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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2005 
Some Don't Observe 'Fox's Time'
 Fredy Martín Pérez - El Universal
| | The practice of moving clocks ahead one hour in the spring is often ignored among the indigenous communities of Chiapas - as is the need for shiny new police cars. |
San Juan Chamula, Chiapas - "This is the sundial that people used to use to tell time here in San Juan Chamula before they knew about clocks," says Juan, a young tourist guide, as he points out the antique instrument that, it some ways, is still of more use to the indigenous people of Chiapas than the dominant time-telling schemes of today.
Although the nation observed an official "jump forward" of one hour early Sunday morning as part of the observance of daylight -saving time, many members of the indigenous communities of Chiapas continue telling time by "God's time," or what they also refer to as "normal time."
Only in the largest cities and towns in the state did people move the hour hands of their clocks and watches ahead on Sunday morning. Even at the city hall of San Juan Chamula, a municipality of 3,000 inhabitants, the public clock remained on "normal time" as daylight savings came and went.
In the smallest, mostly agrarian communities of the state, where there are no banks or government offices, residents see no compelling need to adjust the time. And so, when people conduct business in town or make an appointment with a government agency, they are known to confirm the hour of the meeting by asking: "Is that Fox's time, or God's time?" |
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