Our next stop is San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Chiapas, in the South of the country. We take an overnight bus from Mexico City and then a taxi into this beautiful colonial city with its pedestrianized centre and the raised sidewalks.*
I’ll leave you for a moment in front of one of those lovely shops. No, not to browse. Turn your back towards the street, close your eyes, count to ten.
One – two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight – nine – ten.
Open your eyes and look straight across the road at the café on the other side.
What do you see? A stream of people wanders by, many of them tourists. Street vendors – many of them children, all of them indigenous – offer their bracelets, belts, rebozos (shawls), separadores de libros (bookmarks). Yes, and what else do you see? Nothing out of the ordinary? Exactly. Look at the güerita (blondie) sitting in the café across the road, sipping a café con leche and reading a novel. Take a snapshot. Print the picture, put it in a frame and title it ‘Privilege.’