Seven Deadly Sins

In Queretaro, there is a nacimiento in the main plaza - four blocks filled with larger than life Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the three kings bearing gifts, walking along with their elephant and white horse. There's the annunciation, with Mary and the Archangel Gabriel, a menagerie of animals surrounding the manger, shepherds and towns people, a garden of Eden - not just a little garden but complete with a lake, flamingos, water birds and a naked adam and eve.

Buenos días, Paloma Blanca

[caption id="attachment_3093" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Click on the photo to view the slideshow and fireworks movie"][/caption]

Thursday night, near the mercado Ignacio Ramirez, the final event of the celebration of the Virgen de Guadalupe was held. Vendors food booths and people filled the streets. The Virgin's altar was in full bloom, the procession of women carrying a wood nicho on a litter of flowers, and singing Buenos días, Paloma Blanca, had just arrived, followed by a lineup of followers who are served tamales and atole. (Movie of the fireworks here)



Castillo fireworks, which in this case include the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe who will be burned up in flames at the end of the evening, are being assembled in the street, roped to the surrounding buildings. It is a raggedy but self assured group of men from Guanajuato climbing around these towers, tying rockets, whistlers and vueltas. Grupo La Tuna Provinciana de San Miguel de Allende, dressed in black velvet shakespearan costume continue on from the women carrying the litter with Buenos días, Paloma Blanca, one of the many songs written for the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is song you would probably recognize, widely sung by mariachis, norteno bands, school children and women carrying statues, whenever the Virgin is present.

Nacimiento Babes

Every Christmas,
Markets are set up all over town,
Hundreds of stalls selling
Cactus,
Heno,
Tree bark,
Fir boughs,
Painted clay figures,
Glittery things,
Lights,
Nino Jesus dolls - the Santo Nino
Along with elaborate hand made clothing
To dress him in, for his birth

Nacimentos (nativities) here in Mexico,
Are room size affairs.
They are not a little box that sits on your hearth,
Not by any stretch of the imagination.
They literally fill a whole corner or wall of the living room.



In the next posts,

Virgen de Guadalupe

[caption id="attachment_3053" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="CLICK on this photo to view the video, Virgen de Guadalupe 2009"][/caption]

I think the saying goes
'Let me count the ways'
And today, the multitude of ways they honor the Guadalupe, Lupe, Lupita, beginning at midnight with fireworks and a mariachi mass.

At 7am there is a rosary at the altar down the street, with singing, praying, tamales and atole.

Every statue in town is decorated, every statue is sung and prayed to. Many are carried through the town in arms, atop taxis, in nichos, carried by four women on litters that are covered in flowers. She is placed in doorways and windows, serenaded to by norteno bands, recorded music in the markets, and the people.



Her altars are decorated in gold lamé,

Singing in Spanish #5

Today's song, Nuestro Juramento (Our Vow)
(Listen while you read this post)
Was composed by Puerto Rican Composer
Benito de Jesús of Barceloneta, Puerto Rico,
But it's fame is attributed to Julio Juramillo
Of Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1935 - 1978.
His rendition and recording of the song
Earned him the name of Mr. Juramento.
Nuestro Juramento is another Bolero
Whose theme is love, life, death and love eternal

Julio is known as 'El Ruiseñor de América'

Singing in Spanish #4

Today's song - Mucho Corazon
Is a Bolero written and popularized by Benny Moore,
Go here for the video to listen to while you read this post

There is a general consensus
That the first Latin American Bolero
Was popularized in 1895
By Cuban troubador José Pepe Sánchez
With his song Tristeza.
The Bolero contains two phrases of sixteen bars,
A guitar instrumental between them,
The words are emotionally romantic,
Of love,
Adoration,
Lament,
Unrequited love,
Sadness.

The striking differences

Singing in Spanish #3

Perfume de Gardenias,
There's an incredibly rich story behind this song,
Or more accurately stated, by it's composer,
Rafael Hernández Marín of Aguadilla,
Puerto Rico 1892 - 1965.
I suggest going to the song to listen while you read this post.



At age 12 Rafael studied music in San Juan
His teachers, Jose Ruellan Lequenica and Jesus Figueroa.
His instruments, clarinet, violin, piano, guitar and tuba
But it was his learning to compose music
That would bring him to the forefront of the world music scene.
All of this began as early as 1917,
Almost 100 years ago when he and his brother
Were recruited into the The Orchestra Europe -
Led by James Reese Europe, bandleader, U.S. Army.
The orchestra was assigned to an army regiment,
Nicknamed by the Germans 'The Harlem Hellfighters'.

Singing in Spanish #2

Here's the second post
In the series of Singing in Spanish,
Musica Romantica,
Translated from Spanish to English below.
Sung my neighbor Lorenzo and his quartet,
On stage last night here in San Miguel.
The link below has a movie of their performance
Singing  Si Nos Dejan



Click here for the video of Si Nos Dejan
Wait for it to load, and sing along!
The words, in Spanish and English are below:

Singing in Spanish #1

[caption id="attachment_2918" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Grupo Trebol"][/caption]

Last night at the Feria de Lana y Laton I went by the stage which is set up in the Jardin to see what music was playing. I wanted to try out my new High definition video camera, which in almost every review, said the quality was poor in low light. I wanted to see for myself and figured 5pm - 9pm at 50-60 feet away, would be a good way to start.

Grupo Trebol, the first group,

Peña de Bernal

Is considered the third largest monolith in the world following the Rock of Gibraltar and Sugarloaf in Brazil. In mass, it is second to Ayers Rock in Australia and towers at a height of about 450 feet.

San Sebastián Bernal sits at the bottom of the mountain, a small quiet town that claims an average life span for it's inhabitants, of 94.7 years.


The mountain is believed to have magical properties,
Bringing thousands  of pilgrims each spring equinox,
Dressed in white robes, to an evening community ritual
At the small chapel mid-way up the mountain.
The town has been bestowed with the gift
Of being one of Mexico's 35 or so Pueblos Magicos.


On the weekend, the town is full of people,
Mostly tourists who live within a day's ride.
Rock climbers come to scale to the top of the mountain,
Hikers skirt around the lower half.
Most likely you'll see walkers in tennis shoes or boots,
But being as we are here in Mexico,
We also saw groups of younger women
In high heels.  Go figure.
During the week, it is a peaceful, colorful ghost town.

Santa Cecilia

On the way into town yesterday,
at the bottom of our hill, we ran into a several groups of mariachis singing to a statue of Santa Cecelia, who was resting on a litter, garnished in flowers, carried by two modern young women, chewing bubble gum.

Santa Cecilia is the patron saint of music,
Whose saint day is this coming Sunday, November 22.
We walked right into the beginning of a procession.



Santa Cecilia's martyrdom and fame
Rest on the legend of her beheading, after which,
She sang and praised god for three days as she lay dying.
After many years, when her body was found,
Three fingers of one hand were outstretched
One finger on the other hand pointing,
A sign of her belief in the holy trinity.

Andreas at the Zoo

Today we took Andreas to the Zoo
The fact that he can now walk,
Made the whole day be about eye level,
His eye level, that is,
Which meant that the falling leaves
Were more interesting
Than the animals.
Here's a movie
(incuding a couple of animals)
Of our day at the zoo.
Click on the photo to view the movie.

[caption id="attachment_2811" align="alignnone" width="360" caption="Click on the photo to view the movie"][/caption]

Andreas Turns One

This week I'm in California visiting my grandson Andreas who is turning one on the fifteenth.  Wow, what a change in him in just three months since I've seen him.  He's walking - well, running actually. He loves to play and will read a book with you for about 30 seconds.

He laughs a lot,
Understands much of what you are saying to him,
But still has a few things to learn about sleep.
Here's a few of my favorite photos from the visit so far -

Community Altar

There's too much going on today with getting ready to go up to the States tomorrow for Andreas' first birthday to write a big post, but here's a short follow up on the last few days with some photos from  yesterday.

I spent most of the day on Calle Relox, with Elvia and her girls, watching and helping a group of  young men build an altar for Jesus (Kiro) and in honor all of the other deceased of this neighborhood -parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and friends. The decorating and painting of this fountain is a tradition with these guys and is also decorated by them for every major holiday or religious festival.

Six Months Later

I met up with  Elvia and her four daughters at the cemetery today.  She was late so I waited in front for an hour, arms full of flowers - you know me by now, trying to video people coming in with flowers, buckets, shovels, eating a bag of home made potato chips with salsa and lime, trying not to grease up the lens of my camera, wiping my dirty hands on my white blouse. Boy are those potato chips good, I usually don't let myself eat those, but I coudn't help myself.



There were hundreds, if not thousands of people inside. Gravesites were covered with flowers, candles and food. Little boys were running around with plastic buckets, offering their services to get water for the flowers. Mariachis, Norteno bands and street musicians were playing.  I'll never tire of watching a group of mariachis in their white embroidered suits, carrying trumpets, guitars and violins, sing to an elderly couple who have crawled over the iron fence which surrounds the grave, to place flowers, light candles, and sit  down holding hands, while they enjoy the music with their loved one.

Dia de los Muertos

The preparations have begun

There are flower sellers everywhere.
Home altars are being created,
Car repair, shoe and small tiendas
Have transformed into flower shops.
You can't avoid the papel picado banners or skeletons.
Although Monday is officially the day,
Families are already in the cemetery
Cleaning gravesites,
Placing flowers
Spending time together
Praying.

Back in town, altars are being constructed in the Jardin

This one, is in memory of the heroes of San Miguel.

El Charco del Ingenio

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="324" caption="Mario Mendoza, curator, Charco del Ingenio"][/caption]

On a visit to San Miguel, about four  years ago, we took a tour of El Charco del Ingenio in August after the rains. The preserve and botanical garden was in full bloom. We walked the length, with Mario Mendoza, curator.  The botanical tour was a mix of stories about the natural, plant and animal history plus personal stories about his  grandmother's knowledge of the medicinal and healing uses of local plants. Included was a story of his life as a teenager, who on a dare, and as a rite of passage for boys at that time, walked the length of the aquaduct  from the Fabrica Aurora to the dam. This pipe sits high above the canyon, running for a full kilometer, making this a clearly dangerous, but I am sure an exhilarating, experience to be able to say that you had survived.

Wedding Getaways

Last Saturday John was walking downtown
When he crossed paths with a wedding getaway,
A couple on their decked out motorcycle,
Four women gathering the bride's skirt up
Tucking her in, and off they went.



With a double police escort
On motorcycles, of course



In september,
We were in a taxi going to town
When this wedding getaway passed us
Going up the hill.  You can't help but smile.
Click on the photo to view the video.

[caption id="attachment_2571" align="alignnone" width="396" caption="The Old Fashioned Way   ClICK ON THE PHOTO   To view the video"][/caption]

Chile Güero

Chile Güero
A recipe that was given to us
By Mexico Bob and his wife Gina
And this post is for them.
The movie is by us, starring us.

These are what the fresh chiles look like
They are also known as yellow wax chiles in the US
They are yellow to light green when young
Turning toward orange as they age.
About four inches long.

[caption id="attachment_2550" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Click on the photo to view the movie"][/caption]

The recipe:
You'll need a few chile Güeros
Some queso Oaxaca or queso Asadero
Or in the case of our experiment
You can use a soft goat cheese
Which turned out just fine.

Make a lengthwise slit in the chile
Carefully scoop out the seeds.
If you want it less hot,
Get the membranes out too.
Put a small amount of salt in the cavity
Fill the chile with cheese
Close with a toothpick
Roast the chiles on the grill until charred and soft
The grilling took us about 20 minutes
Wrap inside a tortilla and eat!

Delicious!
Click here if you missed the video

Regarding the word Güero,
The first time I heard this word
Was when we were remodeling our house.
There was one worker who everyone called güero.
At the time I thought that this was his name
Until one day I called him güero and everyone laughed.
I asked why they were laughing.
Fausto told me this was not his name.
His name is Antonio.
I asked if this was his nickname.
They laughed again and said
We always call the lightest skinned worker güero.
It was used in a good natured, light teasing way.

So in my then, much cruder understanding of Spanish,
I took this to mean that Güero was the word for light,
Which of course is not the case,
Because there are several words for light,
Depending on the subject matter and context.
Luckily, did not use it in conversation in the wrong context.
Pretty soon I am hearing güero used all over,
In the streets, the markets, in friend's homes.
I also begin hearing people call me güera,
Taxi drivers  saying 'si güera'
Which it took a long time to realize
They didn't mean it derogatorily,
However I did hear it a few times,
Walking down the street, by men,
Sitting on the curb calling 'Güera
Which I did take in a derogatory way,
As it was a taunt.

Meantime, back to chiles,
Another translation came up last week
As having blonde hair,
Or in the case of chile güero,
A light color chile.

United Nations Day

Every year, San Miguel celebrates United Nations Day with a children's parade, mostly the kindergarten classes, dressed in costume from all over the world.  It is followed by civic speeches in the Jardin and mothers holding balloons on which flags of the world are tied, then let into the air.

The parade is accompanied
By a military drum and bugle corp.
Mothers are marching alongside pulling costumes back into place,
Keeping everyone in order, fixing hair
Saying  Stop! Go!  Stop! Go!
They are stomping their feet in time to the drum corp,
Chanting a mantra of uno! dos! tres! cuatro!
As if these children were in training for the military.


You can't help but love watching them
So innocent and so serious about what they are doing.
This year's message is about peace
And who you have to be to help make it happen.

Click on the photo below for a short video
And a message for peace.

[caption id="attachment_2640" align="alignnone" width="390" caption="Click on the photo to view the movie"][/caption]

Coctel de Camarones

Olga Costa, Jose Chavez Morado Museum

Guanajuato Cervantino Festival

Where Did The Last Two Weeks Go?

Yikes! all of a sudden two weeks have gone by.
I'm working on several posts which if all goes well,
Will be up by the end of the week -

The final movie of the sunday parade is finished.
You can click on the photo below
Or go here to read the entire post.
The movie is at the end.

[caption id="attachment_2452" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Click On Photo To View Movie of the Sunday morning parade - the dancers getting ready, practicing parts of their dances, and shots of the parade route."][/caption]

Fireworks and castillo tower fireworks

The final Festival of San Miguel video

Guanajuato and the Cervantino Festival


The Olga Costa, Jose Chavez Morado Museum
Guanajuato


Dori Locos -
You have to love what they do with food here.
Complete with video of how to make these yourself.
Here's the link to the Dori Locos Post which is finished.


After all this, a posting from Charco del Ingenio

Where I am going today to video a private botanical tour
Let by former director Mario Mendoza.
This post is done, click here to read it.

Last, but not least
As a follow up to Billie's blog on shrimp coctail
A delicious new recipe that has NO sugar or catsup in it.


Well, I take that back -
There's one more, a trip to Pena de Bernal
A weaving town that has a spectacular rock monument
The third largest in the world
Behind the rock of Gibraltar and Sugar loaf in Brazil.

Dori Locos

[caption id="attachment_2517" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="Dori Locos - CLICK ON THE PHOTO to view the VIDEO"][/caption]

Sometimes
You just have to go for it.
I mean street food.
In this case,
We have Dori Locos,
The recipe
As well as the video

We've only seen these
In Guanajuato
But I'm pretty sure
You can find them
In other Mexican cities
With a local twist.

First the recipe,
Which I made up from the video.
It's basically a bag of Doritos
With a concoction of almost every food group
It may even count as a complete meal.

First  you need a bag of doritos.
Any flavor will do, but in our case,
They are the spicy cheese kind.
First, cut the bag open
Take out the little toy,
Add a few tongs full of chopped cucumber
Spoon in a few peanuts
Then some fake pasta chicharron
Then carefully tong in a good batch
Of pickled pig skin which you can buy
In the grocery or the candy stores here.
Add a few big spoonfuls of fresh tomato salsa
Salt liberally
Add some San Luis Salsa
A garnish of lettuce
More fresh salsa
Two squeezes of lime,
A fork
A napkin
Charge 15 pesos if you are selling these.

I would bet that these taste much better
On the street
Than in your own home.

When we asked what these were called
There was a big discussion
Between the chef,
His elderly friend, and a group of buyers.
The best they could come up with
Was something like 'vitrales con condimentos'
What exactly are vitrales?
Pig stomach or something like that?
It didn't make any sense because vitrales
Have to do with glass.
But it was a better explanation than none,
It got everyone involved
And it didn't matter anyway.

The next day,
We met up with Mexico Bob and his wife Gina.
Bob is another blogger here in Mexico
With whom we have been having discussions
Over our blogs about  Mexico
We decided to meet in person for breakfast
As we were in Guanajuato,
Somewhat close to Irapuato where they live.
After a nice visit and getting to know each other,
We wandered through town
Stopping in to have a second look at these creations.
Bob and Gina were immediately able to clear up the mystery
Of what these are called
Dori Locos!
Of course, it makes perfect sense.
It is nothing but loco
To make a salad with pickled pig skin
Out of a bag of Doritos.

If you missed the link to the video - click here

Fireworks!

On Sunday night I took video of the castillo fireworks from a rooftop.
For some reason the videos did not show
The flowers
San Miguel
The grail,
The voladores
The spinners
And all the other detail I was hoping to get.

What the videos do show
Is the pure amount of firepower being let off
Within a fifty foot radius of hundreds of people,
The builders of the castillo towers crawling up them,
While they are going off, shaking the towers
To get them to do what they want them to do.

The castillo fireworks are endlessly fascinating to me
They are a piece of performance art,
Each year, getting better and better.
The only thing I miss these days,
Is all the little boys running around underneath them,
Cardboard boxes over their heads,
A rite of passage, running under all those sparks and flame
That they are no longer allowed to do.
That's probably a good thing, but I am sure a disappointment
To all those little boys, whose fathers can now say
'I remember when' - to future generations.

Meantime, here's a selection of photos that I found in my archives,
Little boys running under fire,
Lots of light and spark,
Amazing structures that are meant to be blown up.
And video of parts of firework shows -
Taken in previous years, and this festival of San Miguel.

Festival of San Miguel Parade

Sunday morning. 10:30 AM.

Since midnight Friday night, the partying has been going on. The parade of the estrellas (stars) at midnight, followed by dancing and events in the Jardin until 4am when las mananitas - happy birthday song to San Miguel, the patron saint of the town is sung and the castillo fireworks are let off for an hour or so. People are fed punch and sweet rolls before they roll on home into bed for a few hours.

At 5 in the afternoon there is the parade of the Xuchiles - which includes dancers from all over Mexico who perform dances that have been remembered for centuries, wearing colorful costume, in the manner of old but with modern materials such as velvet, shiny tin, upside down decorated lampshade hats, masks, war paint, gourds, clacking shoes and paper flowers.  They have all been brought here by the city to perform for the town celebration, one of the largest events of the year.

They stay in schools, are fed by the town, and carry their supplies in trucks - mattresses, pillows, clothing and costumes.



I am a fan of watching the getting ready part of parades,
I asked several dance groups  for their stories
Here is what I was told:
The dances have been being danced for centuries,
Babies dance in their parents arms to learn young,
Some brought the dances back into being during this century,
Others say they have been dancing the same dances over 300 years.
That's a long time.

Xuchiles

Beginning in the early hours this morning, this family began making a Xuchile - an altar made from bamboo like strips, lashed to twenty five foot poles, then covered in flowers which are made from the root ball of the agave plant, decorated with juniper branches, and marigolds.  It will be walked up the street to the Parroquia today in a parade of even more  Xuchiles, dancers, and spiritual groups.

It is an offering to San Miguel, the town's patron saint, whose birthday was September 29th, but celebrated this weekend.  We spent several hours talking with the family about the history of this craft over the centuries.

As the morning progressed, we were invited by Juan, the head Xuchile maker  (pronounced soo-cheel-ay) to go into the house and present ourselves to the altar, eat soup and spend some time with his family.

Alborada Rehearsal Parade

When  you see something like this
On a street corner in town
You just know there's going to be a parade



Three Mojiganas, bigger than life
Two devils and a skeleton
Are ready for the alborada 'rehearsal parade.'
I think this is one of those cases
Where you begin to believe
That any good old reason
Is reason for a party here.
I mean, how wrong can you go
With a parade that you need a rehearsal?

Further down the street,
Young girls gather on the bridge of the Fabrica Aurora
Putting on dresses, makeup and hats,
Twirling their home made stars,
Waiting for the festivities to begin.
At 5:30 a man runs down the street to the bridge,
Tells them to move up the street to his doorway to begin.
They refuse, saying the parade has always begun here.



Dressed in the traditional festival clothing
Of Michoacan and the state of Guanajuato,

Accidental Cheesemaker

I've been making
goat yoghurt lately.
Not the old
fashioned way
Where it sits
In a waterbath
At an even temperature
Overnight
Or all day.

I make it
In a yoghurt maker

That I brought back in my suitcase, my last visit up north.

Last night I did my usual mixing,
With yoghurt from the last batch as a starter
Fresh goat milk, brought to a boil and cooled,
Mixed them together,
Put it in jars
Turned on the machine
Then let it run overnight.

Ballet Folkorico

[caption id="attachment_2194" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="CLICK ON PHOTO TO VIEW VIDEO"][/caption]

Last night in the Jardin
The Independence celebration
Began at 8pm.
With Ballet folklorico.

Dancers from San miguel
Age six and up
Performed traditional dances
From Michoacan,
Nayarit, Colima, Sinaloa.

The girls,
The young women,
In colorful circular skirts
With ribbons and ruffles,
Whipping and twirling them.

The boys,
The men, wore campesino, charro & regional traditional dress, carrying machetes, dancing with candles balanced on their heads - and a whole lot of foot stomping going on!

The movie - well, it ended up being 10 minutes long
With a nice sampling of all the dances.
Click here to view the movie or click on the photo above.

Xilitla, Las Pozas

[vimeo 18573396]

Las Posas - beginning with the trip through the mountains outside of Queretaro and into the tropical green of Xilitla and Las pozas, the sculptures, the labyrinth quality of the sculptures in the jungle, ending with the pools and waterfalls
A busy
Three weeks.

We've had two separate family visits
which prompted us
to look into trips
around the area
and around Mexico
that we have been wanting to take.

First, we went to Guanajuato where we've been so many times and love. Then we've done various local things like the Tuesday market and walking around town plus  a tour of the Rancho Canada de La Virgen (another post that I'm working on) and a trip to the very unique Las Pozas in Xilitla.

Las Pozas is Edward James' surrealistic, labyrinth, Jungle Castle in the Sierra Gorda Moountains....

Independencia

[caption id="attachment_2109" align="alignleft" width="298" caption="Click on the photo to see the video of the dancers."][/caption]

About four pm today
the drumming started.
Indio Dancers, loud
banging drums, whoops
hollers and screaming.

It sounded like it was coming
right down our street
but upon climbing up to the terraza it was obvious that it was about a quarter mile away in the Colonia Independencia.

That's how the sound travels here - it's as if  the sound is right outside our front door.

So many numerous times
I have run downstairs, camera in hand,
Open the door and discover
That what I am hearing upstairs
I cannot even hear on the street below.
But inside the house, on the second level,
The sounds echo in as right next door.

More Sounds of Mexico

I can never resist getting video of the sounds that people produce here. Whether it's to announce a service or part of a festival or parade, the heaviest of rains or  to sell cigarettes, cigars and candy

Like the man who sells these
At his little stand at the bottom of Calle Hidalgo.
He let me take a video of his song last week.
I'm not sure I'll ever get tired
Of the miriad of unique ways
People get their messages across here
His is one of the best.
[vimeo 28109315]

Cañada de la Virgen

Family Visits

We have visitors!
A good excuse to take a little time
To go see various places that we normally don't go see on our own, and to re-visit old favorites which we love to see over and over.

This week John's daughter Sarah is here
Next week, his son Robin comes to visit.
Sarah has never been out of the US, missed her first plane but managed to arrive on time, so it was a little nerve wracking.
It's all brand new and fresh for her.

We began the visit by picking her up
At the Queretaro bus station at 10pm
We came through town to see the  Jardin at night
And to hear some Mariachi music.

Festival Atotonilco

Festival at Atotonilco
The 300th birthday
Padre Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro
Founder of the shrine
Of Jesus de Nazareth, Atotonilco
A spiritual retreat
Visited by 2 million pilgrims annually.

With days of celebrations,
Culminating in today's festival
With Purepecha dancers,
Orations and prayers
Huapango music
Food and traditional dress
A gathering to give thanks.