La Era

We travelled one Sunday to the ejido community of 'La Era', a part of the municipality of Huiztan. Our friends Manuel & Augustina and their children are originally from there - they had to leave when they rejected the local pagan-Catholic religion for a more Biblical Christianity.


We visited Augustina's aunt's house first - just four walls of wood, corrugated iron roof and earth floor - there they cook, eat and sleep. It probably isn't much changed from indigenous homes 400 years ago!


When Pablo visited La Era in 2000 they ran him out of the village accusing him of being a foreign missionary. It's only this year that the community has allowed the small number of Christian families there to build a church building.


We visited the afternoon service - we were told it should last an hour, this time it stretched to just over three! The singing and sermon were in Tzotzil with occasional words of Spanish. Pablo had to stand up and say a few words, in Spanish. Shortly afterwards the service finished and we made good our escape.


A few days later we were back at Manuel's house - where they'd come to 16 years ago when they fled La Era.


It's Luis's 19th birthday - but no cans of beer, cigarette butts or police called at midnight here. Instead the church youth group have been invited (not by Luis we guess) to the house for church games, a quick inspirational word and then tamales and coca cola for everyone. Luis mostly hides behind Daisy!