Article written by Melissa Mundt

Happy New Year! This month the Zapatistas celebrated their 11th anniversary and here at the Peace House we geared up for 2005. We will be welcoming many new volunteers, board members and friends in the coming months, working on new projects and with new organizations.

I´ve been back in San Cristobal a little over a week now after a whirlwind visit and speaking tour in the United States. I want to extend a wholehearted thanks to our new donors and subscribers. It was wonderful to share and discuss with all of you.

 On my return trip as I looked out the bus window cruising south down the Yucatan Penninsula my surroundings were at once familiar and seen with the new eyes. Six hours before I had been in frigid Minneapolis and now I watched families swinging in hammocks, chatting in front of stores, all windows open because of the heat. I had the calming sensation of coming home while at the same time seeing differences in sharp relief, dirt patios, tin roofs, small crumbling roads. I wished, as I had wished throughout my time in the States, that I could lend out my eyes to the people up north. If there was only a way to transmit the sensation, the smells, the feeling of Chiapas.

It is always a challenge to connect with people, but increasingly important as so many struggles are now global in scope. I was asked many difficult questions during my speaking events and had to really reflect on the continuing importance of Zapatista struggles, the real detriment of corporate lead development and how the movements in Chiapas are relevant to movements in the United States and worldwide. I enjoyed the discussions that arose around these questions and the continuing articulations and perspectives that come out of our experiences here in San Cristobal. In this newsletter Sarah and Indigo reflect on the connections between Chiapas, US, and individual struggles.