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.