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.