Surrounded by Saints, Zapatistas, and a few other adventures

Ok, so it's only been a few days and already it seems like soo many things have happened here in Chiapas. So my family is quite wonderful. The host dad is one of the first saints that is around this place. He goes to mass every night, is friends with priests, works as a doctor with traditional herbal medicines, and is just an absolutely lovely, gentle man. He's a little bit older, and I think he's kinda sick, but I'm not exactly sure with what. It seems like the kids (there are 8 of them), take turns coming over to say hi every evening. They're all grown up, and married with children, but most of them live near. I've met 3 of them so far, in the 3 days I was there. The mom is also very sweet, and I've had some lovely chats with her. There is also a maid, who's only 14 and lives with them. Her story is her story, so I don't feel allowed to tell it, but it sounds very hard and difficult, especially since her family lives 5 hours away. But she's very sweet, and me and the other girl staying with me in this house, Megan, have spent the last couple of nights chatting with her and watching soap operas.
The first night we ate dinner with a catholic priest! Wow, that was amazing, I was kinda in awe at simply the idea. He was from france, had been in an indigenous community for around 30 years, and recently moved to San Cristobal de las Casa a few years ago. The life of a priest sounds very difficult, because they don't have any real family, except those that invite them in. And they only live off the money they get from offerings. This priest eats with my family every monday, friday, and i think sunday. Very lovely, and really interesting. He was also quite amusing, and really friendly. It was cool to actually get to know him.
On the third full day in Chiapas, we went to another alternative university, called Universidad de la Tierra, Chiapas. However, we had to get there ourselves. So, me and Megan took a taxi, told the guy what it was called, showed him the map, and then had a lovely talk with our taxi driver while he took us there. When we arrived, we were kinda confused because we didn't recognize anything. (We had gone to Unitierra the day before for a brief orientation about Chiapas). We asked the guy if this was really the place, and he assured us that is was. So we got out, and he left. We then asked some students if this was the university. They said yes, but kinda laughed at us. Then we asked some other people and they said that it was the Universidad Multicultural de Chiapas. Shortened to Unich. I guess it sounds kinda the same? Anyway, it did sound like a really cool place where both indigenous and mestizo people attend school, and they learn indigenous languages, and about other cultures. Pretty sweet. However, it was NOT the place we were supposed to be. So we had to wait for a good 30 mins till another taxi came (that we called especially), and got to Unitierra a good hour late. Also, for breakfast that morning, we'd gotten chincharron (pig skin deeply deeply fried), which I hadn't eaten a whole lot of, because I just couldn't stomach it, but I still did not feel great for a little bit of the time. It was kinda a fun adventure tho!
Once we made it to Unitierra, we heard the last bit of talk, then went on a walk around the place. At this university, people, mostly indigenous people, can come and choose what they want to learn, then take an on hands class where they learn about it. Also, they make all their own food by having a garden/miniature farm, and by having various animals. It's right in the forest and absolutely beautiful. It kinda reminded me of home. It was about a 2 hr walk or so, and is where I got to know Julio, the other saint that is in Chiapas. He's also very gentle, very easy going, gets along with and accepts everybody, quite funny, knows how to speak very well and sincerely (which I found out in later visits to Las Abejas and Los Zapatistas), knows a lot about life and everything, has seen a lot of life, including things that are very difficult, and would be a very good director of this program because he's very aware of what's going on in the group, and knows a lot. For example, at every new location he points out where the bathroom is. Ok, so that's rather funny, but hey, it makes sense. He's one of our drivers, but is basically our guide around Chiapas. He's an absolutely great man.
Afterward the whole group went and heard a speaker about capitalism, neo-liberalism, and all the crap that has happened because of this system. It was actually fascinating, and the guy was a really good speaker and teacher for economics. I think that I understand (kinda) economics, because he explained it so well. He described capitalism as a train that is heading for a crash into a ditch. The closer we are to it, the more worried people get and try to make a change (or at least talk about it). but if they find out that we're actually farther than somebody had said, then they just decide to forget about it. Hence, this is why the crashes, and more recent crash, has happened. Wow! I liked it. It also gave us a bit of an orientation to the Zapatistas, who are working totally outside of the system.
After this, our amazing chofer, Julio, took us to this great artisan chocolate shop. This is where I ate what I think is the absolute BEST pure dark chocolate I've ever had. We didn't do too much that evening, (altho I do have a great story which I will add later), and the next day we left for Las Abejas community, and then to the Zapatista government place. But now I have to leave. To be continued...