El Dia de Amor

Valentine's Day, and obviously there are few things more romantic to do than go on a trip to a pine forest with a Baptist Church. Beats a candlelit dinner anytime.
Picnics in Mexico are a somewhat different experience than at home, although the weather on Sunday was somewhat like a spring day in the UK. For a start you don't want to bother packing sandwiches. Oh no, what you need is an entire chicken or two, a big pot of beans and a couple of kilos of tortillas. Oh, and some refrescos (fizzy drinks) of course... and a big bag of crisps, and another big bag of crisps, and a huge load of mayonnaise.




















Anything else you might be missing (more refrescos, even more crisps and mangos on sticks) can be bought on site.













After the death-defying play equipment in the Parque Infantil I was delighted to see a huge concrete slide at our picnic destination. It came with an ominous warning sign "children, please ride in the middle" - the assumption being that they would probably fall off if they went on the edges. Daisy loved it. The only problem was that it didn't go fast enough.













Clover had fun too. I looked away for a moment and she had stolen an entire chicken leg using her amazing extendable arm. She ate the lot, as well. Then she was passed around the entire church. Daisy spent some quality time duelling with a complete stranger using the roasted sweetcorn on a stick we'd bought for her.















All in all, a good day. Possibly the best mango I've ever eaten, as well.

Daisy's top five things to do in Mexico

The Mexico guide books are short on things to do with children in St Cristobal de Las Casas, but Daisy has her own ideas. If the writers of Lonely Planet ever run short of suggestions, here are her top picks.

1. Shopping for animalitos.











According to the guidebook these are "small, inexpensive and fragile pottery figures made by the children of the village Amatenango de Valle". They are sold in the streets, mainly by children, for a few pesos.
Daisy isn't that interested in their cultural significance. She just wants to collect them, and she sees every trip out as an opportunity to buy more. She's even got the downstairs neighbours buying them for her now. She's probably keeping the entire pottery business of Amatenango going singlehandedly.
However, the guidebook did get one thing right, they are certainly fragile. So far we've got through 'poorly pig' (who lost one leg almost as soon as she'd bought him), an armadillo and about five other unfortunate creatures. Never mind, her love of animalitos means she is easily bribeable, since you can usually get her to leave the house if she can buy one or two.









2. Hassling Larry the neighbour


Sadly in Guatemala for a few days, Larry is very popular with Daisy. The poor man (who is from the US) likes to spend his days sitting on the balcony in just his shorts reading books. Daisy likes to shout "Where's my neighbour?" very loudly at him and occasionally just "I want Larry!". He shows nothing but a polite interest in her, and to be honest I can't blame him for fleeing the country. She even named one of her animalitos after him, but it unsurprisingly came to a sticky end. Poor Larry.


3. Serving in Mari's Shop













I don't think Daisy's ever met anyone who owned a shop before, especially not one of those tantalising corner shops which sells sweeties and a whole rainbow of Mexican snacks, as well as essentials like milk and eggs. So Mari and Eneas' shop on the corner of our road has proved very popular. It is the source of all good things, especially lollipops, animal biscuits and large marshmallow hearts. Daisy likes to go and 'help' Mari while she's serving customers and also rearranges everything, given half the chance.


4. Looking for Baby Jesus' Daddy

Daisy is clearly a catholic at heart. Taking her into the nearest church always cheers her up, especially when baby Jesus and his Mummy wear such good clothes. But where is his Daddy? She's been looking for ages. I have once managed to palm her off with St Christopher, but otherwise the whole thing remains an ineffable mystery.















5. Having a drink with a straw

It doesn't matter what type of drink it is, if it comes with a 'popote' Daisy is a very happy girl. Goodness knows what will happen when she discovers the existence of cocktail umbrellas.














So there you go Lonely Planet, don't say we don't do anything for you. St Cristobal is a city of untold toddler delights.

close encounters of the Jaguar kind

Finally Accuweather's prediction came true and when it's drizzling in St Cristobal there is only one thing to do: go down to 'tierra caliente' (the hot land) at the bottom of the mountain.














We arrived at Chiapa del Corzo, a colonial town below St Cristobal, seeking a mythical 'ecological park' which is vaguely mentioned in the guide book. Getting to the park proved to be somewhat like the quest for the Holy Grail. It had no website, no-one appeared to have heard of it except the lady in the tourist office who described it as 'dilapidated', and when we tried to get to it one of the men manning the boats near the river described it as impossible to get to and suggested a trip around the local island instead.

Oh yes, because that's the other thing about the worst marketed theme park in the world, you have to get to it by boat and then hope that someone comes to get you to take you back. It's a 40 minute journey along the Cañon de Sumidero in a fast boat called a lancha, and you have to persuade the driver of the boat to stop halfway down.















Even when we finally found somewhere to buy a ticket and got on the boat, the driver wasn't sure her was going to stop there because of the wind. But it was too late, we were already in, with two children in lifejackets that were slightly too big and a large helping of adrenalin.













We've done the trip along the Canyon in a boat before, but not with kids. We held onto them for dear life as we zipped along the river with the cliffs towering high above us. The guide pointed out spider monkeys in the trees, vultures, and the place where the Chiapas Indians jumped to their deaths rather than be captured by the Spanish. I began to feel we were in for the same fate. When the park finally drew near I nearly bottled it and went back rather than go to the 'dilapidated' park. But the kids needed food so we got off, hoping at least that the food was edible

After the mythical quest to reach the park it came as no surprise that there were only five other people there when we arrived. They must have been very determined. We braced ourselves for the worst, but the whole experience was oddly magical.












First we passed through an enclosed area screened off by hanging curtains of rope. At first we thought this was just for effect, but when we looked up there were toucans in the trees, and red macaws. They came so close we could touch them (in fact, later they came so close I feared that they might peck Clover). I've never seen a toucan up close before, but they were absolutely stunning and lots of fun too.














Later, after lunch, we had an encounter that was nearly far too close. The park has a pair of jaguar, which are native to Chiapas, and we went up to have a look. We were (unsurprisingly) the only ones there, and the jaguar were extremely curious and came over to have a look. That is when I noticed that the cage was made of wire big enough for Daisy to poke a hand through and that she was just about to try to touch the big kitty's nose. I was calm at the time as we pulled her back, but I don't like to think of it now.













We walked around open an enclosure with (non-poisonous) snakes and saw another snake that had just shed its skin. We got up close with the crocodiles.











We didn't have time or inclination for the monkeys, puma, kayaking, rock climbing and zip slide and it was slightly too cold for the glorious pool. We also had a fantastic lunch where we did, I admit, see a party of tourists. The rest of the time we were able to have the park to ourselves. It was so quiet that the staff were able to come and find us when our boat arrived (at which point I was trying to breastfeed Clover while an inquisitive toucan tried to steal our map).















All in all, despite the mythic quest and the fear factor we all had a fabulous time and there's probably much more still to see. A grand day out - though I'll be keeping Daisy away from that jaguar cage in future.

not so accuweather

Up here in the highlands the weather can be changeable, so we don't come here expecting tropical conditions. Last time we were here we were plagued by numerous frente frios (cold fronts) that meant we needed hot water bottles and blankets rather than sombreros.

That's why we are so keen on checking the weather forecast - it always pays to be prepared. However, the only online weather data comes from a company called Accuweather which appears to be being run by the world's biggest pessimist.

So far it has predicted three to four days of heavy rain every week, and we've had I think about three minutes of rain the entire time we've been here. There have been serious weather warnings as well, but the days remain sunny with occasional wind (must be the frijoles).

There is flooding elsewhere in Mexico and clearly Accuweather cannot cope with St Cristobal's microclimate. Neither can we, since every morning we get up prepared for the worst and are never ready for better weather.














Yesterday (Sunday) we went to church with the Hernandez Hernandez family (so good they named them twice) who are friends of ours originally from the indigenous community of La Era. We woke to clouds and dressed the girls accordingly. By the time church had finished and we decided to walk up the St Cristobal hill with the family it was boiling hot and I was trying to slather everyone with sun screen.

Daisy does not like wearing her hat, especially when no-one else does. However, as people point out in the street she is 'guerrita' (a little white girl) and so she does have to put it on. I still find it amazing that passersby do feel free to comment on our colour - you wouldn't find that in the UK. Daisy is routinely so grubby, however, that it is a miracle anyone notices what colour she is.













After church and the punishing hill climb, during which Daisy demanded to be carried approximately every five minutes, we went out for tacos with the family to our favourite and much missed taco place, Salsa Verde.


















Tacos Al Pastor (my favourite) are basically marinated pork and pineapple served on small tortillas with associated taco accompaniments such as tomato, coriander and salsa. Daisy ate tacos with bits of onion reasonably enthusiastically until she spotted the children's play area. She spent some time on see-saws with some of the kids who sell things in the market, who were being treated to tacos by some local gringos.

Then, once the kids were shepherded away she managed to entice the Hernandez Hernandez teenagers to come and join her instead.











This is a family which works hard. Manuel, the dad, sells hamburgers for a living and Augustina washes clothes. It was good to have some fun with them on their one day off and we enjoyed sitting in the sun eating icecreams and chasing Daisy around. Church was fairly epic however, even though we arrived late.




















Daisy and I went to Sunday School and learnt about Zaccheus (a small man - a bit like most of the congregation) and then watched an enthusiastic game of blind man's buff. Clover disappeared with the teenagers and we didn't see her for half an hour. The only time she cried was when someone had the temerity to wipe her nose.

Cecy and Lucia are going to babysit for Daisy later this week, and I'm confident that she now knows them well enough not to be afraid. And we get a night out. Hurray!

Playpark of fear

We had hoped to get out of the city this weekend, but were stopped by a party of striking teachers. Even the NUT would never have dreamed of blocking the main motorway into a city so that no-one could get in or out.

Anyway, as compensation and as a treat for Daisy we decide to go to the Parque Infantil on the edge of town. It sounds ideal, but we quickly realise that even the laxest of British parents would find the place a little hardcore.

For a start, instead of being built of childfriendly wood chippings and coloured plastic, the Parque Infantil is made of concrete and metal. The slides heat up as soon as the sun gets on them and Daisy quickly adopts the hard rollerskating park as a good running about place - she's lucky she has any skin left on her knees at all.

What is more, the Parque appears to be built for giant children. The slides are around twelve foot tall and Paul has to go up them with Daisy while I catch her at the bottom. Since she knows no fear she has a great time.















This being Mexico, everyone has their own little business even in the municipal playpark. There's a woman with a trampoline (no net, on the solid ground) which Daisy goes on with Pablo and Itamar. They are too scared to let go of our hands but Daisy likes to scare us.

Then there's the plastic cars with small motors in that can be driven around for ten pesos for ten minutes. Daisy and Itamar demonstrate no aptitude for driving, but Pablo is rather good at it. Daisy makes up for this on the bouncy castle despite the young boy who is determined to hug her to the ground every five minutes.














We return somewhat sunburnt after a few hours in the park of terror. Daisy is exhausted, and so am I.

maternal guilt

Clearly it wasn't just the 50 kilos of luggage that we brought with us to St Cristobal. My maternal guilt also travelled with us in the suitcase and it has been kicking in big time.

Firstly there is Clover, who spent the first few days here being thoroughly miserable and not sleeping. It's hard to say whether she was teething, jetlagged or just hating Mexico, but whatever it was it did not have a great effect on my psyche.

Thankfully she is back to being her usual happy shouty self, which makes me feel a whole lot better about things - the amount of sleep I'm getting helps too! She is still refusing to roll over, but likes the baby walker we've borrowed from Mariet (she can't actually walk anywhere because it has a wheel missing but at least she's upright) an is eating prodigiously and giggling like a loony at all and sundry.















Then there's the tricky business of leaving Daisy at nursery. That's hard enough when your highly articulate child is able to communicate with her teachers, but when they speak not a word of English it's far more difficult. Especially when she's screaming "I don't want to" at the top of her voice, which I think everyone understood despite the language barrier.

I spent most of this morning wracked with guilt while we left Daisy for her first morning at the nursery school. When we returned she was quite happily playing and had done painting, cutting out and eaten several tortillas. She's now so addicted to them that when I ask her what she wants for lunch she wants "tillas" above pasta, which is high praise indeed.

It helps that there's a half Canadian girl in the nursery who is bilingual. The class Daisy should be in consists of three boys, so Daisy is in the older class instead with the five year olds, who are looking after her wonderfully. We're so proud of her... and she's learning more Spanish all the time. She likes to shout "adios" at everyone in the street - luckily it is used as a greeting here so she isn't just shouting "goodbye" at everyone.

















She's also getting far too accustomed to getting taxis everywhere, and every time we step out onto the pavement she shouts "where's my taxi" and tries to flag down passing cars. Since cabs cost £1 a ride here it's a luxury we can afford when her feet get tired, but she'll have to get used to London buses again when we get back to the UK.

When I've not been feeling guilty about the kids we've been revisiting friends and old haunts. The chocolate seller is still here (thank goodness) and remembers us far too well. I think we were his best customers! We've also been catching up with the Hernandez Moshan family.

The girls, who used to babysit for Daisy, popped over while we were doing bedtime the other day. They seemed a little confused by "hairy maclary from Donaldson's Dairy" - they may have studied english for years at school but they can't speak a word. Daisy refers to them as "my ladies" in a most proprietorial way, so I think there is some recollection there.

We've also visited their dad, Manuel, who runs a hamburger stall by the bus station. We'll see the rest of the family on Sunday when we're going to take them out for lunch after church. Their church involves hours of dancing so it should be quite a workout for all concerned.

Having Daisy at nursery leaves us better equipped for shopping at the market. She might be the same height as most of the ladies there but it would still be easy to lose her so it's quite stressful to shop with her. Today, with just Clover, we spent around £7 on the most wonderful cornucopia of fruit and veg, along with some chicken for dinner.












Daisy and Itamar then spent most of the afternoon immersing themselves in water on the balcony. It's been extremely hot here and very bright and sunny, but at least the balcony has some shade. They've been using the plastic bath we bought for Clover as a paddling pool and that, along with some dishes, some plastic people and a tea set, kept them quiet for most of the afternoon without too many tears or too much translation. At least that isn't something Daisy could do at home at the moment, and she loves it so much it assuages my guilt a little.

Catching up

It's been a hefty few days for my Spanish. Sunday afternoon saw us at lunch with friends Mariet and Enrique and the rest of the family. Daisy used to play with Pablo and Itamar, their two children, when we were here before, and she didn't let the language barrier get in the way with making friends again.















While I struggled away with trying to referee the children in two languages, Itamar and Daisy compared dollies and wheeled them around in shopping trollies, and Pablo and Daisy shared some time on a tricycle. She clearly has some recollection of Mexican food since she asks for tortillas enthusiastically and has eaten more grilled chicken than I would have thought possible.













Clover was also keen on the tortillas and enjoyed a sleep in a shawl over Mariet's shoulder, Mexican-style.




















We've spent time with Eneas and Mari and family, and went for lunch with them today. Daisy enjoyed running around with their grandson, Jeremias (who she calls 'Mias) and wanted to sleep in his bed! They played ball and even played hats - it made me realise how much she needs to play with other kids now, so we need to make sure she has plenty of time with them.













Clover, meanwhile, has been wowing the market stall holders with her blue eyes, and wowing her parents with her ability to stay awake all night. While we are propping our eyes open with matchsticks, she is flirting with all and sundry.















We all enjoyed a trip to the market this morning where we bought a fruit we've never heard of before called Piñuela. I don't recognise quite a lot of stuff in the market, so it's nice to try something new. A lot of it is very specialist - I've just googled this particular fruit and it turns out to grow here and on the Yucatan peninsular. It is related to the pineapple and tastes a bit like rhubarb. That's a lot of new information for 50p for a large tub.