Tengo Camera Viajare

CUMPLEANOS DE JAVIER

2010-05-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Javier's birthday. And what a birthday it was!

In the morning Aurora, Javier and I went out to breakfast. The place Javier had wanted to go wasn't open yet so we went to his second choice, a chocolate bar where Javier and I had tamales with chocolate salsa. We had a lovely long conversation about our families' histories and agreed we needed to write about them because our families' histories are imbedded important events in the histories of our countries.

That night we met on the roof top terrace bar of the Hotel Aspetia which is owned by Aurora's friend Inez -- actually it is officially owned by her oldest son, Javier (another Javier) and a partner, but Inez runs it. It is one of my favorite places in Queretaro with a spectacular view of the historic center of the city especially at sunset and after when the churches are all illuminated. The group was Aurora, Javier, and their son Santiago, his wife Carla and daughter, Sophia and Inez's younger son, Santiago (another Santiago), his girlfriend, and her older son, Javier. Inez joined us a little later after a hair appointment. We drank vino tinto and ate little specialty pizzas they are known for. While there, we learned that their hotel had just won "Hotel of the Year". As the night went on and bottles of wine were emptied, my spanish got better and better. I understood most of a conversation about the organic vegetable growing business that Javier (Inez's Javier) had started in Celaya.

Eventually Ceci's (remember my first Spanish teacher from Tequisquiapan) oldest son arrived with the producer and director and others he works in Mexico City. They are in Queretaro recording the sound track for a movie they have been working on for five years. It will be called "Tequila", and it is about an old Mexican legend. Aurora and I looked at each other and said "My god, these big shots are babies!" They all looked to be in their 20s, or maybe in their 30s. We felt like "dinosaurios ---- ok, dinosarios borrachos". With 2 or 3 glasses of wine, I can even joke in Spanish.

We began to talk about leaving, because it was after nine and Sophia had school the next day. But Javier (Inez's Javier) invited us all to spend the night in the hotel. We at first graciously declined because our homes were within 4 or 5 blocks of the hotel. But Javier wouldn't hear of it. He brought up 3 sets of keys -- a room for Santiago and his family, a room for Aurora and Javier and a room for me! So we stayed, drank more wine and finally were shown to our VERY luxurious hotel rooms. I watched part of a movie until I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 9:30 because the room was so dark and quiet because of the heavy wooden shutters that protected the windows.

What an experience!! A night, gratis, in Mexico's "Hotel of the Year" --- 5 blocks from my own home!!

EN MEDIO DE NADA

2010-05-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went with Aurora, Javier and Sophia to a birthday party for Guadelupe. Guadelupe is Francisco Coronel's partner. In the fall, I wrote about visiting their workshop where they make whimsical figures from papier mache.

The party was to be in a pueblo called Tecojote beween Queretaro and Tequisquiapan, and somehow I had imagined it was going to be in a community building or in someone's house or something. However, I do miss a lot of information because I don't understand a lot of what gets spoken between people. We drove to Tequis first because Javier had some errand to do there. Then we headed back to Tecojote following a map that Aurora had . We drove through the very quiet little pueblo on very bumpy streets and then headed out into the desert -- well, officially it's semi-desert. We found one landmark, a "bordo", a small reservoir of water, and followed the dirt road which got more and more difficult. Finally, Aurora and Javier decided we had taken the wrong turn, so we headed back. As we arrived back at the bordo, they saw another car heading the way we had come, and in the car were very good friends of Francisco's, so we headed back again the way we came and finally arrived at our destination.

Francisco and Guadelupe had bought a piece of land, "terreno", about 3 hectares, I think they said, which was quite a good sized area. They had cleared a lot of the area and planted trees and different kinds of cacti, dug a small bordo and started construction of a house. They have a wonderful vision of what this place will be for them -- a weekend retreat from their workshop in Queretaro. They will use solar panels for electricidad and collect rain in the bordo and rain barrels. Water is the big problem out there. They have done an incredible amount of work already, and you can get an idea of how wonderful it will be.

For the fiesta, they had set up some shelters from the sun which was muy, muy fuerte! And they had arranged for their neighbor to make carnitas -- a whole pig, cut up and boiled in oil in a big vat. There was also frijoles, arroz, nopales, papas, guacamole, tortillas and salsa...... and, of course, tequila. Que rico!! Kikey came also -- though they sent someone to Tecojote to meet her and lead her to the place. Also Mario and Edita whom I had met at my opening. It was a lovely party and we didn't leave until sundown - el puesto del sol.

XALAPA - DE DONDE VIENEN LAS XALAPENAS

2010-04-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, Aurora and I arrived here in Xalapa (pronounced ha-la-pa -- like the ha-la-pain-ya pepper) which is the capital city of the state of Vera Cruz. Aurora invited me to come here with her to a conference of women from all over Mexico - and one from Costa Rica, her friend Fresia - who produce radio programs promoting freedom from violence toward women. I will be taking photos of each woman (there will be about 30, I believe) and photos of their activities, etc. Each woman will privately write a sentence or two about the moment she remembers having claimed her own power. Then Aurora and Fresia will compile a collection of photos matched with the corresponding quotes for each woman to take home.... along with the recordings they have made. Sounds like a really nice project and a great opportunity for me to have lots of practice with making good portraits.

Today, while Aurora and others worked to plan the conference, I went to the Museo de Antropologia which is the second largest in Mexico -- the largest being, of course, the one in Mexico City. This one is indeed smaller, but had really impressive exhibits -- the most impressive being the gigantic Olmec heads. Vera Cruz was the place where the Olmec civilization flourished way before the Mayans and Aztecs, but many things that we think of as having been Mayan or Aztec actually have their roots in the Olmec culture. It is truly amazing the see the things that have been recovered and preserved.

When I rejoined the women who had been working hard all morning, we drove to a village outside of the city called Xico. (All of these "x" words have their roots in the indigenous Nahuatl language.) Our destination was a restaurant called El Campanario. We ordered about 5 different platos and shared everything: Enchiladas en Pepian, Pollo en Mole con Tamales, Trucha con Huitlacoche, Langoustinos en Mojo de Ajo, and Arroz con Platinos. Each dish was very different and very delicious. We agreed that Mexican cuisine is truly one of the great cuisines of the world -- very complex flavors using many different kinds of ingredients combined in amazing ways. I think it was one of the best meals I've had in Mexico. For dessert I had crepas with cajeta y nuez.

Needless to say, I could hardly move after this meal and carried some huitlacoche back on my blouse...... but it was muy vale la pena!!

EXPOSICION EN EL CUADRO ROJO

2010-04-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Monday evening, the 19th, I had a lovely little "inauguracion" or opening at a little cafe in El Pueblito which one of Kikey's new favorites. Kikey had arranged for the owner, Veronica, to hang my black and white portrait series, and the inauguracion was my "despedirme" or "goodbye" to all my friends in Queretaro.

The back story is that back in November, I had taken some of these photos to the director of El Museo de la Ciudad, Gabriel Horner, and he had agreed to give me space to hang my work in March. He said he would email me with information about when, what he needed in advance, etc. But I never heard from him, and when I send him an email, he never answered. So I decided not to pursue that any more aggressively.

I actually much prefer the Cuadro Rojo setting as it is much more personal. The only people I really cared about seeing my work are my friends and their friends anyway. So I arranged for Veronica to provide some panninis and botanos and refrescos, and I think everyone had a lovely time. Herminia bought one of my photos (the one of the Somali refugee woman), and a reporter from La Prensa interviewed me (in spanish) and took pictures. It will be fun to see if something actually appears in the newspaper!

Thanks to all my friends - Sylvia,Herminia, Marco, Juan, Lucy, Santiago, Carla, Sophia, Francisco, Guadalupe, Laura and especially Kikey, Aurora and Javier for helping to make this evening such a nice event!!!

MI FUENTE HA REGRESADO -- MEJOR QUE ANTES

2010-04-01T21:02:00.001-07:00

My fountain in front of Santa Rosa has returned, and it's better than ever!!! This is the fountain in the little plaza a block from my house where I went almost every afternoon at about 6:00 when I first got here to listen to the music and watch the fountain dance. This is the one where I took Marty and Bill when they visited in October, and we waited for the music but it never came. It started again before Christmas, but when I got back from the beach in February not only was the music not working, but also the fountain wasn't working.

The whole month of February when Kay was here studying it didn't work. And when Lynne and David came, it still wasn't working. When Carolina (aka Carolyn in the US) was here last week, still no fountain, no music. A couple of days ago, I happened to walk through the plaza on my way somewhere (having given up on the fountain ever working again), and noticed that the two end parts of the fountain were fountaining. Wow -- hope. Then today I went to the Queretaro Language School to hear Jaymie and Mike do a presentation at the end of their course here, and they told me that they had been to the plaza last night and there was music and fountains and everything!!

So tonight after a lovely 2 hour siesta (which is why I'm still awake at 10:15 writing) I took myself over to Santa Rosa just in time to hear my favorite piece: Con te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye) by Andrea Bocelli. This was just the beginning of a program of different music with dancing fountains and a light show that lasted about 20 minutes. There were several more programs of music during the evening ranging from opera (Nessun Dorme) to classical guitar to mariache to modern pop.

So I stuck around for the evening, visited a couple of puestos and ate a tamal and a huarache. Usually there aren't these little puestos at the plaza, but this is Semana Santa and there are food puestos all over town -- little temporary stands selling all kinds of great street food. I assume everyone knows what a tamal is (singular for tamales). A huarache is actually a kind of Mexican shoe made of woven leather. But a edible huarache is like a thick tortilla shaped like a shoe and grilled on a comal with frijoles, cheese and chorizo and salsa verde on it. Mmmm.

After that I needed a couple of cold ones, so I found a table at a little cafe on the plaza and enjoyed the show while sipping Negro Modelo. My waiter was a 13 year old boy named Benjamin who preferred to speak English with me probably because my espanol is so awful. Turns out he lived with his family in Indiana for 9 years from the time he was about 4. He said his father worked for a company that made systems for painting new cars, or something like that. Then I realized that it was his mother and father who were also working in the cafe. My guess is they worked in the US for a while, saved some money and started this very nice little business in Queretaro. It's also my guess that they were in the US legally because I can't imagine a family risking an illegal border crossing with a 4 year old. But these are just wild guesses and assumptions. Maybe I will visit their cafe more often and ask them their story.

For me this was a quintessential Queretaro evening: beautiful music playing, fountains dancing, a Spanish colonial church in the background, families strolling around the plaza, children running and laughing and playing with balloons, and venders selling great Mexican antojitos. Before I left to wander home, I treated myself to some cotton candy (no one here to roll their eyes at me).

I made a little video of the fountains with my Canon Elf which I will try to download to iMovie and post tomorrow. I say tomorrow because tonight I don't want to deal with the frustration I know will accompany my trying to do something on the computer I have never done before.

PISA LIGERO Y DEJA NO HUELLA A TRAS DE TI

2010-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

"Step lightly and leave no trace."

The Mexican government is trying to promote ecotourism so there are various groups which are helping small communities learn to preserve and develop their natural resources. This past weekend I went with a small group from the Queretaro Language School to explore some of these natural treasures in the Biosphere north of Queretaro in the Sierra Gorda. And treasures they are!

Fourteen of us and a pile of camping gear left from the school in a van driven by Andres very early Saturday morning. Don't worry -- I was among the half of the group which had opted to stay in a hotel nearby rather than camp (I missed the full moon and the babbling river, but enjoyed a hot shower and a very warm bed). The road through the Sierra Gorda was an adventure in itself. One hairpin curve after another and few guard rails. We traveled from the semi-desert plateau around Queretaro to, through, and around the mountains to different climate zones and very different vegetation...... from cactus and maguey to conifers and deciduous trees. As we climbed the mountains, we could look out the window and straight down over the edge to very tiny rivers and pueblitos below us. We speculated that many of these little remote settlements had been there since pre-hispanic times. In those days, each little group of families could be self sufficient growing food, hunting for small animals, and carrying water from springs.

Our first stop was Cuatro Palos (4 sticks), the highest village in the state of Queretaro. We walked from there to an even higher point for a great panoramic view.

I was dismayed to discover that even this short walk -- granted it was very steep at first -- was really hard for me. Four weeks of being sick had really taken its toll. But, vale la pena ( it was worth it). Spectacular views and lots of pictures -- I've chosen only my very favorites here.After Cuatro Palos, we went on the Campomento de Pena de Gloria (the campgroup at Pena de Gloria). We were supposed to stop at a roadside taco stand that our guide, Robin, a young guy from Australia, knew about but we missed it, and rather than backtrack decided to make do with lots of snacks. We needed to leave the main road and descend to the valley floor by way of a very rough and even curvier dirt road.... I think we went all of about 5 miles per hour all the way. And it was real thrills when we met a car -- or truck -- coming towards us from the other direction. But we made it and again, vale la pena!

We walked for about an hour along a river which had once been an ancient underground cave. The cave was pushed to the surface eons ago by the earth's movement, but you can still see evidence of old stalagmites and stalagtites on the cliffs rising above the river. It was a stunning walk! We didn't have to do any climbing but we walked over river stones, crossed back and forth on little wooden ladder bridges, and at a particularly narrow and deep part walked on a narrow walkway that had been built into the cliffside. The walk ended at the last remnant of the cave stretching across the river with cascades of water falling through the rocks above.

After returning from the walk, we left half of our hearty camping fellow travelers with their tents and sleeping bags and traveled back up the dirt road (more traffic this time, by the way). Andres took us to a lovely little hotel in the town of Pinal de Amoles where we enjoyed dinner with beer. I tried the local speciaty, cecina -- a sort of beef jerky but better. The "we" was a couple from Amherst, MA, Jaymie and Mike, a couple from LA, Karen and Ray and 2 young women, Jerry and Megan, all studying at the Queretaro Language School.

The next day after Andres picked up the intrepid campers, he picked us up. But we had time to have a leisurely breakfast and visit a little museum of the area that a local doctor had set up temporarily in borrowed space. Very interesting to see lots of photos of the area and people from all the way back to the turn of the century. Our next destination was the Cascades de Chuveje. This was a very easy walk along a beautiful river to the waterfall. We could have been walking through the woods in Vermont -- very green and lush and clear, cold water.

Our last stop before returning to Queretaro was the town of Jalpan which is the site of one of the 5 famous Franciscan monasteries in the Sierra Gorda. It is said the Brother Juniper walked to each of these five places to establish the monasteries.

It was a grand trip and exhausting so I hung out at my house the entire next day without going anywhere or seeing anyone! And now I'm back on board with the blog -- I'll write more next about what's been going on with me for the last 6 weeks.

LA REINA DE QUE.............?

2010-02-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

Over this past month, I've been going through pictures, saving 2009 photos to external hard drives and DVDs to make room for this year's. I came across some from the fall that reminded me of some funny times I had as a tourist with Marty and Bill when they visited me from California. And I never blogged about them, so here goes........

We spent one day at the very famous Museo de Antropologia. Now Bill and I had both been there before(not together, of course) ..... a long, long time ago. I had been there about 45 years ago with my aunt. So both of us spent about the first hour saying "this doesn't look like I remember it.... are we sure we're in the right place?........ as if, first of all our memories after 45 years had any shred of accuracy, and second as if the museum would have stayed the same over the past 45 years. I felt pretty silly when I finally found the "Aztec calendar" which, incidentaly, is no longer believed to be a calendar.

It is a huge museum and quite spectacular, but we could only see about half of it in the one day we had. As we were walking toward the entrance to leave, suddenly a bunch of reporters and photographers came running towards us, then past us and back into the main sala where the biggest Aztec exhibits are. We asked a young woman who was heading in that direction also what was going on, and she said "The queen is visiting". We of course asked, "The queen of what?", and she said, "Well, I think it's the queen of England." So thinking this was a pretty big deal not to miss, we turned around and walked back into that large section of the museum to wait for the queen. And wait.... and wait..... and wait.

Finally, after about 45 minutes we got tired of waiting and decided to leave again. Just as we reached the door, there came the queen and her entourage. It immediately became clear upon seeing her (very tall) and her outfit (very yellow and very loud) and her purse on her shoulder (not on her arm) that this was NOT the queen of England.

We had waited an hour to see the queen of Norway. Who even know Norway HAD a queen?

FELIZ DIA DEL AMOR

2010-02-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is as big a deal here as it is in the U.S. Since Friday, I've been seeing people walking around with bunches of flowers, cakes, and wildly elaborate balloons -- balloons are VERY popular here. Fortunately, this weekend I got to talk on the phone or skype with almost all of the people I love back home.

What I did here was my favorite Sunday thing to do: I walked up to Plaza de Armas to hear the midday concert. Today it was a group of 14 men, Estudiantina or Tuna, using traditional instruments: mandolins, guitars, accordians, castenets, tambourines, and their fabulous voices. It's very upbeat, energetic music and the men with tambourines at various times during the concert perform with them, jumping, twirling hitting the tambourine with their feet, knees, elbow, head. It's pretty spectacular. I wish I could post a recording of their performance on this blog because it's very Mexican and very fun.

Then I met Kay, the woman in my spanish class in Burlington who is here for the month, and she and I went for Sunday dinner at Chucho El Roto, a nice restaurant in Plaza de Armas. I had been craving a bowl of their Crema Prehispanica which is cream of huitlacoche soup. Huitlacoche is a black fungus that grows on some corn here -- I know it doesn't sound appetizing, but it actually is quite delicious. I guess it's sort of Mexico's version of French truffles..... but they don't need pigs to look for it.

LLOVIENDO GATOS Y PERROS

2010-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Queretaro again, and it's been raining and chilly since the day after I got back. Good time to catch up on things inside my relatively warm, dry house.

It's been way too long since I wrote in this blog. .... even after all my resolutions to write more often. So, no more resolutions. My excuse for the past month is that the sun, the salt water and all the cerveza and potato chips I consumed drained me of resolve and softened my brain. In reality, I had guests from the moment I arrived until I got on the plane to return to Queretaro.... quite a change from being alone most of the time since September. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of good woman friends and wanted to soak up every minute of their company. We (Adele, Erica, Mary, Catherine, and I) had a fabulous time drinking and eating and talking and playing Bananagrams (thanks to Erica) and exploring cenotes and ruins and beaches and long dirt roads. But that left very little time, energy or sobriety to compose blog entries.

And the last week, my son, Morgan and his wife, Diana who is 4 month pregnant, came which was truly wonderful. It is a real gift to get to spend time with a son and daughter-in-law away from all the demands of work and home. I had a great time showing them my favorite beach, Xcacel, the best snorkeling at Yaal-Ku Lagoon and Turtle Beach in Akumal, the best restaurants, La Buena Vida, Lol-Ha, and Lucy's Too in Akumal, and exploring a place I hadn't been yet: Aktun-Chen where we toured a dry cave and snorkeled in a big cenote. The rest of the time we played Hearts and Bananagrams, and Diana and I tried our best to challenge Moke at least a little, but he usually won.

It felt good to arrive back "home" here in Queretaro. It felt very familiar to arrive at the bus terminal, take a taxi to Pino Suarez 98 B and turn the key in the door. And things were as I had left them, although the owner, Julie had been here for the month of January. The next day, Sunday, I called Aurora and Javier to let them know I had returned and was invited to have some wine with them in the afternoon. Before that, after unpacking and organizing a bit, I went for a walk because it was a beautiful, clear day. I bought a gordita at my favorite place and went to Plaza de Armas for the Sunday afternoon concert. It was by "Ixchel - Orquesta Tipica de Queretaro": violins, accordian, guitar, base, xylophone, and percussion -- very happy music, and very typically Mexican.

Reconnecting with Aurora and Javier was wonderful -- they have become such good friends. However, I did feel as if my newly acquired Spanish had suffered from being with English speakers for a whole month. But Aurora assures me that it is only "sleeping" and will be waking up now that I'm using it again ------ at least I think that's what she said.

?Despertamos en Vermont?

2010-01-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

When we woke up this morning, early to go to the meeting place in Tulum for our all day canal tour at Sian Ka'an Biosphere, it was grey, windy, cool and rainy. Yes, we were still on the Mayan Riviera, but a cold front had rolled in from the north overnight. I guess most of the world is colder than usual right now -- and yes, it is still global warming. As Al Gore explained, the warming part is preceded by extreme dislocations of weather patterns.

Anyway, we couldn't cancel because the trip was confirmed with my credit card, so we set off thinking, "It will probably burn off by 11:00 and be a great day." Always optimistic, I am. But, this is not Cape Cod, and it did not burn off. In fact, it got increasingly rainy and windy. When we finally found the meeting place (the directions were not quite specific enough), the young men greeting us could not have been more upbeat and enthusiastic with a real passion for what they were doing -- working in a wildlife habitat, trying to preserve the wetlands and create a model for man and nature working together for a sustainable environment. That evidently is what a Biosphere is, as compared with a National Park -- a place where there is some private property, but the humans have agreed to certain rules for maintaining the natural system so that it continues to function as it has for centuries.

According to Renee, our guia, since the 1970s when the Mexican government decided to develop Cancun at the extreme north of the Caribbean coast, the area of natural wetlands has been seriously degraded -- I think he said 50% has disappeared. You can certainly believe that when you drive south on 307 and see one mega resort after another. The rub is that the local people welcome the development because it means jobs. Christina, where we eat breakfast in Chemuyil sometimes, talks about how much people around here have been hurting this past year after news accounts of the H1N1 flu epidemic devastated the tourist industry.

The population of Quintana Roo (the state we are in right now), Yucatan, and Campeche is very Mayan -- many older people here still speak their Mayan dialect in their homes. But that tie with the ancient culture is weakening. Renee told us that 15 years or so ago, he went in the McDonalds in Cancun, and it was empty -- it subsequently closed. But this year he returned, MickeyDs had reopened and it was full of local young people of Mayan descent. I suppose it is a natural evolution -- globalization and all that -- and development has brought greater prosperity to this region, but I'm afraid something of value is being lost.

Anyway, we made our way to the Sian Ka'an area with our Cesiak van picking up some other intrepid tourists at hotels on our way. We arrived at a building perched on the edge of a pristine quintessential Mexican Caribbean beach. After a very interesting talk about the history of the wetlands and the non-profits involved in preserving it, we struck out in the other direction from the open ocean to a bay where we were sorted into 3 motor launches. Luckily, they provided us with foul weather gear, a la Maine lobstermen, because we were being pelted with wind driven rain. We motored across the bay and then entered the "canal" which Renee explained isn't really a canal, but a river, because it is not man-made. There IS a short little canal which the Mayans built to connect with an inland waterway, but we didn't go there. There is evidence that the Mayans used the river to trade with the Mayan cities in Guatemala and Honduras. The river meanders through mangrove(four different kinds which are vital to the survival of the wetlands), savannah (saw grass and other grasses) and hummock (more solid ground where larger trees grow).

Then we stopped at a little dock..... to disembark and float back down the river from whence we had come..... our bodies in the river.... without boats. Now all of us had worn bathing suits knowing that this was part of the tour. But somehow with the wind and the rain, and already being quite cold, it did not seem quite so inviting. My friends were hesitating, but I thought "What the heck, we're here, our bathing suits are on under our clothes (which were already somewhat wet) --- why the hell not!!!" So in we went -- about a third of the people opted not to go -- and floated off down the river. It was a lovely, albeit cold, experience, and the river carried us along with no effort for about half an hour. The hard part was getting out, back on the boat, and motoring back across the very choppy bay which seemed to take much longer than the trip out.

On the way, we stopped at a small post-Classic period Mayan temple that is believed to have been used as a way station or "toll booth" for travelers on the river. We also saw Little Blue Heron, Wood Storks, Great White Heron, Great Blue Heron, Night Heron, Laughing Gull, Brown Pelicans, Ibis, Black Vulture, Roseate Spoonbills, and a nesting pair of Osprey with 2 babies. Renee also mentioned that he had gotten a message that further down the coast someone had spotted a jaguar (the animal, not the vehicle). There are quite a few mammals that live in the wetlands as well as birds: anteaters, grey foxes, ocelots and a bunch of others I don't remember because I didn't see them.

When we returned to the main building, we were served a nice lunch which was a bit hard to enjoy because we were so cold, and then were returned to our cars instead of "enjoying an hour or two on the beach" which had also been part of the plan. On the way we stopped at a cenote. I'll write more about cenotes another time -- they are a fascinating phenomenon here on the Yucatan Peninsula.

OTRA MEXICO -- GRINGO MEXICO

2010-01-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

What a culture shock!! Here I am in the Mexico of tourists and over the top resorts. Most everyone speaks English, but I continue to speak spanish to Mexicans! Yeah for me!!

I arrived here on the "Maya Riviera" yesterday afternoon. I took a 6:15 bus from Queretaro to the airport in Mexico City and then AeroMexico to Cancun. What a surprise when I arrived in Cancun in Terminal 2 of three terminals. I remember in the 1980s arriving in the Cancun airport with Clay and my three sons very early in the morning and sitting on the steps in front listening to a tree full of birds across the way. It is now a major, full scale international airport.

I had gotten a text message from my friend Adele who was supposed to have arrived 2 hours ahead of me that her plane was delayed in D.C. I had envisioned that it would be easy to find each other (the vision I had was of the airport of the '80s). Ooops!!! Without going into the details of my efforts to find her, I finally gave up traveling from terminal to terminal and found the Sixt representative to take me to the car rental place and got my rental car. Again, my vision of the car rental agency being in the airport was wrong. I did finally find the Sixt sign being held up by a person who took me to a van which took me outside the airport to a trailer where I signed the contract and drove off with a surprisingly nice little 4 door sedan -- an unexpected upgrade from a 2 door Ford KA. And, returning to the airport, I found Adele waiting outside one of the terminals.

It was about an hour and a half drive from the airport to the little pueblo where my rented house is, and it was dark before we got there. I was very grateful to have Adele as a navigator -- I hate driving at night because I just don't see that well at night. There is a major highway that runs from Cancun right down the coast past countless spectacular resorts, and there is quite a lot of traffic traveling at a good clip. You just have to watch for "topes" (speed bumps) which Mexicans use quite liberally to control traffic.

The first time we missed the very small unlit dirt road off this major carretera that was our turnoff, so we had to take a "retourno" to go back for another try. Finally we arrived at the small little development of modest homes called Chanchemuyil where we easily found Casametamorfosis which is painted bright orange. It is a very cute little (little being an important word here) casa, very artistically decorated by the owner who happens to be a woman who lives in Jamaica, Vermont -- pure coincidence.

Today we explored the area -- checked out "our" very nearby beach, Xcacel, which is one of Mexico's most important turtle nesting places (May to August); checked out Akumal nearby which has good snorkeling -- had lunch there on the beach at Lol-Ha (fried grouper and salad and beer) and bought snorkeling equipment; and finally ended at "our" beach for a late afternoon swim. The water was perfect temperature, the waves big enough to be fun but not scarey, and the sand like powder. Unfortunately, the weather has been overcast all day, but it's still warm and quite pleasant.......especially when I hear from my friends in Vermont that they are digging out after 30 inches of snow.

TLAYUDAS, EMPANADAS, MEMELOS, TEJATE, CHOCOLATE Y PAN, CHAPULINES

2009-12-31T13:35:00.000-08:00

Memories of wonderful street food in Oaxaca. I probably would not have learned about or tried all these things if it weren't for my friend Irma. She loves to eat at the markets and at the puestos on the street, and she knows the good ones.

One night, we went to the market -- I believe it was the Benito Juarez market -- and I learned that chocolate y pan is a favorite late night snack. You can have chocolate de agua or chocolate de leche. Chocolate de agua (chocolate mixed with sugar and water) is more traditional for Mexicans, but chocolate de leche is more to our north american taste. Along with it you get pan de yema, a big puffy roll that is yellowish inside (yema is egg yok). You dip big chunks of bread into the hot chocolate and eat it --- usually there is some left to drink too. Yumm.

Another night we went to the same place -- Abuelita's -- and ordered tlayudas which are gigantic crisp tortillas topped with beans and meat or chorizo or cheese. We each ordered one, but neither of us could finish the whole thing. Unusual -- for me at least.

One day, on our way to find the right vehicle that would take us to Ocotlan, south of the city (more about that later), suddenly Irma spotted a stand that she knew (she has a good eye for food) on the street. So, other plans went on hold for the moment, and we sat down and ordered empanadas ... and then memelas. They are similar.... but different masa and different fillings, different shapes. This time we ate it all!!

Tejate is a very traditional drink originating from prehispanic times and each maker guards her recipe carefully and won't allow outsiders see her make it. It doesn't look very appetizing to a gringo eye but I developed a taste for it -- mainly because Irma never seemed to pass up an opportunity to have some, and I always followed her lead. It looks sort of like pond water with foam on top and the taste is hard to describe, but it is very thirst quenching and refreshing. Toasted maize flour, fermented cacao beans, mamey pits, and flor de cacao are ground into a paste, like a sort of mole, and then mixed with cold water by hand. When it is ready, a pasty foam formed by the flor de cacao and oily mamey pit rises to the top. It is served into cups out of huge pottery bowls. Each cup gets a bit of sugar water, then the tejate topped with a little of the foam.

Chapulines -- grasshoppers. You find them in every market, fried with lime and seasoning -- whole or chopped up. I started with the chopped up version, and then moved on to the whole ones. I have to say it was a bit easier to eat the whole ones when they were wrapped up in a nice warm tortilla. Good protein source and surprisingly tasty!!

I found a spanish "dicho" that fits my food experience in Oaxaca: "Atascate ahora que hay lodo" or "Pig out while you have the chance".

EL ORGULLA VA ANTES LA CAIDA

2009-12-31T12:48:00.000-08:00

That's my best effort to translate our english saying "Pride goes before the fall". And it refers to the fact that I have been sick. I should have known better than to brag to people that I had been in Mexico for 4 months and had never been sick. I always knocked on wood promptly when I realized I was tempting fate by saying it out loud, but finally fate had her way.

I got back to Queretaro early Monday morning after an all night bus ride (Irma's very good suggestion), and got busy immediately unpacking, admiring all my wonderful Oaxaca purchases, washing clothes and getting the house ready to turn back to her owner for the month of January. I have to say the house is looking much more colorful now -- when I arrived everything was very beige.

Tuesday I went to the market for some fresh fruits and veggies and did other errands. By afternoon I was really dragging and thought I just needed a siesta before going to see Kikey's performance in the Pastorale at the theatre. But then I started having chills, body aches, and a headache and then vomiting and diarrhea (TMI?). Needless to say, I didn't go to the Pastorale, and I thought for sure I was in for a week of H1N1. But Wednesday morning I didn't feel worse which was a very welcome surprise.....however, not well enough to keep my appointment in Tequisquiapan (an hour or so away by bus) to have my hair cut. Today I finally got out of bed and showered, ate some breakfast, and ventured out for a very slow walk to go buy my bus ticket to the Mexico City airport Sunday. I was surprised how exhausted I was when I returned home.

On my walk today, I saw how the city was preparing for the New Year's Eve Celebration tonight. There is a tianguis set up next to Jardin Zennea with comedors (eating places) and vendors selling dulces. Opposite Jardin Zennea is a huge bandstand and next to it are lined up a bunch of brand new bicycles and tricycles ..... my guess is part of the entertainment tonight will be giving away those bikes to some lucky kids. I am supposed to meet Sylviah and her mom at Plaza de Armas at 9:00 tonight to see the sights and then go to their house for la cena (late supper)to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR -- PROSPERO ANO NUEVO!!!!

ADIOS OAXACA

2009-12-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight I leave Oaxaca on a night bus. Hopefully, I will sleep the whole way and wake up in Mexico City at about 5:30 AM where I will get a bus to Queretaro. Leaving at night gave me a lovely Sunday to enjoy Oaxaca, and I will get to Queretaro (again hopefully) before noon, so I have the day there too.

I realize that I haven't stayed true to my vow to write more regularly. The problem has been that I want to do and see everything, so I leave in the morning and often don't return until late at night when I'm so exhausted that it's all I can do to brush my teeth, take a shower and fall into bed. When I AM here in the hotel (Casa Arnel) in the morning, I don't have WiFi in my room so to write on the blog or check email I have to be in the patio downstairs or the terrace upstairs where I tend to get into conversations with other very interesting travelers from all over the world: Australia, South Africa, Vancouver, France, California. So my efforts to write are short-lived.

Today, after spending 2 hours figuring out how to pack all my purchases -- 3 small rugs, a bedspread, a huipil and skirt, several blusas, and several things requested by friends -- into the bags I came with, I went to Irma's house for breakfast with her and her mother and cousin. Irma is a great cook .. we had queso in salsa, fruta (mango, chicozapote, and papaya), churros to dip in hot chocolate, and carrot/orange juice. Mmmmm, muy rico.

Then we went to the Oaxaca Textile Museum where there was a spectacular exhibit of Guatemalan textiles in a beautifully restored old building. From there, we walked over to the Zocalo where the Sunday afternoon concert was underway. All kinds of people there enjoying the music and, toward the end, dancing the "Danzone".... a formal kind of particularly Mexican dance -- sort of a combination of waltz and rumba. After the concert, we walked up Alcala, the andador (no cars), to look for a large canasta (basket) for me, because I hadn't quite been able to fit everything into my suitcase. We ended up at Marco Polo Restaurant where we found the rest of Irma's family. Marco Polo happened to be the first restaurant I went to when I got here two weeks ago, so it was sort of a nice touch to end the trip there..... great pescados y mariscos.

EL CONCIERTO

2009-12-22T06:55:00.000-08:00

Last night we, Irma and her family and I, went to a concert in Teatro Alcala. From what I understand, the musicians were from different places and this concert was the first time they had played together. The conductor was from Israel and was quite young. We got there an hour ahead of time to get good seats, so we were all sitting in the 5th row.

In Mexico, the government subsidizes arts and culture so that most people have access to this kind of performance. The tickets were 20 pesos (about $1.50), and the seats were not reserved, so what seats you get depends on how early you get there to wait in line. Last week we went to a performance of Rigoletto (in Italian with Spanish subtitles). The tickets were a bit more expensive.... I think about $15.00.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It made a big difference to me being able to sit close to the stage which I've never been able to do at the Flynn. The cellist had two solos (accompanied by the symphony) and he was brilliant. I don't go often to symphony performances -- this experience changed my attitude toward them. The audience was wildly enthusiastic about the performance -- the energy was contagious.

ME ENAMORO DE OAXACA

2009-12-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

I am in love with Oaxaca!! I have been so busy walking around exploring, eating, drinking, visiting with Irma and with Ellen and Ron, listening to music, and watching parades that I haven't taken time to write.

Today is an example. I met Ellen and Ron early and we walked up the hill to the west of the city for good exercise. Then I picked up my laundry at a place a couple of blocks from my hotel, Las Mariposas, and then hightailed it back to change my clothes and get to my cooking class on time.

The cooking class was by Nora Andrea Valencia and was advertised to be vegetarian. I wouldn't have chosen vegetarian, but it was the only class I could find that wasn't already filled. But what luck!!! It was spectacular!! We first went to the market, El Merced, which is a small market for the barrio. Nora explained that many of the venders at this market come in from the outlying pueblitos with vegetables and herbs they have grown in what we would call an organic way, but it is the way these families have been growing things for generations. The vegetables and herbs are small, but have great flavor. They are referred to as "criollo" foods. She pointed out and described the uses of many different kinds of grains, vegetables, herbs, chilis, cheeses, and, of course, chapulines (grasshoppers) and gusanos (worms).

We then returned to her home -- which was quite beautiful by the way -- and began to cook. The menu was Empanadas de Verduras, Sopa de Hongos, Salsa de Miltomate con Gusanitos de Maguey, Frijoles Con Hierba de Conejo, Guacamole de Molcajete, and for dessert, Tamalitos de Pina. Nora was an excellent teacher and an inspired cook. Everything had a depth and complexity of flavors that she attributed to the great variety of herbs and chilis used and her methods of preparing them.

Oaxacan cuisine is the best I've had in Mexico. I would call Oaxaca the New Orleans of Mexico -- because in my opinion New Orleans has the most distinctive, varied and delicious food in the U.S.

I didn't get back from the class until about 4:00 and was exhausted so napped for a couple of hours. Then I left to walk to the Zocalo to see what was going on there. On the way I happened on a little musical group in front of the Temple of Santo Domingo playing things like Pachebel's Canon in D. I stopped and listened until they finished and then continued down Calle Alcala where I ran into a little parade of a group of men in lovely Spanish looking costumes singing "Cielito Lindo". They passed and I continued on to the Zocalo which was filled with people as usual and about 3 different musical groups.

On the way home from the Zocalo, I found another parade -- this one was for a wedding -- complete with large puppets (Monos) and a gigantic cloth globe (marmota), a band, folkloric dancers and men handing out small cups (a little less than a jigger) of mescal.

Just another day in Oaxaca during the season of Navidad.

CALDO DE PIEDRA

2009-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

I think we all know the childrens' story "Stone Soup" --- as I remember it, the poor family has nothing but a pot and some water, so they put a stone in it and invite everyone they know over to have some "stone soup", but everyone has to bring something to put in the pot. So in the end everyone enjoys a soup full of lots of yummy things.

Well, this stone soup -- caldo de piedra -- is altogether different. It is a prehispanic ritual meal prepared only by men. As I said in the last post, Aurora , Javier and I arrived in Oaxaca earlier than expected -- in fact we arrived at the time most Mexicans eat their big meal of the day, at about 3:00. So Yolanda, Aurora's and Javier's friend, directed us to meet her outside of the city, and she took us to a restaurant that specializes in this particular meal. The man who owns the restaurant had gotten permission from the elders of the pueblo where this dish originated to make and serve it in his restaurant, and a certain percentage of his income goes back to the pueblo.

It is the preparation of the soup that makes it so special. One man puts the ingredients into bowls made from gourds that grow on a local tree: tomato, onion, cilantro, salt, chili pepper, whole shrimp (heads and all) and a chunk of local white fish. He hands the bowls to other men who line them up on a bench in front of an open fire where river stones are being heated (reminiscent of the temezcal). They fill the bowls with water and then add a stone from the fire to each one. The mixture instantly boils and when it settles down, they add another stone, and continue this way until the seafood is cooked.

The bowl is then set down in front of you, held by a little donut shaped straw thing (because the bowls are round on the bottom) with the final stone still resting inside. It's quite steamy so you have to wait a bit to dig in. While waiting for it to cool, we enjoyed quesadillas made with the huge tortillas particular to this area.

What a feast!!!

LOS PEREGRINOS EN BICICLETAS

2009-12-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

Here I am in Oaxaca several days earlier than I had planned. Last week, Aurora and Javier found that they needed to go to Oaxaca for a project they are working on with a community here, and there wasn't funding for plane tickets. So they asked if I would like to ride with them Friday instead of taking the bus on Monday as planned. I had to scramble to get some things done that I wanted to finish before leaving, but I managed to get myself ready in time.

It was of course much more pleasant to have the company of Aurora and Javier than to ride alone on the bus. We evidently made record time, arriving in Oaxaca in 8 hours, because of a new highway that entirely bypasses Mexico City. Along the way we saw many, many groups of bicylists riding along the shoulder of the highway led by trucks decorated with shrines. They were either going to or coming from the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadelupe in Mexico City. Saturday, December 12 is El Dia de Guadalupe in all of Mexico, and many people make yearly pilgrimages to her church in Mexico City. The Basilica was built on the hill where Juan Diego saw the vision of the Virgin Mary in the 1500s. So many people from all over Mexico make this pilgrimage that they have to assign different days to different pueblos to make their visit.

One cannot overstate the importance of La Virgen de Guadelupe to Mexicans and to Mexico. Back when the Conquistadores arrived, they had two objectives: finding gold and treasure and converting the indigenous people ("pagans") to Christianity. Many orders -- Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits and others -- found rich ground to impose their religion. But the indigenous peoples were pretty resistant; they had no choice but to go along with what was being imposed on them, but they continued to believe deeply in their own gods which were mainly related to nature: corn, water, animals, fire, earth, the sun. The vision of the Virgin appearing to Juan Diego, an indian, helped the people incorporate Christianity into their own belief systems. When you study closely the shawl of Juan Diego onto which the image of the Virgin was imprinted and which hangs in the Basilica, you see many symbols and images which are definitely pagan and not Christian. Surrounding the Virgin are rays representing the sun, she stands on the crescent moon, and on her cloak are stars and the number of stars has importance. There are other symbols too numerous to go into.

The Spaniards built their cathedrals and churches on top of the places of worship of the indigenous peoples, but they couldn't completely bury the soul and spirit of the people. The indians were forced into slave labor to build the grand cathedrals, but often they carved images that, unbeknownst to the bishops, were from their own belief systems. Viva la gente!!

LO SIENTO

2009-12-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

I apologize to all my followers -- not that there's that many of you -- but I did promise some time ago that I would make an effort to make a posting every day, and I have not kept that promise. Not even close. I notice my last posting was November 30 -- two weeks ago!!

I'm afraid my habit of procrastination has followed me to Mexico. Every day I think I'll have more time and energy tomorrow, but of course, something else interesting comes up the next day, and so it goes. Also, I think I've been too ambitious about posting lots of photos. It takes a lot of time to get them to appear where I want them in the text, and so it does take a lot of time. So, folks, only one photo per post and sometimes none.

I do want to get back to more regular writing because usually I don't have anyone to talk to about what I'm doing, so it's my way of sharing and enjoying again in the telling of my adventures.

Here's a random market picture just because I'm hungry and waiting to go out to supper with a nice couple I met here at Las Mariposas who are from Moscow, Idaho.

BIENVENIDO ABUELITA -- AJO!!

2009-11-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

This is what we all shouted each time a new hot stone, or "abuelita" (little grandmother), was brought into the Temazcal. Temazcal is a ritual Mayan steam bath -- what we call a sweat lodge in native american culture in the U.S. -- and I was invited to participate in one this past weekend while I was in Tequisquiapan.

What an experience!!

I had already made plans to go visit Ceci (I spent 2 weeks at her place in September learning Spanish) and get a haircut with my new favorite haircutter, Christian. Christian is from Los Angeles and speaks English and Spanish because his family is Mexican -- he was working in the film industry, got worn out with the frantic pace, and decided to set up shop in Tequis for a while. Great hair cutter, and a really lovely guy. Anyway, Silviah's mother, Herminia, when I had dinner with them last week told me about this Temazcal that she and some friends were going to in Tequisquiapan and invited me to go. Never one to pass up a unique opportunity, I of course accepted without really knowing what I would be getting myself into.

Ceci took me there (she declined to join me in the experience), and it was in a part of Tequis next to the presa (reservoir)where horses, cows and goats were grazing, that she was not familiar with. I got there before Herminia and her friends, so felt a little nervous, but a young woman greeted me very warmly and invited me to change into different clothes -- I had been instructed to bring light cotton shorts and shirt, or a bathing suit. Inside the walls of this compound were a few little stucco buildings, some fruit trees, and a small round structure framed in rattan and covered with fabric, and next to that structure was a fire which was heating up a pile of rocks. The area was about twice the size of my backyard.

While we were waiting for the rest of the participants to arrive, the young woman who was Peruvian, Rosario, beat a drum as another woman tended the fire. The Temazcal is an ancient ritual of purification which is meant to be not only cleansing but spiritually uplifting. We were instructed to let go of any expectations we had of the experience and approach it with the attitude of a child, totally open and attentive to whatever we felt or experienced.

Rosario blew the conch shell to the four directions and her assistant, the beautiful woman in the Mexican blouse offered incense or copal to the four directions. Then we were invited one by one to enter the lodge, and each person was "smudged" with copal to disperse negative energy.

After I was smudged front and back, I was gently told to say "for all my relations" as I entered the small opening and to crawl on my hands and knees around the inside clockwise until I found my place next to the person who entered before me. Speaking about our relations was a way to acknowledge that we all carry with us all of our ancestors and offspring.

There were about 12 of us, 11 women and 1 man. Rosario said it was good that we had at least one man because it was important for woman to increase their masculine energy and for men to increase their feminine energy. After everyone had entered, including Rosario and her assistant, we formed a circle on woven mats around a central area that was a shallow hole in the earth encircled with local flowers. Rosario explained that there would be four stages to the experience each honoring one of the 4 sacred elements: earth, air, water and fire. Then one of the helpers outside began to carry hot stones from the fire with a pitch fork into the lodge one by one. As each stone arrived we shouted "Bienvenido abuelita" and Rosario drew an X on it with a piece of copal as she placed it in the middle. When about 8 stones had been placed, she asked that the door be closed and it became dark except for the red glow of some of the stones. She asked that each person share their name and their reason for coming to the Temazcal. As each person finished they were to say "ajo" (pronounced a-ho), so that the next person would know they were finished. This is all in Spanish so as the people took their turn, and it came closer and closer to my turn, I was feeling pretty anxious about saying something in Spanish to this group, but the darkness helped. After the last person spoke, Rosario began to dip a branch of eucalyptus leaves into a bucket of water and slap the branch onto the stones. As the steam formed, it became unbelievably hot, and we were instructed to breathe in and out through our noses. I kept my eyes closed and just concentrated on breathing, as I felt sweat dripping from every part of my body. At first, I thought, I'm not going to be able to tolerate this for long, but then I settled into the experience and let go of wondering "how long" or "what will happen next". It was a very intense meditation because the physical experience is so extreme that there is no room for thoughts or mental activity.

At some point, Rosario asked us to join her in shouting "Puerta" which was the signal for the outside helper to open the door. I remember being a bit disappointed because I thought it was over too soon. Little did I know, we had just begun. Remember the four stages? Well that was just the first one. After we cooled off a little, more "abuelitas" began to arrive, then more sharing -- this time I believe it was about what we wanted to ask for. Then as the eucalyptus branches and the steam began, we were to breathe in deeply and then vocalize as we breathed out. That actually felt great. The heat this time was even more intense, and again once I relaxed and settled into it, it felt fine. After the second stage, cups of water with some herb in it were passed around. I wasn't as thirsty as I would have thought I would be after all that sweating. At this point, my clothes were as wet as if I had jumped into a pool.

Each stage got hotter, but I think my body was adjusting so that the subsequent rounds never felt as difficult as that second one. There was no more talking after the second stage, but Rosario sang and chanted, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in indigenous dialect. One of the women in our group asked to sing an ancient nahuatl song which was absolutely beautiful. Of course, this singing and chanting would happen only before or after the intense steam. During the heat, it's pretty much impossible to do anything but breathe.

After the third stage, we could have lovely cold water poured over our heads and necks if we wanted. I was surprised that only a couple of us asked for that. I thought it felt exquisite! After the fourth and final stage, and the door was opened there was a tray of beautiful fresh and cold pieces of fruit presented and passed around. Watermelon and oranges never tasted so spectacularly wonderful!!

AJO!!!

When I looked at my watch after showering I realized 4 hours had passed. The aftermath was that by the time I walked home to Ceci's house, I was exhausted. I ate a light supper and was in bed by 8:30, but my skin looked fabulous and my lung congestion was gone. The next day, I felt great. I would like to say that suddenly I can speak Spanish fluently, but, sadly, that's not the case. I'm still working at it.

YOGA MEXICANA

2009-11-21T17:49:00.000-08:00

Ever since I arrived here, I've been thinking it would be good to find a yoga class. I do walk a lot which is, of course, great exercise, but I'm afraid my strength and flexibility which I've worked hard to maintain in Pilates at home will fade away quickly. I did a little yoga with Ceci when I was studying spanish with her out in Tequisquiapan, and it felt good, but my online search for yoga in Queretaro was unsuccessful.

Finally, one day last week on a long walk along the river next to Avenue Universidad which is one of the outer boundaries of the historical center, "El Centro", I spotted a yoga studio which was closed at the time. I was on the way to a movie with Kikey the next day and telling her about this find, and she told me there was another yoga place on Nikolas Campa much closer to my house.

On Monday, I walked over to check it out, but it was closed -- I had forgotten that Monday was another big Mexican Independence holiday --- the 1910 revolution.... not the 1810 one which is celebrated in September. This one was much more low key - my excuse for not realizing it was a holiday. Anyway, when I finally went there a few days later and inquired about classes, the receptionist handed me a brochure describing the classes and the requirements. I have to say I was a bit daunted when I read it. I needed to have a certificate of health from a doctor, 2 small photos of myself and an introductory interview. The photos I could figure out how to get, and my spanish is probably good enough to get through an interview, but the doctor thing stumped me -- I don't have a doctor here.

I had coffee with Aurora the next day, and mentioned to her my dilemma about the doctor, and she said (of course in spanish), "That's no big deal. You can just go to the pharmacy next door, pay 50 pesos (a little less than $4) and a doctor will examine you and give you a certificate." So she took me down to the pharmacy, and sure enough, I paid my 50 pesos and a lovely young woman doctor asked me some questions about family history, listened to my heart and lungs, looked in my eyes and ears and gave me a certificate. No blood pressure check though.... interesting. Who knew it could be so easy. I suppose at home I could have walked into the Walk-In Care Center, but I probably would have had to wait a really long time, and it certainly would have cost a lot more than $4.00.

A word about pharmacies here.... I was walking past a different pharmacy yesterday and was handed a flyer about the services they offer. For example, you can go the pharmacy and get a resting electrocardiogram for 105 pesos (about $7.50), or a gynocological ultrasound for 165 pesos (about $13.00) and a lipid/cholesterol test for 340 pesos (a whopping $26.00). Okay, folks, check your health insurance receipts to see what you were charged the last time you had any of those things done in the U.S. of A.!!!!

Back to the yoga: it is called Solar Yoga and is part of The Gran Fraternidad Universal which is a worldwide organization evidently started by a Serge Raynaud De La Ferriere. According to the brochure's description, the first 30 minutes sounds like vigorous physical exercise, then you take a shower for 15 minutes and change into different clothes (preferably white), and then 10 minutes of relaxation that sounds like a body scan, then 15 minutes of something called gnani yoga, then 15 minutes of asanas, ending with 5 minutes of exercises for the eyes. Certainly will be all new to me. My first class is next Wednesday. By the way, my sign up fee was about $10 and a month of classes 2 times a week is about $15.

PENSAMIENTOS

2009-11-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

While Marty was visiting, she suggested that I write in my blog some more personal reflections on my experience here, so I'll give it a try.

By this time, a little over 2 months into my stay here, I am feeling more acclimated. I know my way around El Centro very well and don't need to carry a map around any more. However, language is still a problem, and that is what I'm going to talk about..... the difficulties of immersing oneself in a foreign culture and learning the language. My spanish has definitely improved, but I still usually feel on the periphery of experiences, conversations and relationships. Of course, I realize that in my life, I have often FELT a bit of an outsider, and I think that is being compounded in this experience where I actually AM an outsider.

I can express thoughts and requests, etc . as long as they are not too complicated, and I can understand people when they speak directly to me, although sometimes I have to ask them to repeat or speak more slowly. But when I am with a group, and people are speaking among themselves, it is practically impossible to follow the conversation. I can usually get an idea of what they are talking about, but not the details which means I can't really participate.

I have been to some very interesting events... a couple of plays, a movie in spanish and a movie in italian with spanish subtitles. And there too I can follow the general plot and all, but I miss the subtleties, the little phrases that add depth and emotion to the story. The same when I read stories in spanish. I try to just read without stopping every few sentences to look up a word in the dictionary, and I can get a general idea but again I miss the delicious little details.

I'm reminded of my experience as a child when I put on my first pair of glasses at the age of 8. I am quite nearsighted, and had probably been needing glasses for years before someone noticed. In those days, kids didn't automatically get tested for stuff like that as they do now. When I put on my new glasses for the first time, I was stunned, amazed and fascinated to find out that trees were not just green fuzzy things and grass was not just green fuzzy stuff on the ground. There were actually beautifully shaped and defined leaves and very sharp and pointy blades of grass!! So I am hoping that eventually my language skills will improve to the point where I have 20/20 understanding.

In the meantime, I do have some pretty amusing experiences. I was browsing in a store recently and the owner struck up a conversation with me in spanish. He, of course, realized that spanish was not my own language and asked me what WAS my language, and I told him I was from the U.S. He asked me where in the U.S., and I answered "Vermont", and I could tell from his expression , he had no idea where that was (many people here understandably have never heard of Vermont -- California, Texas, Chicago, New York, yes -- but not Vermont). So I explained (in spanish)that it was in the north near Canada and that it was very cold there. He said, "oh yes, I saw a movie .... with the ex-wife of Tom Cruise..who was that?" And I said, and god knows how I pulled this out of some dusty archive of my brain, "you mean Nicole Kidman?" And he said "Yes, that's it... and it was about the civil war." (remember this is all in spanish) And I say, "Oh you mean "Cold Mountain" (again, how did I remember this?).... that took place in Virginia, I believe, not Vermont"."Oh", he said, "well, it was a great movie". "A great book, too", I said and went along my way, grinning to myself.

SAGRADO Y PROFANO (MORE ON PATZCUARO TRIP)

2009-11-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

I stole this title - Sacred and Profane - from my Jungian Analyst friend, Marty. It was her idea for her husband, Bill, to do a photo project exploring that dichotomy. At the time, we thought it fit El Dia de los Muertos in Janitzio, an island in El Lago Patzcuaro. Having thought about it more since then, I would no longer see it as such a dichotomy, especially in terms of how Mexicans experience and celebrate Muertos. I think it is a Western European thing to see these -- that which is religious and holy and that which is mundane and human -- as dichotomous. What has remained here from the prehispanic, "pagan" era is the experience that it is all of the same cloth. What is "sacred" is not so removed from everyday experience as the word would imply.

Anyway, that is a long winded prelude to describe our trip to the island of Janitzio the day after our evening tour of the cemeteries. At breakfast, we heard from others in the Inn that their tour had taken them to the cemetery on Janitzio as their first stop, and it was a disaster. Lots of traffic, crowded boats and so dark they were falling over things in the cemetery. So we were very glad we weren't on that tour.

We took a taxi to the "muelle" or dock, bought a ticket and immediately boarded a long, wooden, partially enclosed boat which was just leaving. The water in the dock area is completely filled with vegetation which doesn't seem to affect navigation at all, though it did take much maneuvering back and forth to get the long boat out of the narrow dock area. The water in the open lake is an unappealing brown, but we were told by Miguel Angel the night before, that this was not an indication of pollution, but of silt. Fishing is still a major industry there.

The island of Janitzio is a mound rising up out of the water with houses climbing up its sides and a huge statue of Morelos on the very top -- sort of like the Statue of Liberty. Morelos was one of the heroes of the Mexican fight for independence from Spain. He took over the fight from Hidalgo and was killed as well before Mexico finally won its independence.

We found our way through the village (the whole island is the village), always climbing up steps until we located the cemetery. Having visited the 3 cemeteries the night before, I was surprised at how small this one was, and how desolate it appeared in daylight. It was obviously the site of what had been a big party the night before (this is the "sacred and profane part" in case you've been wondering).

And here are my photos interpreting the theme of "sacred & profane":
After the cemetery, we continued up the steps to the top of the island where there is a park and the huge statue of Morelos I described earlier. Like our Statue of Liberty, it is hollow and there is a small museum inside with murals depicting the life of Morelos. We opted not to climb to the top. There was a lovely view from the park of the lake and the other small islands. We couldn't linger long because the sun was low, and when it gets dark here, it happens very quickly and is VERY dark, and we had many stairs to negotiate to return to the muelle. On the way down, we could see that all the little shops and stores were closing -- it had probably been a very long day for them since the night before and all the partying. We got right on a boat that was leaving, but after we were well away from the dock, some more passengers showed up so the captain backed up to let them aboard. Marty and Bill and I commented that this certainly wouldn't have happened on the Lake Champlain Ferry.When we docked on the mainland, we were treated to a demonstration of fisherman using the traditional "butterfly nets". It was dark and they were moving so the quality of the photos isn't good, but it will give you a taste of the experience.

LOS DOMINGOS FELICES

2009-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sundays seem to be happy days here in my world and the world of the Queretanos.

I started this Sunday with a big norte americano type breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast and instant coffee. Then I settled in at the computer for a Skype appointment with my friend Marty in California. For those of you who don't know about Skype, it is a fabulous way to really stay in touch with family and friends from afar. It's free to download onto your computer, and free to call computer to computer with others who have Skype. AND you can not only hear each other but SEE each other in real time!! It's particularly easy with a MAC because there is a built in camera and mic. For all of you unfortunate PC users, you would have to get a little camcorder to mount on your computer. It's what you call a "no brainer".

Anyway, so much for my Skype testimonial (I'm not getting paid). After the Skype session, I talked to 2 of my sons, grandsons and a daughter-in-law on my cell phone. Why, you ask, don't they have Skype? Good question! Anyway, it's great to talk with them in any form, and they've promised to have Skype by Thanksgiving. Also called a friend whose birthday I had forgotten earlier this month and answered some email.

Then I HAD to get out of the house, because it was a beautiful, clear, warm day. And, as usual, it seems like everyone in town is out walking about -- multigenerational groups: mom, dad, kids, babies in strollers or in arms, grandparents, and probably great grandparents. And some kind of entertainment is happening in each plaza. I walk everyday, but Sundays are noticeably different.... more festive and light hearted.

My goals for my long walk this day were to check out a Yoga studio Kikey had told me about and visit Quinto Real -- a Mexican handcraft store and cafe owned by Chris (originally from Seattle) and his Mexican wife, Renata. Chris keeps a kind of very small lending library of books in English which were donated to him by some ex-pat. Unfortunately, they are all of the detective, mystery, thriller genre, to which I'm afraid I'm becoming addicted. They're like literary cocaine -- you get all hopped up reading, and then you finish, go through withdrawal, and need more. I'm afraid at some point good literature won't do it for me any more. I'll have to go through rehab, reading nothing but old classics. I should make an ad, "This is your brain on Patricia Cornwall....." At least I'm also reading El Principito (The Little Prince in Spanish)as part of my spanish homework.

The Yoga studio was closed and there was no telephone number on the sign, but at least now I know where it is. One step closer to actually doing Yoga. I chose another book at Quinto Real and had some great ChocoLatte. On the way home, I stopped in Plaza de Armas to listen to a little music. In the evening, I went to Teatro de la Republica to hear a very farcical little Renaissance opera that was part of El Festival de Musica Antigua. Every night this week, there is a performance of musica barroca in a different cathedral. I'm particularly looking forward to Gregorian choral music at Santa Rosa, my favorite cathedral.

I've never gone out of my way to hear classical music at the Flynn or the University at home, but I'm finding here, I quite enjoy it.

ANGELES, DIABLITOS Y SIRENES

2009-11-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, Thursday, Aurora took me and her daughter-in-law, Carla, on a little trip just outside Queretaro to the workshop of Francisco Coronel (sp?). I had met Francisco a few years ago, the first time I came to Queretaro with Eric Nichols as a student in his class. The whole class went to his magical little house on the edge of a hill, and he gave us a lecture about "Las Plantas" in spanish. Besides being an artist, he is an expert on the medicinal uses of native plants. At that time, I really didn't understand much of what he said, but he has a beautiful speaking voice and speaks very clearly. I was mesmerized.

Back then, we didn't get a tour of his workshop which is what we were treated to this time. His workshop is in his home, and he and his partner, Guadelupe, have a number of young people working for them. There were 7 or 8 there when we visited -- but I think there are more. Some go to school in the morning and work with him in the afternoon, and some do the reverse. Francisco showed us the process for making his fantastical figures of angels and devils and mermaids from beginning to end. They make a number of basic shapes with what we call papier mache (newspaper or cardboard and a mixture of flour and water) and then combine the shapes in different ways to make different kinds of figures. Right now, they are very busy filling orders for Navidad. That is Francisco holding forms at various stages of completion.

And here is Guadelupe painting the insides of these lovely little book boxes that are like retablos. You open the box like a book and on one half are painted figures (what he is doing now) and on the other are little 3 dimensional figures: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus and an angel. They are making hundreds of them as a special order --- all by hand.

Other kinds of things are little fat angels or mermaids -- a lot of Dia de los Muertos skeletons of all kinds -- some beautiful Virgen de Guadalupes -- Christmas balls. Fantastical, whimsical, imaginative, colorful and beautiful!!

After our tour of the workshop part of the house, Francisco took us into the part that they live in. It is impossible to describe in words so I will let pictures tell the story:

And here is our group: Francisco, Aurora, Carla and, at the table some of the young women doing the first stage of the work -- the paper and glue.

After our trip to Francisco's, we picked up Aurora's granddaughter, Sophia at school and Aurora and Javier, who joined us, treated me to lunch at La Mariposa where I had a delicious pozole. This is a picture of Sophia playing with the miniature tea set I gave her for her cumpleanos (very late present). She is a delightful 6 year old whose joy at getting an unexpected present was evident and whose pleasure in playing with the little set at our table gave ME great pleasure also.

EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

2009-11-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

This is old news now since Muertos was on November 1 -- I've got lots of experiences to catch up on here. I didn't take my computer with me, so couldn't keep up with my promise to make daily entries. So the next several blog posts will be about the last 2 weeks while Marty and Bill were visiting.

We went to Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacan on October 30 by bus -- took about 6 hours because we had to change buses in Morelia. But it was quite comfortable -- bus is the preferred mode of travel here, and the first class buses are pretty luxurious. We got a little bag of food and beverage as we boarded, movies were shown continuously (headphones provided), and there were banos.

Patzcuaro is the largest of the pueblitos surrounding Lake Patzcuaro. In prehispanic times, nearby Tzintzuntzan was the capital of the Tarascan empire. After the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century, Vasco de Quiroga, a bishop, persuaded the Spanish king to allow him to replace a guy named Guzman who had been murdering and exploiting cruelly the local indigenous people. Quiroga was a very humanistic man with a vision, and he established a sort of utopian community in the area. The people of each village were encouraged to develop their own handicrafts and were taught the essentials of self government. To this day, each village around the lake is known for its own particular craft: copper working, guitar making, pottery, needlework, hat making, and basketry.

Patzcuaro is a particular favorite this time of the year for tourists, both Mexican and international, because the festivities surrounding El Dia de los Muertos are most traditional and have continued unchanged for years. The town is filled with tourists and with flowers -- I think more flowers than tourists. All the residents of the area are buying flowers to decorate the graves of their loved ones. The main flower market (a tianguis, indigenous word for temporary market) happened to be in the wide street in front of our B & B, El Refugio en Patzcuaro, so it was a very busy place for the first 3 days we were there.

The tradition of El Dia de los Muertos is a sort of combination of Catholic and indigenous traditions. It is similar to what we call Halloween. Mexicans have also adopted our Halloween, and every night kids run around in costumes asking for dinero o dulces.

When the Spaniards came and began their effort to convert indigenous people to Catholicism, they tried to obliterate the "blasphemous" beliefs of the natives, but often it worked better to just meld them together. I don't know much about Catholicism, and I don't remember much from my early Episcopal upbringing, but I believe Nov. 2 is All Saints' Day.

Anyway, we arranged to go on a tour of some cemeteries the night of Nov.1 led by Miguel Angel Nunez, a local anthropologist. Before we left, he talked with us about the traditions surrounding Muertos. There are slight regional differences in the celebrations, but he emphasized that this is not a gloomy or scarey event. The belief is that on this night around midnight, there is an opening in the cosmos, and the spirits of dead family members can return to visit. The living decorate the graves with flowers, pictures and favorite things of the dead person including favorite foods and water. They also spend the night in the cemetery so they will be present when their loved one visits. It is a very social experience with people moving around visiting with others or just sitting together around the grave eating, drinking and talking. We visited 3 cemeteries: Tzintzuntzan, Cucuchucho, and Tzurumutaro. Miguel assured us that they do not consider it an imposition or disrespectful for tourists to visit and take pictures. So here are some of my favorites:

RATON DE BIBLIOTECA

2009-11-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

That's "bookworm" in English.

As I said in the last post, I had started reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and couldn't put it down. So when I got up yesterday (Sunday), I wanted to start reading again but felt guilty thinking I should be doing other things like writing my blog, or studying spanish, or working on photos. But then I thought, "Well, who's to say what I SHOULD be doing". So I gave myself permission to spend the entire day reading -- I remembered doing that a lot when I visited my grandmother as a kid.

However, it was a beautiful day outside and one thing this house lacks is a place to sit outside and read. So I decided I would go to a plaza and sit in the shade reading. First I went to Jardin Guerrero where I bought a gordita for lunch and sat for a while reading. A young man was sitting nearby making a sculpture out of wire.

After an hour or so, I moved on to another place, Jardin Zennea -- but only after getting some popcorn to munch on while reading. Later I walked over to the Mariposa to get a fabulous capuchino malteada and settled myself in Jardin Libertad under the statue of Dona Josefa to enjoy drinking and reading. That was fine until a rock band with a terrible sound system started to play nearby. So I moved on to Plaza de Armas where I was just in time to hear one of my favorite tunes (I believe it's from Phantom of the Opera) being played by a trio of strings. They played a couple more tunes before finishing, and then announced that next week is a festival of baroque music. There will be a performance every night in a different cathedral. Not to miss!!

After reading for a bit longer in Plaza de Armas, I was a bit hungry so went to Chucho el Roto for a bowl of my favorite soup, creme of huitlacoche (corn fungus) and a glass of wine. I finished the book --- great ending -- and strolled back to Jardin Zennea to see what was going on. There is always some kind of concert happening there on Sunday evenings. This time it was a folklorico type dance performance by groups of young people -- the dances represented traditions from different states: Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, etc. Really lovely.

On the way home at about 7:30, I stopped to buy some pan dulce from the woman on the corner. What a great day! My favorite things; reading, eating, listening to music, watching dance.

BACK IN TOWN

2009-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Queretaro after traveling with Marty and Bill to Patzcuaro and Mexico City. I went to the airport with them on Friday and caught a bus from there to Qro. -- a very easy trip. As the bus approached Qro. I was aware of how nice it felt to be "coming home". The sky was clear and the air crisp and clean -- very different from the big city -- and it was a bit chilly. It sort of felt like my town.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went for a long walk past Plaza de la Constitucion and then back around to "my" plaza in front of Santa Rosa. Families were out with children -- children were playing around the fountains and pulling these funny little toys that are sold by venders in all the plazas, people were talking or working on their laptops (the city provides WiFi in the plazas). This is all around a very sociable, clean and beautiful city. AND in "my" plaza, the fountains were working again!! I was treated to wonderful, lively mexican music accompanied by the dancing fountains. A great welcome home.

More posts will follow with pictures and descriptions of our trip. Right now I have been sucked into a great book that my friend Lynne sent back here with Kikey as a birthday present: Steig Larssen's "The Girl Who Played With Fire" -- can't put it down. Thanks Lynne!

WE'RE OFF TO PATZCUARO

2009-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't written much lately because we have been spending lots of time together talking, eating and sightseeing. Now today we are off to Patzcuaro, Michoacan for El Dia de Los Muertos celebration. I'm not taking my computer with me, so I probably won't be posting to this blog for a week. After Patzcuaro, we go to Mexico City for a few days, and I return to Qro. November 6.

Wednesday, my wonderful, generous and energetic friends, Aurora and Javier took us to Guanajuato for un espectacular dia! We walked around the city and had comida corrida at a lovely restaurant in the main plaza, went to the Casa de Diego Rivera, and shopped a bit. Then Javier drove us to the Valenciana silver mine and a young woman who was studying geology and was very passionate about her topic gave us a very interesting tour -- in spanish, which I mostly understood. Our last stop was the overlook from the statue of Pipila.

I'll post some pictures of our day when I return.

GREAT BIRTHDAY

2009-10-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, and my friends made it a great day. I think almost all my Vermont friends and family called individually or in groups to sing happy birthday. It felt very nice to be remembered by them.

Marty and Bill took me out for a very nice birthday dinner at one of the two oldest restaurants in Queretaro, The 1810. I ordered a T bone steak because I hadn't had a piece of meat since leaving the states. It was cooked perfectly and tasted great -- came with french fries, too. Before going out to dinner, we had birthday cake Marty had bought the day before ( a tres leches cake) and Jack Daniels -- because on your birthday you can do what you please.

Last night was the first night since Marty and Bill got here that we didn't have heavy rain, thunder and lightening in the evening. So it was very nice walking in the cool fresh air. On the way to the restaurant, we walked through Jardin Zennea which was full of families and children and people listening to the Sunday night concert. On the way home, we stopped in Plaza de la Constitucion to listen to the music and watch the fountain.

FRIENDS IN MY HOUSE

2009-10-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

Marty and Bill arrived safely mid afternoon today. How wonderful it is to have friends in my house with me. I spent the morning cooking a grand dinner: Mexican chicken with chorizo, spanish rice, and a vegetable dish Aurora taught me -- elote, squash and tomatoes -- plus guacamole and salsa verde. And I went to el mercado for fresh, warm tortillas. It was actually the first time I've really cooked since I arrived and it felt great.

Miraculously, water returned in the morning by the time I got up. What a great surprise!! However, it has now disappeared again. What I discovered though is that I do have water in the upstairs bathrooms. Evidently there is a "tinaco" on the roof which stores water, and that water just goes to the upstairs baths. I don't know how much water there is, so we are using sparingly. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

My big disappointment came today when I took Marty and Bill to the plaza in front of Santa Rosa church at 6:00 pm for a big "surprise". The big surprise was for me when NOTHING HAPPENED. Almost every day that I've been in Queretaro, I've gone to that plaza at 6:00 to hear music and watch the fountains "dance" -- most often it's been a famous aria by one of the "three tenors". Can't tell you the name of the aria or the tenor, but I've loved listening to it in that beautiful place. I asked the official looking guy who's always there, and he said the program has changed, and now it will play at 10 am and 11 pm. Extreme bummer! I believe here they would say "Que horror!"

UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE!!!

2009-10-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

When I got up this morning, I decided on my two challenges: 1. Find a pottery cassarole pot I had seen somewhere in town because I was going to need it to cook this chicken and chorizo dish I planned to make for Marty and Bill's welcome to Mexico dinner tomorrow; and 2. Take pictures of Silviah's family when I went over there for dinner in the afternoon.

Well, I walked all over town and could not find the store with the pottery cooking pots. I will probably come across it again sometime, but for now I'll have to make do with what's in the house which is not a lot in the way of cooking pots. I did stop at el mercado and bought some chicken. While I was waiting my turn, I had to watch the chicken man chop the beeks off of dead chicken heads for a young man who was obviously shopping for his abuela who was probably using them to make caldo.

When I returned home mid day, I found UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE numero 3!! I went to turn on the faucet to wash my hands ---- no water!!! So I called Jorge Luis (the lovely man who is the caretaker of the casa) and he advised me to ask some neighbors if they had water (category: Spanish challenge) so I did, and found they had no water either. Jorge Luis came over and called the Comision Estatal de Agua and found out that, yes indeed all of El Centro has no water for 2 days, and that this had been advertised on radio, TV and newspaper for several days -- some repairs being made. So people who knew about it had been saving up buckets of water to use for the 2 days.... but obviously not me. Supposedly we will have water Friday evening ---- but I've learned not to expect things to go the way one is told they will go.

So Marty and Bill arrive tomorrow ---- Bienvenido a Mexico --- sin agua.

Anyway, in the afternoon I walked over to Herminia's (Silviah's mother), and had a lovely dinner. On the way there ( about a 45 minute walk) I pass a great view of the aqueducto built by the Spaniards centuries ago to bring water from the hills into the La Cruz Monastery. El aqueducto is the symbol used by Qro.

New Resolutions

2009-10-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

I just realized it has been a week since I last posted an entry in this blog. It's not that time is flying by or anything or that I'm incredibly busy. I seem to have just not had it become part of my routine. TIME FOR RESOLUTIONS. So I decided this morning that each day I would take on 2 challenges, one having to do with using spanish and one having to do with photography. AND that I would make a blog entry every day even if it's only a sentence or two.

So today's challenges were: 1. Go to visit Sr. Gabriel Horner at the Museo de la Ciudad to see about having an exposition of my photography, and 2. Go to el mercado to find all the things I need to make a nice welcome dinner for Marty and Bill who arrive Friday.

Now #1. could have served as two challenges, the photography one and the spanish one because, of course, I had to speak with Sr. Horner in spanish. However, at one point when I really couldn't understand what he was saying he filled in with his english. He liked my work, and it looks like I will have an exhibit (called exposition here) in March!

#2 was fairly easy. You don't really need to know that many words to buy vegetables and fruits. However, at one point I was asking about some unusual looking beans -- if you cooked them like other beans. A very nice woman started telling me how to cook them, in seemingly great detail. However, I couldn't really understand what the heck she was saying. The gist was, I think, you cook them like regular beans but they're better if you add some jitomate.

I was going to venture out to a movie tonight, a German movie with spanish subtitles (part of a film festival), but it started to rain and I was pretty tired. The other challenge I had today that I had not chosen was talking with Citizens Bank about the fact that my PIN doesn't seem to work on my replacement card. Endless problems with them.

VOLEIBOL DE PLAYA -- En la Plaza Principal?!

2009-10-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, on my way to find the post office in Tequisquiapan, I was walking through the Plaza Principal in front of the the church of Santa Maria de La Asuncion and noticed a lot of unusual activity going on. I sat and watched for a while as truckloads of sand were being dumped in the middle of the plaza in front of the church and workers were beginning to spread it around. A semicircle of bleachers had already been constructed. I couldn't imagine what was going on.

Returning on Friday I found out to my complete awe and delight: VOLEIBOL DE PLAYA right smack in the middle of the plaza -- a big tournament of teams from different cities competing -- complete with guys in shorts and girls in bikinis. My teacher, Ceci, didn't really approve of the whole thing, but I thought it was a complete trip!! Can you imagine Beach Volleyball in the middle of Church St? It would be a kick!

NEGOTIATING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

2009-10-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday I came back to Tequisquiapan, but this time I had to get here on my own. Those who know me, know that I have a bit of anticipatory anxiety around traveling from one place to the other. For example, I always have to get to the airport 2 hours before flight time. So maybe you can imagine the anxiety I experienced around knowing that I would have to call a taxi, get to the right bus terminal, and buy a ticket to the right place --- all in spanish.

Fortunately, Jorge Luis ( the caretaker of the house ) had given me the numbers for good taxis. However, telephone calls are particularly difficult for me to negotiate in spanish. But I called, they understood what I wanted and I understood when she asked between which streets my house was located. The taxi arrived within 10 minutes, I locked the house and we were off to the bus terminal which was a good distance away.

Bus terminals in Mexico are sort of like small airports with several different wings depending on your destination and/or bus line. I got to the right one and from there it was fairly easy to find the counter for Tequis and buy a ticket. And I understood when the agent directed me to the gate where I would find my bus.

Once I was on the bus, I called Ceci to let her know what time I would be arriving and then sat back to enjoy the ride feeling quite proud of myself for having accomplished the whole thing without a hitch. It was really quite a good feeling!

By the way, to give you an idea of the cost of pubic transportation here: my taxi ride cost about $2.00 and the bus ticket was about $3.00.

MY PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT AT CASA DE LA CULTURA

2009-10-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just remembered that I never posted pictures of my exhibit in September. I kept going back to get pictures of the room, but every time I went it was either closed or there was a class or performance going on in the room.

So this is the best I could do. This is the courtyard of the Casa de la Cultura. There are always lots of classes -- art, dance, music, language -- going on there.

At this particular time there was a performance of guitar music going on.

BOYE - AN EXCURSION TO A VERY SPECIAL FAIR - SUNDAY 9/27

2009-10-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

Aurora and Javier very kindly picked me up a week ago Sunday to take me to Tequisquiapan for my first week of intense spanish learning. But they had a great surprise for me: a little excursion to a small town on the way, where there was a fiesta, a "Feria in honor of San Antonio de Padua".

On the way they explained that many people had immigrated from this town to the U.S. and over the years had sent back money to their families there. With this money some families had built houses in the style of U.S. houses -- they looked like houses you would find in Arizona, New Mexico or California.

Hopefully later, we will be able to go back and talk with some of these families about their relatives who are in the U.S.

It was a great day and following are pictures of the barbacoa, pulque made from maguey, the major crop, the church, etc.

2009-10-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

We visited the church first: the church of San Antonio de Padua. It is a very old church and I believe Aurora and Javier were saying that people from neighboring towns brought some images from their churches to visit the church during the fair.

They also said that one of the towers (or steeples) of the church is very old, original to the church, but the other with the clock in it was built with money that people who have immigrated to the U.S. sent back to the church and community.

It was really a lovely little church, full of very beautiful things ---- and lots of people! Even one baptism on this very special day.

2009-10-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

As we walked through the fair, there were so many interesting things to look at and try. Lots of vegetables and fruits I recognized and others I didn't. Lots and lots of people, so it was sometimes hard to take pictures, especially since I had my big telephoto lens with me -- not a great choice.

There was even what we would call a "beer tent" but it wasn't restricted at all. The first picture is of a pot of boiling entrails. Apparently nothing is wasted!! Nothing I wanted to try there. The fourth photo is of chunks of maguey (more about that plant later). You chew on it like sugar cane and then spit out the fibrous stuff that's left. I didn't particularly like it. The last photo, though, yummm --- nuts and seeds held together with sweet molassas like syrup -- sort of like pralines.

2009-10-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Aurora and Javier introduced me to several of their good friends. They know a lot of people in this town because Javier's business is very nearby. Pictured are Aurora and Javier talking with their friend as she makes tortillas.

Also a picture of their friend -- I wish I remembered her name -- and of her daughter, Leslie, who was helping. I think Leslie was about 12 and was very interested in talking with us. She practised her english with me and I practised my spanish with her.

The tortillas, purple ones and regular yellow ones, were delicious. Me gustan mucho!!

2009-10-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Maguey (pronounced ma-gay) is the major product of this area. The soil is not so good and they don't get much rainfall, so maguey is what grows best here. They make pulque from the flower stalk of the plant, and fermented pulque is an alcoholic beverage. I'm told that by the end of the day there are many very drunk people at the fair. I tried some plain fermented pulque and didn't find it very appealing, but when it was mixed with fruit, it was quite good. But I didn't dare drink too much, not knowing what my tolerance for pulque would be.

You'll see one sign that praises all the very healthy attributes of pulque -- if you can read spanish. They also use the dried fibers of the leaves to make baskets, place mats, rugs and those cloths we use for exfoliating the skin. Great stuff!! I bought a beautiful multicolored bag.

2009-10-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

The barbacoa (which we call barbeque) is the main attraction at this particular fair. It's quite fascinating to see how they do it. They have these massive stone platforms with a circular area carved out in the middle. They set a fire in that hole and heat up some rocks. Then they cover those rocks when they and the platform are very hot with layers of the large maguey leaves and dirt. The meat (lamb) is placed on the leaves and covered with more layers of dirt and leaves and left to cook.

When ready, they peel back layers of leaves and cut chunks of meat and sell it by the kilo. You buy some meat and then buys some freshly made tortillas and salsa, find a table and have a feast!! You can go around to the different platforms to sample the meat and choose the one you like best.

2009-10-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

At any fair, in any place in the world, there are lots of foods to try. I tried a new taste: atun. It is the fruit of the cactus, peeled of course to get all the little sharp hairs off. It comes in the small red size and the large yellow size. It is full of lots of little seeds so you don't really chew it with your teeth ...... you sort of mash it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Quite tasty!!

STUDYING HARD IN TEQUIS

2009-10-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't written since last weekend because I've been so busy here in Tequis. I haven't even had time to do much photography. I got here Sunday evening after a wonderful afternoon at a fair in a very small village called Boye. Aurora and Javier took me there on the way to drop me off here in Tequis. I will write much more about that experience, with pictures, next.

My schedule here is to breakfast with Ceci and her esposo, Felipe, at about 8:30. Then I go for a walk until 10:00 when we start class. We study until 2:00 (with a small break for cafe). Then I help/watch Ceci prepare a very simple but delicious meal with fresh ingredients, and we eat at about 3:00. After eating and talking (all in spanish) for about an hour, I retire to my lovely little casita and have a siesta because I'm exhausted by that time.

In the late afternoon and evening, we have been doing different things. Tuesday I went to a yoga class with Ceci and her friend Julie. It was VERY different yoga for me: kundalini with a little hatha. It was a small group... 2 men and around 8 or 9 women. I couldn't really understand what the teacher was saying, but I just followed what everyone else was doing.

Yesterday, we visited the silver workshop of Jorge, the man I met when visiting Aurora and Javier in Tequis a couple of weeks ago. He was working on a very beautiful pendant for a woman from Peru. He didn't really have much inventory to look at because he says that the global economic crisis has really effected demand for his work. After that we walked to El Centro and met Julie again for tamales and atole, a very traditional meal here.

Atole is a hot drink made from fruit, milk and cornstarch. It doesn't sound great, but it's quite tasty.

2009-09-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

There are many places like this around the city where people have coffee and visit or eat a meal. This one happens to be a couple of blocks from my house in the plaza in front of Santa Rosa. The evenings are lovely and cool. People here seem to think it is cold because they wear jackets, sweaters, scarfs and hats. Maybe in the middle of winter, I might be bringing out my sweater, but I'm lov'in it now.

2009-09-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Every evening I discover something going on somewhere in El Centro. This is a music group playing in Jardin Zennea which is the biggest and most popular plaza. Some people sit and listen, some people dance. There are lots of families with small children running around, old people, young people ---- everyone seems to be out and about in the evening.

2009-09-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

The past week, Aurora came over one night and we walked together through El Centro. As dusk approached she took me to visit the hotel of her friend Inez. They both lived in Tequis years ago when their children were growing up, and each has a son named Santiago who were friends. This is the view up Calle Pasteur from the lovely little bar on the top of Inez's hotel.

2009-09-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

WALKING AROUND

2009-09-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

I try to get out everyday and explore and take pictures. David Wells, my photo teacher, gave me some great advice. He said, if I'm spending at least one hour a day studying Spanish, I should be spending at least an hour a day practicing the other language I love - photography. So here's a photo gallery for today.

SCOTIA BANK -- MY NEW BEST FRIEND

2009-09-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

So I returned to the Amex Travelers service at 4:30, and found that it was just a travel agency. ... wasn't really set up to help Amex card carrying travelers in distress. BUT the lovely woman did direct me to the Scotia Bank whose ATM would take Amex cards AND the Scotia Bank was a block away. Halleluia!! Hooray!!! Whoopee!!!

So on the way home, I treated myself to an ice cream and found some wonderful shopping at a Telavera shop on my own street at the other end where I hadn't walked before. But, though my pockets were filled with cash, I didn't buy anything. Just feasted my eyes and made note of its location for my future visitors.

And I returned home to put my passport and cash in a safe place. By the way here is a picture of my house -- it's the big yellow one.

HOW IT GOES

2009-09-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday. I have been taking classes in spanish all week, but decided not to include today because I wanted to have a free day to do chores and some errands.

The big errand was to get some cash. Citizens Bank has still not sent me my new card so I don't have access to the money in my bank account. I called Amex and arranged to be able to use my gold card in an ATM to take money out of my bank account. They told me the only bank in QRO where I could do that was HSBC. So I figured out where that bank was and walked over there today. Lo and behold!! my card wouldn't work in their ATM. So I checked with the teller ( I think my espanol is getting pretty good until I try to talk with a bank teller) and she sent me clear to the other side of El Centro, in fact outside Centro, to a big modern building where there were several banks.

Well, the card didn't work there either. So, thinking that this might happen, I had called Citibank last night to see if I could use my Mastercard to get money. They said I should be able to go to a bank here with my card and passport and get money, and to try Banamex because they USED TO have a relationship with them. So there was a Banamex in this very modern sleek building, so I went in with my MC and my passport in hand to try that avenue. But they couldn't do that there. The person said go back to their main bank where they should be able to help me. That bank is pretty close to where I started out.

As I was leaving that very nice building, I noticed across the street, wonder of wonders...... an AMERICAN EXPRESS sign. Unfortunately, that was a money exchange place that just took Amex travelers checks. But she directed me a few more doors down the street where there was an American Express travelers aid office. Eureka!!! But when I got there, it was closed with a sign saying they would be back at 4:00 .... it was at that moment 2:45.

So I came home (not too far from there) to have some ice coffee and write. So anyone want to place bets on whether the people at the Amex Travelers Aid office will be able to help me? I'm not real optimistic. I'm down to about $70 in pesos which actually will go a long way here, and Ceci in Tequis very kindly said I didn't have to pay her right away.

And so it goes .... very humbling and exhausting.

MORE PHOTOS OF QRO

2009-09-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

The photos I post with my writing never quite get located where I want them. So here are some photos of Museo de Arte.

Walking around on Saturday

2009-09-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Finally yesterday I went out to explore again. I realized that I had not been doing anything alone since the robbery. Aurora had invited me to go to Tequis again for the weekend, but she agreed that I needed to "get back on the horse", so to speak, and begin to explore Qro. again on my own.

So I went to the Museo de la Ciudad to see an exhibit of photographs of "dansantes" -- indigenous dancers and to the Musea de Arte to photograph that spectacular building. I also hung out in the plaza in front of my favorite church, Santa Rosa.

Every evening, in this plaza and in others Capoeila groups perform for an hour or so. Capoeila is a form of AfroBrazilian dance fighting. Google it... it's fascinating to watch.

My Photo Exhibition: El Paisaje de Vermont

2009-09-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday evening was the opening for my photo exhibition. I had hung the photos the week before, but this was the formal opening. Silviah took care of all the preparations: buying the wine, renting the wine glasses and having a large copy made of the artist's statement I had written in Spanish ( luckily Kikey edited it to correct all my mistakes) to hang on the wall.

Kikey and Silviah and Aurora and Javier invited all their friends and La Casa de la Cultura posted some publicity so there were a good number of people there. Everyone was very friendly and very complimentary about the work. A couple of photographers even came up to ask what program I used to work with my photos --- they knew AdobePhotoshop but not AdobeLightroom.

It was a lovely, festive evening thanks to my friends who made it all possible.

P. S. I just tried to upload some photos of the opening that Kikey sent me but it didn't work....wrong format or something. I did take my own camera, but had forgotten to reload another memory card.

CULTURE SHOCK

2009-09-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I confided in my friends, Eric and Bill, that I wasn't doing so well..... that I was wondering what possessed me to leave family, friends, my garden, my home to come live in Mexico for what was suddenly seeming like a really long time. I was feeling lonely, incompetent and very much an outsider. Bill reminded me about CULTURE SHOCK. I was experiencing the second stage of culture shock. How could I, as a mental health person, have forgotten about culture shock, you ask? Well, I think I have suffered from pride ( the kind that comes before the fall) thinking that I have travelled so much and know so much that I would never fall prey to robbers or to culture shock. My son, Morgan, calls it being a "pollyanna".

The first stage of culture shock (look it up in Google -- it's quite well documented )is excitement and wonder -- the the new culture is so colorful and interesting, much better than the home culture, etc. It usually lasts longer than mine did, but I think the robbery kicked me suddenly into the next stage. According to Bill and Google, learning the language is my ticket to the next stages. And I start that in earnest this week.

Anyway, it helped tremendously to be reminded that what I was going through was a normal process and that things would improve with time.

Una nota a mis amigos Mexicanos: Gracias por vuestra amistad y ayuda!!!

MORE PHOTOS OF TEQUIS

2009-09-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Photos of the plaza in Tequis, the colobri in the backyard and Aurora and Javier in front of their house.

My Time in Tequisquiapan

2009-09-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

My time with Aurora and Javier was very relaxing and rejuvenating.... excellent company, wonderful food (Aurora says she doesn't like to cook, but she makes wonderful meals), and a beautiful little town. As we sat down to a late lunch on Wednesday, their very good friend, Jorge, stopped by and, of course, they persuaded him to eat with us (very Mexicano, eh Mario). Jorge has a silver workshop in the neighborhood and invited me to visit next time I am there.

Earlier in the day, Aurora took me to meet her friend Ceci who, along with many other things, teaches "full emersion spanish", a method she learned in Oaxaca. So, since I had fallen in love with Tequisquiapan, I made a plan with her to go to Tequis on the 28th, live in the lovely little bungalow on her property, have 3 or 4 hours of instruction each day, and share meals with her and her husband (including learning how to cook al moda Mexicana). It will be a little more expensive than classes here in QRO, but vale la pena.

TODAY I AM IN A DIFFERENT WORLD

2009-09-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my friends Aurora and Javier took me away from Queretaro to their lovely casita in the small town of Tequisquiapan (Tequis for short) about an hour away from the big city. It is very quiet here and Aurora has been feeding me wonderful comida. Aurora cooks and Javier washes the dishes. They are spoiling me. They felt I needed a respite from all the experiences in QRO.

In Mexico, people eat breakfast whenever they get up (today it was 9:30!) , have the big meal of the day at about 3:00 and then a small meal at around 8:00. I have gotten accustomed to it very quickly.

Last night we walked to El Centro to see the Independence Day celebration at 10:30. On loud speakers , someone read the story of Hidalgo and El Grito del Independencia and then everyone -- a very large crowd -- sang the national anthem, many verses. Some runners arrived at 11:00 to deliver the torch of Delores to begin the fireworks. These runners had traveled by bus to San Miguel Allende at 5:00 in the morning and then ran back to Tequis through many villages delivering the light of independence along the way. When they arrived at Tequis, the fireworks began on El Castillo, a tall tower that had been constructed in the middle of the plaza that held pictures of the heroes and words. When lit it was quite spectacular! The fireworks were set off from bombas, big wooden tubes that held them. The fireworks went off from around the plaza right over the center so we were looking straight up to see them. It was all quite impressive!

A really, really bad experience

2009-09-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially a stupid tourist. I was robbed this morning as I was walking care free around El Centro. I had a lovely breakfast at Restaurante Archangel and then decided just walk around for a while before going home. It was very cool and families were out walking with their children. As I passed San Antonio church (I think one of the oldest in QRO) I went to look inside, and I felt something wet dripping down my arm. I felt my back pack and there was some brown liquid dripping down it. I thought a bird had pooped on me. A young man came toward me from the church, saying let me help you -- you have something bad on your back -- come into the church so we can wipe it off. He and a woman had some tissues and were helping me wipe off the pack. One of them distracted me to hand me more tissues and evidently the other one reached in my pack and took out my wallet. Then they disappeared. I didn't even realized what had happened until I had walked 2 blocks or so toward home to change my clothes.

I smelled my hands that still had some brown stuff on them and it smelled like salsa. So I wondered where would salsa come from in the middle of a plaza in front of a church? Then it hit me -- it was a very clever plan to rob me. I checked my pack which still had my spanish book but not my wallet...... my wallet with all my credit cards, my debit card, my license, my checkbook...todo. Gone.

And I feel very stupid, because I know better than to carry all that stuff around. Up until today when I walked around, I had just brought with me in a pocket what money I thought I would need and nothing else but my camera (which I had with me today, but they were evidently not interested in stealing a camera). But this morning, I thought I would bring a book with me to read at breakfast, and though I thought about taking the wallet out of the backpack, I didn't. I think I have been feeling so comfortable here like a resident not a tourist, but forgetting that I still LOOK like a tourist.

So once I discovered the wallet missing I walked on to Aurora's and Javier's house and luckily they were there. I don't know what I would have done without them. Javier called the police who came to the house, and I tried to go online with Aurora's laptop to alert the credit cards but that became too complicated because it was not my computer so I couldn't access my accounts. Javier found the Amex number and I called them -- luckily I have that credit registry so they blocked all my credit cards. Tomorrow we have to go to the Police station to file a formal report and supposedly Amex will moneygram me some money to Walmart of all places.

So I learned a lesson the hard way -- a lesson I already knew, but didn't honor -- never carry anything of value with you in a bag. And unfortunately, be suspicious of everyone.

Hopefully, this will turn out ok, but it feels terrible right now.

P.S. The police said this has happened to several people recently because the Mexican holiday is coming up and outsiders have come in to take advantage of the many people coming here to celebrate.

2009-09-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday Stroll

2009-09-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I finally finished the computer work I needed to do (more on that subject in another post), and decided I would finally take my new camera with me to walk up to La Casa de la Cultura to see if the office was open. It wasn't, so I continued up the street from there because it looked like a street where Lynne and Eric and I had found a very nice jewelry store and a lovely big store that sold Mexican crafts from all over.

I was right. The same jewelry store is there, so I browsed thinking to myself "Hmmm, I could make that, and that ... " Made me miss our jewelry class. I walked on up the street, and there was the same craft store, Quinto Real, owned by the same people. The young woman said she remembered me from several years ago --- but I think she just knows how to please her customers. They now have a little cafe, and I was starving so I sat down and let her bring me some limonada, the best pecan sticky roll I've ever had, and a really yummy ham and cheese sandwich. There were several people at another little table talking English -- I realized how nice it was to hear familiar words. I can understand why north americans who live here often group together. And I think the food tasted really good because it was familiar (also because I was very hungry.

I walked home through several jardins. There are five big gardens in El Centro where people gather and visit and eat and shop. Here are some pictures.

THE MEGA

2009-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday, when I finished the financial business with Jorge Luis, I asked him where I might find a regular grocery store (una tienda para comprar la comida) , he kindly gave me directions to one very nearby. He offered a ride but I said I would go later and I wasn't going to get more than I could carry. So far I had only come across small "Oxxos" where they sell mostly beverages and snack foods. I wanted to buy some eggs and milk, some fruit and yogurt and cheese. I do know where the big traditional mercado is over by La Cruz, but it is a bit far, and more than I wanted to take on right now.

So I set out expecting to find a little grocery store, but I found THE MEGA. Wow!!! At first, I thought I was in the wrong place because the first things I saw were clothes on racks, but, no, there were groceries too ----- and bicycles, refrigerators, school supplies, clothes, TVs. It is sort a cross between Price Chopper and Costco. They have everything, but in regular quantities, and quite a large selection. Plus there is a whole section where you can buy fresh tortillas and good looking food to go. I plan to go there tonight to get my dinner.

And imagine my delight, Becca and Brooks, when I found Hellman's Mayonnaise! (Family joke).

First Days in Queretaro

2009-09-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday, viernes, and I am settling in to a morning routine which is more or less what it was in Burlington except that I turn on CNN in English. I never watched the news on TV at home. I would read the newspaper. Granted it was not a great source of news, but I enjoyed it. In the evening I sometimes watched TV news. I'm interested to find here that there is much more news about the world -- floods in Turkey, strikes in India, and, of course, Afghanistan and Iraq, and the fact that Argentina may not make it to the World Cup. Maybe I didn't watch the right news channels at home --- I will remember to check that out when I return. But my impression is that we in the US tend to think of ourselves as the most important and interesting country in the world. We know the rest of the world exists and things happen there but it doesn't have much to do with us. I'm sure I'm overgeneralizing, but I am struck with how much more aware I am here that we are all on the same planet. And maybe these are just the ramblings of a new temporary expat.

Yesterday, Thursday, jueves, I spent the morning hanging my exhibit of Vermont fall landscape photographs at the Casa de la Cultura. Silviah loaned me some nails (claves) and a hammer (martillo) and I began to work on my own to arrange how to hang them. After hanging the first 2, I was realizing how difficult it was going to be to hang all 13 without someone to stand back and say whether things were even,etc. And then Armando appeared and offered to help. He teaches sculpture at Casa de la Cultura and had a very good eye. He was also very patient with my Spanish and had about as much English as I have Spanish so we did well enough together. He also advised me about how to price the photos and what the Mexican conventions are for what information to put on the labels for each photo.

That accomplished, I made my way walking back to mi casa by way of Jardin Guerrero hoping that was where my favorite gordita place was next to Restaurante Archangel. Buena suerte, it was! So I bought a gordita de queso para llevar and a soda poured into a plastic bag with a straw and got home in time for my meeting with Jorge Luis to pay my rent. $12,000 pesos for 2 months and $235 pesos for a month of cable TV.

The most wonderful thing about this house is how central it is to everything. I can easily walk to whereever I want or need to go.

Retrospective of the trip to Queretaro

2009-09-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't written since I was sitting in the airport in Albany on Tuesday and now it is Thursday in Queretaro. That is because I was conserving battery power on my laptop because I didn't have my power cord. Of course, you are wondering WHY I did not have my power cord. Well it was because it was in my wonderful new Lowepro CompuTrekker rolling camera case which was LOST somewhere in the Continental Airlines baggage world ( or as I feared, in the trunk of some dishonest baggage worker's vehicle). And you are probably thinking, "What idiot would check her entire collection of photo equipment in baggage". Well, I didn't check it. This is the story:

In Albany, our flight was very, very late leaving. The desk personnel somehow thought I would still make my connection in Newark, but he told me he backed me up on a flight leaving at 1:45 if I missed the 12:00. I, of course, missed the connection in Newark, and when I checked in with the desk personnel, she was puzzled to find that the Albany moron had booked me on a 1:45 flight THE NEXT DAY. Consequently, I was last on the list of standby passengers for the 1:45. To my surprise and great delight, I did make it on to that flight to Houston which would give me plenty of time to get to my connection to Queretaro. HOWEVER, as I was about to step from the jet way into the plane, they informed me that there was no more room in overhead compartments. In fact, they were bringing off bags of people who were already on board. And they said they needed to close the doors of the plane in 1 minute. So I had 30 seconds to decide if I entrust my bag to the baggage people or decline to get on the plane and thus miss my connection to Queretaro. At the time, the first option seemed to make the most sense. I asked that it be just checked to Houston where I would pick it up and take it with me to my next flight. Since this was a large jet, they don't just do gate checks like the small planes, they send the bag with regular checked baggage.

So I went to baggage and was there at the chute when bags from my flight began to emerge, and I waited and waited...... and waited and waited. No bag. Went to report lost bag and they were as puzzled as I how my bag could have been lost between 1 stop and another. A lovely young man, a Mexican born in Mexico City named Marcello, was very, very nice and assured me they would find it and to think positively. When I finally decided I needed to get to my plane whether or not I had my bag in my possession (originally I declared to them "I'm not leaving until I have that bag!!"), he escorted me back through security, on to a shuttle to a different terminal, and reminded me how important it would be to think positively.

I did arrive in Queretaro at their brand new arrival zone where things could not have gone more smoothly. All 3 of my checked bags arrived unscathed and intact, and Silviah was there to meet me. I told them there about my camera bag ( I had hoped that it might show up there after all) , and the young man helping me expressed his surprise that they had given me no paperwork or a reference number. I was surprised at myself that I had asked for that --- but I remembered that I had been in a somewhat altered state at the time. He looked it up on the computer, found the information and gave me reference #s and telephone #s etc.

To spare you the details of my ongoing anxiety, I'll get to the happy ending. I had actually finally come to realize that everything could be replaced (except the wedding pictures I had just taken) because I had insurance. It was a sort of Buddhist decision to let go of attachment. By yesterday afternoon, the airline confirmed that they had found my bag in New Orleans (?????) and that it would be on the flight to Queretaro that evening. Sure enough, at about 9:45 pm a very nice airport official delivered by bag to mi casa at 98b Pino Suarez. Everything was in perfect shape, nothing missing or broken. Hooray for Lowepro.

Travel woes

2009-09-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

I THINK I'm on my way to Mexico today, but so far a lot of stress. When Diana dropped me off at the Albany airport with my 3 very huge bags, a nice skycap ( or whatever these airport helper guys are called now) carried them in for me on a cart and weighed them for me. Turned out 2 of the were overweight, one of them by only 2 pounds so I had to move 2 pounds worth of stuff from that one to the other overweight one. In the process of doing that, a zipper broke on the bag I was loading up so I had to put all the stuff from that compartment and the extra stuff into the main compartment. So now I'm worried that that zipper will.

Now I just heard that my flight out of here is so delayed that I probably won't get to Newark in time to make my connection to Houston. I will have to decide if I want to take a chance or make a reservation for tomorrow.