Anthropological Tourism

How is it possible that we do not pay attention to the effects of environmental changes on inhabitants? What if there were a village that went through such intrusions, keeping its cultural values intact? Would it be an additional motive for those tourists avid of being touched with the same emotion either by a landscape or by a gesture?

When planning a vacation, one dreams about very different places from those we are used to seeing in our daily life: locations with clean air, new landscapes for the soul. Definitely, we seek to recharge our energy to make it last until our next holiday, especially if we do not know when that will be. Suddenly, we choose destinations that we have never visited, or we go back to the ones we enjoyed. Sites, territories, venues, scenery so ever-changing, just as we are accustomed to seeing in nature.

Living in that same nature are the characters of every corner we visit, who have lived there for generations: human beings of flesh and blood who have faced, often without knowing it, changes to those surroudings. How can we not pay attention to the effects on inhabitants of environmental changes? What if there was a village that went through such intrusions keeping its cultural values intact?, would it be an additional motive for those tourists avid of being touched with the same emotion either by a landscape or a gesture?

Thus, welcome to Isla Mujeres. In its geography, you will find neither large restaurant chains nor big supermarkets. There are neither lavish clothing nor footwear stores. There are no challenges to gravity in its constructions, except for the magnificent sculptures found in Punta Sur.

Here people spend their lives weaving fishing nets and use them to feed their families. They can still be seen by the ferry, entwining threads and words with anyone who has the time to listen to some of their sea stories.

An old man skillfully weaves a hammock, and if he cannot sell it, it may become the cradle for his newborn son. Whether you want to buy or just see the souvenirs, it is always a good opportunity to hear what the sellers have to say through bargaining and chatting, such as "I've lived on this island forever. Appreciate what I am able to create in objects and experiences, and take this art to your continent, wherever your home may be."

The drugstore girl had to leave the island in order to learn about certain components and their effects, and then she came back to heal her people. The doctor went through the exact same story.

An octogenarian couple owns a grocery sore; she raised six children and has 16 grandchildren, and she proudly says that all of them live on the island. He misses diving at six in the morning, as he used to do every day since he was six years old: "I did it the old way, without gear as they do now," he comments. His eyes tell us the time went by very fast. As the couple await a customer, the woman sews the name of a great-grandson on tiny clothes and the old man packs the merchandise that he will deliver with a handshake and an open smile creased by the sun.

There are as many stories to be heard as people to be seen while walking around this small island whose virtues are more striking than even the most breathtaking landscape. When you visit a place like Isla Mujeres, share its people's experience, and obey a sole recommendation: take the time to understand these facts we are meant to live even while the world runs thoughtless around us.