Jilotepec

            Without knowing exacty where we were headed, Regina and I left Cuernavaca on a 9:30 a.m. Pullman bus.  Three buses and five hours later, we pulled into overcast and rainy Jilo, a town of 40,000 (maybe?), where a fellow Fulbrighter, Jen will be teaching during her Fulbright stay.  If I had been able to find Jilotepec on the map, I would have realized we were headed north, and minded more Jen’s warning that it was cold!  After so many weeks in Cuernavaca, I have become used to “cold” meaning about 64 degrees.  Jilo’s chilly weather caught me by surprise, but Jen was a fabulous host – in addition to cooking amazing meals, she lent me her husband’s wool slippers, which saved me! 

            Jilo’s tianguis is the largest I’ve ever seen, with a huge array of products.  Need industrial toilet paper?  Check.  50 pounds of dried chiles? Check.  Baby chicks?  Check.  Electric heater? Check. (But it might not work, and be prepared to just stand there until they give you your money back, as we found out). 

            In front of the church in Jilo stretches a large area called “the garden,” where

 amorous couples check each other’s dental work.  Inside the patio attached to the church, a long rope dangled from the roof; at five o’clock a woman came out to pull it, clanging the church bell through all of downtown Jilo.   

          We spent a day with Kate, another Fulbrighter, in the tongue-twisting town of Tequisquiapan, where the weather was warmer and the church on the main square was hopping - we watched a wedding give way immediately (i.e., they were parked outside waiting for the bridal party

 to move their car) to a fifteen-year old's quinceñera mass.  

       In addition to travels, I've also managed to erase my iphoto library, although the fotos are there, somewhere, so we'll all have to suffer without a lot of visuals.