Only In Mexico

As we wander around the streets here
Every day is an adventure of sorts
Today, I was on a local bus
Heading home from the farm
Where I have just purchased
The week's vegetables

I arrange myself on the seat,
With my three large bags of food
A local man wearing jeans
White shirt, vest and a cowboy hat
Carrying an ornately made,
Well worn twelve string guitar
Entered the bus, stood at the front
And began singing.

Rustling around in my bag
I find my camera
And take a little video of the event:



The locals stare straight ahead
Don't look at him when he asks for money afterward
But I am happy to pay because I am always amazed
At the lack of self consciousness that eople have here
When it comes to playing music in public.
Plus it was really nice.

You don't need to have a gig,
You just go out on the bus
Or walk the streets and ask people if they would like a song
Then sing like there's no tomorrow,
Or no rest of today for that matter.
You don't even have to be good, you just do it
For that, I am appreciative every day I live here
And see things like this.

Besides all the auditory noise here
There are visual delights and wonders as well
Such as this delightful house, which I discovered
Several weeks ago while walking to town.

















The colors are just fantastic,
A rich blue wall
Bright yellow door, trimmed in red
Red iron work around the meter box






















A Virgin of Guadalupe tile mural
Is punctuated with muliticolored glass beads
Making a frame around her
Then colored plastic papel picado,
Cut paper party decorations
Strung across the front of the house.

Notice that the door is not to the ground
But dropped right into the wall

The walkway in front of the house...
Was artfully redone this week
















A simple round doorstep
Made with a collection of talavera tiles
And a winding trail of tiles on either side
Going up and down the sidewalk
With little trees, made out of flowering tiles
Beneath the oval arches above them.
















Further down the street
Inside a tin work studio
A rusted iguana
is hanging out in the window














And another outrageously painted wall
In bright turquoise blue
With rosa Mexicana pink in the brick inlay
Flowering trees and shrubs hanging off it
And hand written sign on the door
















Everyone is out on the streets here
















While waiting for the bus
On a very busy street
On the median strip
Sits a man with no legs
On a four wheel cart
Covered in a yellow and white shade cloth
Selling almonds for 10 pesos a bag
Cars are whizzing by
He is unfazed
Here's a little 3 second video
For the full effect



You see everyone out on the streets here
Mothers with young babies wrapped in rebozos, held close
The old, the infirm, the disabled, children selling 'chicle'
Mariachis, singers, and young people arm in arm
No one is hiding away
Everyone has something to offer
It is gritty and real and affirming at the same time

August 1, 2008
While making lunch, we heard a truck go by
With a loudspeaker strapped to the top
It's hard to understand what these people were saying
A bunch of garbly sounds that don't make any sense
Even to the locals, then something like
melones, sandia, quince a vente pesos

A truck full of cantaloupe and watermelons
Is cruising the streets looking for buyers.
Anna and I run out the front door and down the street
Thinking of agua de sandia for lunch
But mostly wanting to see what the truck is like
How full of melons and enjoying the fact
That you can get watermelons
Brought to your door
Like the old milk trucks that delivered milk
In the 1950's. The practice
Is alive and well here in Mexico.

By the time we made it downstairs and outside
The truck had gone around the corner
Missing our loud whistles calling them back.
They disappeared - all but the music and chants -
"Melones"
"Sandia"
"Quince a vente pesos"
We went back in hoping they would come down our street
Which they soon did, and we ran downstairs again
Met our neighbors in the street
To sample the goods
And buy a cantaloupe and a watermelon
15 pesos for both.
You can't beat that.


Here's a little video,
Complete with neighbors,
Music from the truck
And a window into a day in the life
Of a melon seller

Atotonilco - New World Heritage Site

Last Sunday we thought it was the weekend for the Feria de Atotonilco, and decided to go. Our neighbors Marta, Aron and their son Ariel went with us. Upon arrival, we discovered that the fair was not this weekend, but next - however, it was the weekly market day, and the arrival of a large group of pilgrims who are here to pray, do pennance and repent for the week.

Photo above: Aron (in black) Marta and Ariel

We entered town from the El Cotijo side, near the entrance to La Gruta hot springs along the back side of the town. There were many cars parked along the stone fence going into town. We walked along into town. Booths began appearing, covered in colorful plastic 'lona' tarps - the Sunday market day.


Atotonilco is known for it's beautiful frescoes in the church, and this last week, along with San Miguel de Allende, Atotonilco was awarded the honor of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a great honor which will give international heritage status as well as much needed funding for restoration. Use this link to go to our tales from the road blog to see photos of the town, church and frescos.

The ceiling, walls and doors of this church are adorned with beautiful old paintings depicting religious and Hispanic scenes. The church also attracts about two million pilgrims a year, who we were told come weekly by bus, foot or car to be locked indoors for a week to pray, flagellate themselves (really) and do penance for their sins here on earth.

























Atotonilco is locally famous for it's statue of Senor de las Columnas, depicted below as Christ leaning over an urn, with disciplinas (for flagellating) wrapped around his waist and neck, bloody and tired with three gold rays, his halo.


The statue of 'el senor' makes the annual pilgrimage of about 10 km to San Miguel de Allende, overnight, every Easter for the Semana Santa Processions, arriving two weeks before the event and enters the town on a mile long flower filled street. To see photos of this, follow this link

Outside in the market, you'll find religious paraphernalia - disciplinas, large, small and in key chains, hand made by local artisans, and worn by all the pilgrims -

Along with Cd's that have images under resin of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, San Judas Tadeo to name a few - plus rosaries, gilded plastic frames with images of santos, religious cards --

Crowns of thorns made of wood and thorny spines from the bisnaga cactus - and hand made veils made of net and flowers which the women pilgrims, young and old wear during the week of prayer. Everything you need for the passion play.

And you can also buy an array of items for daily use -

dishes, plastic goods, food, plants or a beautiful sequined purse like John is showing here.

The food booths are selling botanas - Enchiladas, tortillas half dipped in chili salsa, fried rolled and filled with chicken and fresh cheese - gorditas, big fat tortillas rolled into a ball, cheese and chili inside, patted into a disc that is fried, then cut open and filled with meat, potatoes and corn - tacos with meat or nopales and cheese and carmelized onions. Down the way you can buy a nieve - iced milk or fruit in a variety of flavors, mango, chocolate or vanilla, zapote, limon, fresa or sandia.

Musicians wander in groups, find an area to stand or sit and play typical Mexican music with guitars and accordians.

Most of the crowd are pilgrims from ranchos and villages all over Mexico who still wear traditional clothing -

Women in colorful satin dresses, some wearing capes with crosses sewn on them and many wearing a mixture of traditional and modern clothing and hats - all of them wearing disciplinas, ready for their week of prayer and pennance.
I have to say, that coming into town, was like going back in time to another world of people, still steeped in traditional values, clothing and reverence for god. We were unaware upon arrival, that Atotonilco, while being famous for it's beautiful church, is also a pilgrimage site for two million pilgrims per year, many of whom come from villages that still maintain traditional ways of living, and who you see here.

At 5PM the pilgrims will go to the back of the church where the doors will be shut to the outside world for a week. They will be fed and basic needs taken care of while they reflect.



















The windows and doors of the church are all open today, shedding light throughout. Groups take turns kneeling at the altar to cross themselves and pray. Women are crying as they pray. Tourists wander about with cameras taking pictures of the frescoes, statues and architecture. The wood floors are mosaic designs, and the wood entrance to the doorway worn down from years of footsteps passing through.



















There are retablos of the stations of the cross and other religious stories painted into the doors and walls of the church and vestibules contain Santos to pray to. We were told that because of the new UNESCO World Heritage status that the market booths which surround the church in the center of town, and which have probably been a tradition for as long as the church has been standing, will no longer be allowed in front of the site after this year. The fair, which is a local event, will most likely be flooded with tourists. The status comes as a mixed blessing, bringing restoration, money and tourism to the town, but will surely change it's nature in the coming years.

Photo below: Ariel & me
This coming weekend the fair will be here complete with a carnival, food, Castillos (firework towers), toritos (little bull fireworks that people wear on their bodies and run through the crowds) rockets, xuchiles, parades, giant puppets (mojigangas) and music. We plan to go with Alex and his friend Andres, who arrive this Friday.

La Trinidad Organic Farm

We had heard there are two organic farms
Just a little ways outside of town.
One of them is near San Miguel Viejo,
A small rural village
where the town was founded in the 1500's,
and the original church still stands.

At the fork in the road, you go right,
and keep walking about another half mile.

















You pass a school on the left,
Farms and ranches on the right,
Perhaps share the road with bicycle riders, walkers,
And an occasional man sitting on the back of a donkey,
His shopping bucket in front, cantering along
The whole walk must be about 3 miles from our house,
Down the hillside, onto the Calzada de la Estacion,
Competing with the cars, buses and trucks
For a space on the busy road to the train station
And out into the countryside
On a rocky cobblestone road.
We were wondering how much further it could be
When a couple who were walking their dog
Pointed the way.
Sure enough, you can't miss it,
"Rancho La Trinidad"
With it's arty brick and rock fence
Lined with cactus.















It's been raining for the last two weeks
This morning the sun was shining through big black clouds
As we walked along, the clouds cleared away
The sun came out and everything is crisp and green.

The pathway into the farm
is an idyllic tree lined path















The ranch House sits along the left side
















There are 3 hectares planted in vegetables































Little nopalitos, not quite ready for picking















The vegetables have already been picked,
Washed in large concrete tubs
Then placed in buckets to be purchased.
If they don't have what you want,
They go out in the fields and pick it for you.















Waiting for John,
who is photographing the rock wall
And me
















Walking back,
I discovered these two rock footsteps
randomly nestled in the cobblestone road
We watered them down for the photo.















And then we found an exclamation point!















On the way back to the house,
We passed the Saturday market at the train station
We purchased fruit, onions and cilantro,
Ate a mango with chili and lime
And was carved into a flower,
Then sat down under the blue tarp
And ordered a pork torta.

Here's the organic vegetables
That we purchased for 80 pesos (about $8)
A humongous bunch of chard,
3 bunches of dino kale,
celery and anise root,
2 types of basil, 2 heads of lettuce,
2 beets, 4 heads of garlic
4 cucumbers and arugula.
This probably would have cost about $40 at whole foods.
















And from the Saturday market - for 60 pesos (about $6)
A large papaya, 2 mangos,
5 bananas, 15 limes,
2 large and 4 small onions,
8 tomatillos and a large bunch of cilantro.
The mangos and papayas are in season,
Excellent right now, you can just eat them all day!















And last, here's a little video of the farm
and it's morning sounds

When it rains here, it really rains
It will be sunny all day,
Then a few clouds and some wind come by
Next thing you know it is raining
The hardest rain you have ever seen,
It stays for a half hour to an hour
Then goes away and the sun comes out again.

Last night, we went to dinner
At a little outside cafe
It was threatening to rain,
Then it did, but we decided to stay
Eat outside, and see what happened.
We ate from a communal molcajete pot
That is bubbling when it comes to the table
With a red salsa, grilled nopales and poblano chilis
Red chorizo and chicken plus a few other vegetables

It looks and tastes great, eaten with corn tortillas.

Before it began raining, a group of young people
Dressed in yellow t-shirts came down the street
Arm in arm, behind a group of dressed up
Cervantino (estudiantino) singers from Guanajuato
A mini parade of sorts, everyone singing
At the top of their lungs, and laughing.
From there, the rain began,
Soon cars were up to their hubcaps in water
Police on horseback rambled down the street.
People took off their shoes to cross to the other side
Wading calf deep in the rushing waters
We took pictures as the downpour progressed
Although it was wet, it was not cold

Below is the slideshow,
including two videos at the end
When you see the videos, click on the picture to play it