El Cañon del Sumidera

Today all the teachers from ASFC went to the spectacular El Cañon del Sumidera, just outside of Tuxtla Gutierrez. As you can see, the canyon is amazing. Watching birds (seemingly) as small as mosquitoes fly majestically through the canyon emphasized the grand scale of the setting. Of course I kept dreaming of the day that I take a similiar trip by boat through the bottom of the canyon.





I had long known of the natural beauty of Chiapas, but nothing quite prepares you for it. The various birds, insects and an astonishing variety of plants added to the magical nature of the setting. We spotted three bizarre forms of grasshoppers that looked as if they belonged on another planet. One had such incredible camouflage that it did justice to the theory of natural selection. Anything that eats this particular type of grasshopper has little or no hope of ever spotting one. I am not sure how we did.


One other aspect of the day's outing that made it a perfect day was the challenge from our principal, Michy, for each of us to take turns sitting next to different teachers of the opposite language. The various Spanish teachers I spent time with taught me a lot of Spanish. One group of female teachers have taken it upon themselves to teach me all the double (and triple and quadruple) meanings of various words in Spanish. I am now afraid to speak.


Finishing off the event was a traditional Chiapanecan dinner of Antojitos (roughly translates to appetizers) and drinks. About twenty of us sat under a palapa trying various traditional drinks and with each round of drinks came baskets of tostadas and an astonishing assortment of antojitos. There must have been at least fifteen dishes and every last one of them was delicious. Some examples are pozole (a kind of soup made with corn), ceviche made with ground beef, black beans with cheese and a dish combining liver and heart (surprisingly good). I can't think of anywhere I have ever been that has such tasty and unique food. Fortunately I have spent years becoming used to fiery dishes. Nothing I have had yet has been too spicy. Twice lately cooks have brought out hotter salsas when they have seen how much salsa I put on my food.