, men in drag, women in dresses to die for, rainbow serapes, and wigs that look like toilet brushes.
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2017.
Adventures in Wonderland 
Goggles manches and this came up… “No manches literally means “Don’t stain” (mancha -> stain). It is used mostly, if not exclusively, in Mexico”…link provided additional information… http://spanish.stackexchange.com/questions/1219/regional-usage-and-literal-meaning-of-no-manches
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much. I knew someone would come to my aid! I just used google translate and it doesn’t translate manches.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing!! Loved the photos!! And post!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Urban Dictionary has a translation too>
But this is another one from “mexican guru”
http://www.mexicoguru.com/mexican-slang-meaning.php?date=071228
Spanish: ¡No Manches!
Type: Slang
Meaning: No way! Give me a break! Get outta here! No freakin’ way! Don’t fu***** do/say that!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love this. I shoulda looked it up myself!
LikeLike
Nice photos!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your photos are always first rate! Looking forward to reading your posts on Cuba when you can get to them. I was there in 1980 with a fellow Canadian and we saw a Billy Joel concert in Havana! Would love to go back someday. Hope you enjoy yourselves.
Annie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Annie. I so enjoyed myself sitting on the curb just capturing whatever went by.
I imagine we’ll see a bit of a different Cuba from 1980! We’re both very excited about it.
Alison
LikeLike
I’m way behind in comments and…well, everything. Love all these photos. I don’t know how you do it. Capture moments. I’m glad you’re going to Cuba, curious to see your take, and photos. I’m still ambivalent about the place. Don’t know why. I want to go before it’s ruined, but can’t seem to motivate myself to actually go. So…no sense worrying about it. Just see what happens, and keep reading other bloggers’ words about it, maybe, for now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks BF. For this lot I just sat down and waited for interesting people to appear. There’s no lack of interesting people in San Cristobal.
I’m so excited to be going to Cuba. I assume you’ve read Kelly’s posts about it. And Lexie’s. Still there’s no point in making yourself if it’s not really in your heart to go.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh you have done it again! We lived in San Felipe Baja for a few years and I so loved their culture and their total ‘relaxation’. Your photos show just that, even though some are carrying quite a load. Looking forward to your views of Cuba. I have heard such mixed reviews. I also want to go before it is ruined but
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Marla. We were in the Baja a few years ago and loved it. This is our fourth trip to Mexico, and each time we’ve enjoyed it a lot. Looking forward to Cuba!
Alison
LikeLike
Fab photos! We used to sit outside our casa in Granada, Nicaragua and watch the street go by. I really like the visual diary of the spot you chose to watch the ” world” around…
Enjoy Cuba it is a very unique country ~ have fun.
Peta
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Peta. We’d been wandering around the market in San Cristobal, which is a pretty amazing place, and I’ll include it in a later post. Then I saw the wall on the street outside the market, and all the people walking by so I sat down on the curb on the other side of the road and watched as people passed by.
Alison
LikeLike
Alison,
When in Havana, a little secret and if you have time. You are bound to go to Parque Central on Paseo De Marti and then on to the Capitol Building….( mini Capitol building fashioned after Washington Capitol) . Just across it ..kitty corner, is the nice classic hotel called Saratoga Havana.
Go visit it and make sure to go to the rooftop where there is a swimming pool that you can use…nice coffee shop and of course, the best vantage point for spectacular pictures. You will love it or I am in hot soup.
My other favourite places..Santiago and of course the only French city in Cuba..Cienfuegos.
After Mexico, food is not going to be appetising at all.
Enjoy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the tip Mashoud. I’ve cut and pasted your comment into the Cuba file. Unfortunately we will miss Santiago. We will get to spend time in Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos and Trinidad.
Alison
LikeLike
Alison,
Trinidad is very pleasant…colonial. When in Cienfuegos, try catching a show at the teatro in the main square …if not for the quality of the show, the guts of that theatre. Something about it takes you back to the age of renaissance.
Enjoy…
We are spending some days at our home in Winder, Georgia and driving onwards to Mexico and our shack in Belize. Back home in Eastern Ontario, a fantastic snow storm. Aren’t we lucky !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
visually i’m touched
by these simple,
economically poor,
but filled with well
expressed riches.
being on the front lines
they know the evil
of the rich.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The evil of Monsanto
is nothing
in the face of
the richness of lives lived
with open hearts.
Mexico is full of good people
helpful caring kind joyous
and welcoming.
Alison
LikeLike
Beautiful, intimate glimpses of daily life. Thank you for sharing 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Diya. I’m glad you liked it.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our lives couldn’t be more different! Great character portraits 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jo. And, yes, so different. It’s that that captivates me – every time.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful and moving captures of the people against this backdrop. Thank you 💛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Val. Against that wall seemed like such a perfect place to capture people.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
What gorgeous photos! San Cristobal de las Casas is one of my most favorite colonial cities that I’ve ever visited (and I’ve been to quite a few after living in Latin America for the past five years). I wish I had focused more on the clothing while I was there. You did a great job of capturing the traditional garb.
Feel free to check out my post about San Cristobal: https://teachingwanderlust.com/2016/10/21/flashback-friday-san-cristobal-de-las-casas/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Amanda. We loved San Cris. I’m always captivated by traditional dress so it’s always just about the first thing I’m looking at! I highly recommend the colonial towns of Campeche and San Miguel de Allende 🙂
Alison
LikeLike
I’m surprised they only wrote “no manches”, which is like the clean version, instead of the much stronger “no mames”. A lot of people in southern Mexico are really critical of large agribusiness; they make like very difficult for small farmers.
Great photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Wayfarer. Monsanto the world over makes life difficult for small farmers. I think it’s one of the world’s most evil companies and I’m not surprised the Mexicans don’t like it. As you can see from the photos the lettering saying NO MANCHES MONSANTO was huge.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
An interesting study, Alison. Each photo deserves a story, in fact tells a story. –Curt
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Curt. Some really good creative writer could write the stories of each person/family about what they were doing. It was very entertaining just sitting there watching everyone coming and going.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great photos. And great idea to just sit and let it all come to you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. I often just sit and wait. Especially when I’ve walked my legs off 🙂
Alison
LikeLike
Me too – usually in a café with cake!
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are gorgeous photos Alison! Love them all. Have a fabulous time in Cuba. Can’t wait to read all about it and of course see your amazing photos! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Nicole. It was really fun sitting there watching the world go by. Havana is *amazing*!
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I can hardly wait to read your posts!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This would be an amazing show for a gallery! Exquisite!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Joan. One day maybe I’ll have a gallery showing.
Alison
LikeLike
Simple bu nice and touching shots. Really love them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Alison
LikeLike
LOVE these portraits in front of that wall, especially with that dismissive message to Monsanto as a backdrop. If you do see this while in Cuba, ask in Vinales how to get to Benito’s tobacco farm (it’s easily walkable from town); we showed up totally unannounced and got a private little tour and didn’t have to book some expensive all-day excision to a touristy farm. (I’ve been slow to post about that – in the midst of a giant three-city move – aarrgghh)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Lexie. I thought the backdrop was perfect – really setting the scene. Thanks for the tip re Viñales. We go there on the 18th. I actually worked on a tobacco farm in NZ way back when I was 20something. We’re loving Havana and will definitely be having lunch at the restaurant you mentioned. Hope the packing and moving goes well.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am struck by so many heavy loads are being carried. Your beautiful photos have transported me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Sue. It’s the best kind of compliment! Men and women alike carried huge loads. I’m just more interested in photographing the women because most, in Chiapas anyway, still wear traditional dress. I’ve noticed the world over that women retain traditional dress and almost all men wear western clothes. Pity.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
We loved our time in San Cristobal de las Casas which seemed completely removed and apart from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and a step back in time. Perhaps here, more than any other part of Mexico, we were both struck by how beautiful Mexico’s heritage and traditions are contrasted with how harsh daily life can be for so many of its citizens, especially in the Chiapas region. Loved this series of photos, Alison against the graffiti backdrop. They so beautifully illustrate the heavy load that women carry … Anita
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Anita. We too loved San Cris. And in Oaxaca also there is a strong indigenous population that retain the traditional ways. There is such a rich heritage in Mexico; it’s so much more than beach resorts. I found the men also were carrying heavy loads, they just don’t look as pretty in their regular western dress 🙂
Alison
LikeLike
Awesome photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Jahnavi.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful photos, such a sense of place, and life happening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Kirstie. It was wonderful to just sit and watch all the coming and going.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing photos, Alison. I love the sensation of people going one way, then another, back and forth. You can see how unique each life is, and yet this constant going back and forth. There is a way the photos truly work as an essay–there is something about them all together. The families. The individuals. Some are just walking. Some are carrying more than they should be. It gives that space the sensation of being perfectly hollow. No one “lives” on that section of street. We don’t “live” here. We’re passing through somehow…
Lovely!
Peace
Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Michael. It was such a sweet experience to sit and watch the coming and going – everyone living in their own little world, full of purpose, on the move to or from somewhere, each group or person separate, but presenting one whole experience.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your article, very inspiring and thank you for your post
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Alison
LikeLike
No way, Monsanto. In other words….NO GMOs! This info provided by my Mexican friends in state of Oaxaca.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Helen. Nice to have it straight from the horses mouth so to speak! A couple of other commenters found it online on colloquial Spanish sites. I should have looked it up myself!
Alison
LikeLike
I love the ladies with the babies wrapped up in cloth, and I like the girl with the crates towards the bottom. That is a nice spot to the photos, especially with the graffiti. I’m looking forward to your Guatemala and Cuba posts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jeff. I just sat there photographing whatever appealed to me – mostly attracted to the women’s traditional dress, but some of the family stuff was neat too. Guat and Cuba both amazing, but probably no posts about them for at least another month. I’ll get there!
Alison
LikeLike
Fabulous photos! I great way to get a feel for the people of the area. Enjoy Cuba.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Darlene. It did give me a glimpse into everyday life. Everyone was just going about their day and I got a snapshot as they passed by. Currently sitting on the sidewalk at a hotspot in Viñales – that’s how to get wifi in Cuba.
Alison
LikeLike
I guess one can always find wifi if one tries hard enough!! Thanks for connecting with me during that time! Now I feel special. enjoy your selves. xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alison have linked out to your blog in my latest post. Cuba – lucky thing. I’m behind, behind, behind with my blog reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cuba is amazing – I’ll have soooo much to write about. And thanks for the link back!
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would love to go there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh i love these Alison 🙂 have fun getting to Cuba! 🙂 smiles
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Hedy. I so enjoyed myself sitting on that sidewalk. Cuba dazzles in it’s uniqueness, craziness, and beauty – will post about it eventually.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh just enjoy Cuba is a wonderful and I love the sidewalk series…a flow…sending you and Don joy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A beautiful website.I read your all blog posts except the posts in last two month but i hope i will read them too.I love your way of telling travel tales. I read a lot of travel blogs but your blog is the one which i really like most and read all of it!.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Eden. I’m glad you enjoying the blog so much!
Alison
LikeLike
Love watching the “street go by”. We’re just back from Laos so trying to get caught up and sort through zillions of photos. Hope to see you in March.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Caroline. I really enjoyed myself sitting on that sidewalk snapping the street going by. Looking forward to reading about your adventures in Laos, and seeing you back in Van.
Alison
LikeLike
Chiapas is an area of Mexico we did not get to during our time there. Love your images and hope to make this trek someday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much LuAnn. I highly recommend Chiapas. There’s a high percentage of indigenous people there so a lot of traditional colour and lifestyle. There will be more posts to come – Chiapa de Corzo, San Cristobal de las Casas, and San Juan Chamula.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alison, this series of photos taken against this graffiti-covered wall is an excellent way to highlight daily life. Wonderful idea. Enjoy Cuba. ~James
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks James. It was fun just sitting there watching it all go by.
Alison
PS will catch up with your posts when we get back from Cuba – very limited internet.
LikeLike
As everyone above has said, you have captured the essence of daily life in San Cristobal de las Casas with gorgeous photos. Wonderful photo essay.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Shirley. San Cristobal is a wonderful place – a combination of sophistication, and people still living by the old traditions. We loved it.
Alison
LikeLike
Are you not posting because you’re traveling, Alison? Hope all’s well with you two!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is the longest I’ve ever gone between posts! And it will probably be a week more. It’s mainly because we’ve been travelling. The last month was two weeks in Guatemala with slow internet, and two weeks in Cuba with internet only if we went out specifically to get it at the major hotels. Also Cuba was amazing but quite stressful. We’re now back in Canada and pretty much exhausted, but it’s nothing worse than that.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry- ignore that! I just read the last sentence so I know you’re now in Vancouver 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. We just need a little recovery time now 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your photos of life in San Cristobal de las Casas. Your blog makes me want to plan a visit there. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. I highly recommend San Cristobel, and other towns in Chiapas. It’s a fascinating place. We’ve had amazing experiences in Mexico. It’s one of our favourite places.
Alison
LikeLiked by 1 person