Today

In the five states that make up the Yucatán and southeastern Mexico great wealth lives alongside great poverty. Paradoxically, the indexes of both wealth and poverty in this region are higher than the national average. A lot of money is flowing into the area -- in the case of Yucatán and Quintana Roo, from tourism; in the case of Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas, from the oil industry. But this money doesn't trickle down readily, and so many of the region's inhabitants have not benefited directly from the economic boom. These five states have a total population of almost 10 million, 10% of Mexico's population, but only account for about 6% of the economic activity.

Intensive development has been a two-edged sword. In some cases, it has increased the demand for the products and services of local workers such as fishermen and palaperos, the native roofers who create thatched roofs (palapas) that adorn many hotels -- their services are in great demand every time a hurricane brushes the coast. At the same time, development has ruined the livelihood of other locals, such as the coastal coconut growers. When Cancún developers brought turf from Florida to build a golf course, they unwittingly introduced a disease that wiped out the original coconut palms. The consequences from the destruction of the mangroves, which play a vital role in the coastal food chain and protect the region from hurricanes, means diminished catches by fishermen and greater losses when a hurricane strikes.

The same give and take can be seen in the effects of oil production on the local economies of Tabasco and Chiapas. While oil increases resources for local governments, direct benefits tend to be confined to a minority of the population. However, oil wealth was unable to protect Tabasco and Chiapas from heavy flooding in late 2007, one of Mexico's worst natural disasters.

State governments have been slow to react to the region's recent economic prosperity. Much has been done to improve roads and other basic infrastructure, but no coherent policy for combating social ills has been formulated. The Zapatista revolt of the 1990s served to focus society's attention on the plight of Chiapas' rural poor, but ironically, this has had more of an effect on the national government than on the states and the region as a whole.

For most of the peasants and farmers and the rest of the rural populace who live outside the realm of the oil and tourism industries, life hasn't changed much during these boom years.

Today's Maya Culture & People

As with lowlanders elsewhere in Mexico, Yucatecans are warm and friendly, and they show little reserve. Entering into conversation with them couldn't be easier. In the peninsula's interior, you might find people who are unexpectedly reticent, but most likely these are Maya Indians who aren't comfortable speaking Spanish. It may come as a surprise that you don't have to leave Cancún to meet the Maya; thousands come from the interior to work at hotels and restaurants in Cancún, and many can switch easily among Spanish, English, and Yukatek, the local Mayan language. More than 350,000 Maya living in the Yucatán's three states speak Yukatek, and most, especially men, speak Spanish, too.

Completely different are the estimated one million Tabascan and Chiapan Maya, who speak four different Mayan languages with dozens of dialects. The highland Maya communities around San Cristóbal de las Casas generally choose not to embrace outside cultures, preferring to live in small mountain hamlets and meeting only for ceremonies and market days. Their cloud-forest homeland in Chiapas is cold. They, too, live much as their ancestors did, but with beliefs distinct from their peninsular relatives.

In hindsight, the arrival of the Spaniards, in the early 1500s, seems almost apocalyptic. Military conquest and old-world diseases decimated the native population. A new social order predicated on a starkly different religion rose in place of the old one. Through all of this, the Maya held on to their language but lost most of the living memory of their pre-Hispanic ways. What they retained they cloaked in the language of myth and legend that was worked into a rough synthesis of old and new. They selectively appropriated elements of the new religion that could help make sense of the world, and this process continues today in the many Maya communities that have native churches, such as San Juan Chamula or Zinacantán outside of San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Those curious people, the Maya, are a fascinating and integral part of this land. The ancients left behind elegant and mysterious ruins that, despite all that we now know, seem to defy interpretation. Almost every year, archaeological excavation leads to the discovery of more ruins in this region, adding to a growing picture of an urban civilization that thrived in an area where only scantily populated jungle now exists. What can we make of such a civilization? What value do we accord the Maya among the other lost civilizations of the ancient world? Even this is unclear, but the art and architecture they left behind are stunning expressions of a rich and complex cosmological view.

Living Well: the Best Revenge

In the face of economic inequality, Mexican society remains amazingly resilient and cohesive -- due in no small part to the way Mexicans live. They place a high value on family and friends, social gatherings, and living in the present; getting ahead and future uncertainties take a back seat. In Mexico, there is always time to meet with friends for a drink or a cup of coffee or attend a family get-together. The many spirited public celebrations that Mexico is famous for are simply another manifestation of this attitude.

American and English travelers have often observed that Mexicans have a different conception of time, that life in Mexico obeys slower rhythms. This is true, and yet few observers go on to explain what the consequences of this are for the visitor to Mexico. This is a shame, because an imperfect appreciation of the difference causes a good deal of misunderstanding between tourists and locals.

Mexican acquaintances have asked me why Americans grin all the time. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the question, and only gradually came to appreciate what was at issue. As the pace of life for Americans, Canadians, and others has quickened, they have come to skip some of the niceties of social interaction. When walking into a store, many Americans simply smile at a clerk and launch right into a question or request. The smile, in effect, replaces the greeting. In Mexico, it doesn't work that way. Mexicans misinterpret this American manner of greeting. After all, a smile when there is no context can be ambiguous; it can convey amusement, smugness, or superiority.

One of the most important pieces of advice I can offer travelers is this: Always give a proper greeting when addressing Mexicans. Don't try to abbreviate social intercourse. Mexican culture places a higher value on proper social form than on saving time. A Mexican must at least say "¡Buenos días!" or its equivalent, even to total strangers -- a show of proper respect. When an individual meets a group of people, he or she will greet each person separately, which can take quite a while. For us, the polite thing would be to keep our interruption to a minimum and give a general greeting to all.

Mexicans, like most people, will consciously or subconsciously make quick judgments about individuals they meet. Most divide the world into the well raised and cultured (bien educado) and the poorly raised (mal educado). Unfortunately, many visitors are reluctant to try out their Spanish, preferring to keep exchanges to a minimum. Don't do this. To be categorized as a foreigner isn't a big deal. What's important in Mexico is to be categorized as one of the cultured foreigners and not one of the barbarians.