Jan & Steve's México Report - #3

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Jan & Steve's México Report #3 September 24, 2003

TWENTY SIX WEEKS

Let's see, from the top. It has been a long rainy season here in Mexico. This is the time when you tourists are enjoying your backyards and avoiding the tropics! Yes, the tropics. Mexico City is at 20-degrees latitude, roughly the same latitude as the southern edge of Cuba. If it weren't for the altitude (7,350 feet), this place would be an oven. The rainy season means that most days (3 out of 4) it rains each afternoon, sometime between 4:00 and 6:00. Sometimes, it's just a sprinkle and you're done for the day, other times, I'm tempted to start building an ark in my little woodshop.

ACAPULCO
Rainy season got you down? You need a little Acapulco, buddy. It worked for Sinatra and the Rat Pack, it'll work for you!
Except, you won't have Acapulco to yourself since it's the summer break and every Mexican family for miles around is spending time with their children along the coast. Luckily, we have a Canadian friend, George, who as honorary "Mr. Acapulco" found us a beach only known to locals, where we could lie about in hammocks, drinking "something with rum" out of a coconut, watching the surf pound the shore. Since my drink was bland, I put the lime in the coconut and drank them both up. Put the lime in the coconut, and drink them both together.

COYOCAN
"Glass fever" started here with Jan buying 54 pieces of blue-edged hand made glasses all at one stall in the marketplace. But, Coyocan is much more than just a market. Home to Frieda Kahlo, and later Diego Rivera, Coyocan was also home to much of Mexico City's hippie population. Many of the hippies and their children have stalls in the marketplaces, selling all sorts of stuff. We missed seeing Frieda's home and museum this time, but since it's only 45 minutes from our house, I'm not too worried.

JUAN & ESPERANZA'S WEDDING
Our first Mexican wedding was really fun. Any wedding where everyone wears party hats, guys in wild costumes are dancing on stilts, and they serve a second dinner at 3:30 in the morning, can't be all bad! This is the first of several weddings we will be attending this year. If they don't make my hair turn gray, I don't know what will.

CUERNAVACA
The land of eternal spring and Cortez's chosen spot for retirement lived up to it's reputation for relaxation...except for our host's boyfriend. He was stung by a scorpion and spent the weekend in the hospital! ...we wondered why Anna's cell phone kept ringing and ringing.

XOCHICALCO

ruins at Xochicalco

PUEBLA
How beautiful is Puebla! Especially in the hands of someone who grew up there. Guadalupe (Lupita) and her husband Sal, pulled out all the stops in showing us everything about this town. We also saw "Popo" and "Ixta" Mexico City's resident volcanos. Only Popo is active, but we missed the last ash shower in July thanks to our brief visit to Chicago.

OUR FIRST PARTY
Carrie Becker, an old friend of ours, was in Mexico City for two weeks on business, so we threw a party. Yes, we asked everyone to R.S.V.P., so we would have enough food and no, few people did. But, we ended up with enough food and drink for everyone. As it turned out, Carrie was our only guest from the states, so it was an interesting cultural experience for all. I made mango coladas, our house drink, and ran through about 8 liters of the stuff...all poured into Jan's new blue-edged glasses (she has over 100 now). Another old friend from iExplore, Eric Barcelo also made it to our party. It was great seeing him again as well. Sometime after midnight, a drunken group of Canadian embassey officials arrived just in time to re-ignite the evening...oh boy.

TEOTIHUACAN
VERY EARLY THE NEXT MORNING we met Carrie at her hotel to go on a 7 hour tour that included the ruins at Teotihuacan, including the worlds 3rd largest pyramid, plus the site where the virgin Mary appeared to an Indian back in 1531. There is also a cool museum at Teotihuacan, where like most Mexican museums, you can take as many photos as you like!

The Guadalupe shrine and cathedrals is an interesting complex. The Indian Juan Diego's "miracle" cape that Mary put her image on nearly 500 years ago, still hangs behind the alter. You see it while riding a moving walkway, like in airports...I guess that adds to the experience, somehow.

This miracle caused millions of Indians and creoles to convert to Catholicism and millions of women to be named Guadalupe. I'm still confused as to why she's not known as the virgin Mary here, but it's entirely possible that Diego saw one of his goddesses, "Tlatxiochipolchtli" which was wisely adapted by the local bishop to "Guadalupe" (the only Spanish name with a similar ending) to insure the miracle's success.