Na Bolom

Yesterday we visited Na Bolom, the House of the Jaguar.  One of the great attractions of San Cristobal and the state of Chiapas is the presence of the Maya, both in the form of spectacular ruins and indigenous Maya people still living here today.  Na Bolom is the former home of Danish explorer and archaeologist, Frans Blom, and his Swiss wife, anthropologist and photographer,Gertrude.  They dedicated their lives to the study and preservation of the living Maya culture.  Trudy documented the Maya in striking black-and-white photographs beginning in the 1940s, which are displayed on many of the walls.  When Frans died in 1963, Trudy carried on their work until her death in 1993.  Since her passing, their home, originally an hacienda, has been turned into a museum and center for study of the region's indigenous cultures, especially the remote Lacandon Maya.

The home is built around several courtyards with the living and working rooms opening onto them.  Some of these rooms now display artifacts from the Bloms' lives, and from the Maya people they worked with and studied.  There are also a research library and offices for the foundation that carries on some of their work.  Outside are gardens, which include replicas of traditional Maya houses.   It was all very well done, and we left with great admiration for what this couple achieved, and a greater appreciation for the living Maya culture.  I think I need to find a good biography of Frans and Trudy; the short summary of each of them in Wikipedia only whetted my appetite to know more.

Interestingly, their home is directly across the street from the Mormon chapel we attend each Sunday.

The main courtyard

The salon

The dining room

The research library

The jaguar in Na Bolom

A Maya woman making handicrafts and another sleeping

Working on a textile

An old Maya in front of his house in the garden

A not-so-old Maya abuela on a bright blue bench

Lili

Let me tell you about Lili.  She is ten-years-old and had set up shop on one of the bright blue benches in the main patio.  Her mother was one of the women making handicrafts there.  I asked her where she lived and she said far away in the "selva", the jungle.  When I asked why she wasn't in school, she said she had gotten permission from her "maestro" to come to San Cristobal with her parents.  Her dad had to come see the "medico" because he has an ulcer.  She wanted Sara to buy a bracelet or necklace.  I asked her who made them.  She said she and her mother make them using seeds from the trees in the jungle.

I was extremely impressed with how well spoken Lili was and what a charming saleswomen she is.  Of course Sara bought some of Lili's wares.  With that smile, how could you not!