OVENTIK/OVENTIC/OVENTIK/OVENTIC
Week two has come and gone, and as I sit in San Cristobal,
on this sleepy Sunday, finishing up homework, hoping it doesn’t rain, I am
having a hard time articulating what this past week has been like. For one,
there is a need for security culture, meaning that because I am living in a
community that has a volatile history and a need for privacy/a little bit of
secrecy, I am not sure how comfortable I am sharing all the details of what I
have been doing. Please don’t think that my lack of details means I am training
for the revolution or doing anything subversive, it is more for respect for the
Oventic community, which is full of inspiring men and women, both (very) young
and old. Second of all, I have four more
weeks of living in Oventic, so I don’t feel like there is a rush to write
anything at the moment. But what I will say is this: Oventic is nothing as I
expected. The night before leaving, I was very nervous. The group discussion we
had on how to behave and how the week will go painted a picture of strict
militant adult figures, secrecy, and hard physical conditions (no hot water, no
flush toilets, no mattresses). But, I was wrong. Oventic has so much heart and
love, in my mind due to the large amount of children running around, the murals
on every building reminding everyone why they are a part of the movement, and
the beautiful surrounding green mountains.
First, I’ll
start off with the van ride up to Oventic from San Cristobal. An hour drive up
the windy mountains in a van filled with 12 people is not for the weak
stomached. But it was a beautiful drive, up a twisted mountain side, speckled
with roadside fruit stands, children dressed colorfully playing with chickens,
and pits of garbage sometimes on fire. The drive has shown me the “poverty”
that I was expecting to see. The whole idea of poverty is complicated but I
don’t want to get into that right now. Pulling
up to front gate and seeing my first actual Zapatista with the ski mask
checking IDs and then getting in the van with us to direct us down the hill is
a memory that I will never EVER forget. Anyways, in Oventic, I am staying in a
room with my 11 other compañer@s with the actual community living right next
door. Waking up to the sounds of a community happening, wood being split, babies
crying, and chickens squawking has defined my mornings. The soft sounds of
tzostil have become the soundtrack to my days.
Meals are
served 3 times a day and are very tasty. I am so happy I love beans, tortillas,
and avocados or else this would be a long trip! Classes take up about half the
day and then around 5 pm I am free to do what I please. My free time is spent
looking at cows (why are they so beautiful??), walking around the campo, and
reading. A lot of reading. Classes are interesting. Twice a week I have class
with Tony and the other MSN people, discussing readings and how to bring the
feelings of community and resistance home to our own places and the other 3
days I have Spanish class. The Spanish classes are taught by promotores also known as Oventic
community members and focus a lot on Zapatista history and current issues in
Mexico.
Oventic is also home to a secondary
school for the surrounding towns, so we share the campo with 100 or so
indigenous middle schoolers, many of whom are dressed in their “traditional”
clothes. Sometimes we (MSN people) get to have activities with the secondary
school kids. One day in particular we played a game that focused on using
consensus to solve an issue (the Mexican government drops millions of pesos
from the sky…what do you?) and then come to a solution in groups of 5 and then
in the large group of 12 smaller groups. I was so amazed at the young boys an
girls in my group wanted to leave the money where it was and not use it because
“we are an autonomous community and have everything we need” and “the
government has done nothing but harm our people and take away our land…it could
be a trick.” Pretty inspiring anti-capitalist words from a bunch of young
people…the struggle and fight for basic rights never ends for many communities
across the world and I feel like I am here to listen. Listen and learn and see
how I can be ally. Being an ally takes many forms, but I am not quite sure what
they are yet. I have a whole three months to listen, question, and listen some
more.
I have much more to say and many other feelings to
articulate, but enough is enough. Here is to one more week filled with
challenges (both good and bad), feelings of both complete isolation as well as
being part of a close knit community and of course beans.
Love
Violeta
p.s. photos will appear eventually, but google "oventic murals" to see some wonderful pieces of public art that I see every day
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