Halloween in Mexico

   It was really like any other Halloween party - the devil and his angel girlfriend, a few witches, a Batman, his belly straining against his belt, a princess, and Abe Lincoln (from Salem, OR).  What set this party apart was the salsa/duranguense/merenge dancing (the men could really hold their own!), the tickets (70 pesos) to get in, the michealadas (beer with lime juice and salt) and the  unfinished "finca" (a large house with land - in this case, a large front yard).   People are ingenious in figuring out ways to make money here, and throwing a party is just one of the many, many methods used.  I had no idea Halloween had become so popular in Mexico - some people are concerned about its growing influence, and it's true that I have seen altars for the Día de los Muertos decorated with orange and black cats and pumpkins.  But in a city like Cuernavaca, where almost 90% of the people I talk to have been to the US, it will be impossible to keep all US culture at bay.  If anything, I think I'm glad to recognize that the US even has some culture to export - and of course, anybody likes an excuse to party.  How do you think the US ended up celebrating a small town's win in a battle against the French on May 5th? 

Dolores Hidalgo

Dolores Hidalgo was renamed after the war for independence in honor of the priest who started it all: Miguel Gregorio Antonio Igancio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallega Mondarte Villaseñor (a.k.a. Miguel Hidalgo).    The town is a mere hour bus ride from Guanajuato, so on our way back stopped in to see the church and the town where the famous "Grito de Dolores" happened on September 16th, 1810. 

In the picture, you can see a statue of Hidalgo with the church from where he made his famous proclamation for freedom.  Yes, his statue is wearing a toga - and no, that's not historically accurate clothing.  

   After declaring that the fight for independence was ON!, Hidalgo went to Guanajuato, where the first battle for independence was fought at the Alhóndiga.  Hidalgo was betrayed on March 21st along with three other revolutionary leaders, José Mariano Jiménez, Juan Aldama, and Ignacio Allende.  They were killed in June, and their heades were placed on the four corners of the Alhóndiga, where they hung until 1821, when Mexican independence was finally won.  

     The 200th anniversary of the Mexican Indepence is coming up in 2010, and there are electronic countdown markers in all the major cities.  Considering how the 16th is celebrated, the bicentennial will be a heck of a party!

Guanajuato

Guanajuato has always been one of my favorite cities.  Built in 1546 in a rambling, cobblestoned style reminiscent of Spain's Toledo, it is the capital of the state of Guanajuato.  The wealth of the silver mines was transmitted to its beautiful, Baroque-style churches.   The city is also famous for the Alhóndiga, a  fortress-like granary, that was the site of the first battle for independence in 1810.   The name comes from the native Tarasco word "Quanashuato,"(place of the frogs). 

     I first visited Guanajuato 16 years ago, at the age of 16.  I came with the other exchange students from my high school, and we visited 

the callejón del beso (with its famous legend of love leading to murder), one of the silver mines, and the mummy museum.  Much is the still the same in the city, although you can now only stand on one of the 

lovers' balconies.  

But the story of the callejón del beso remains: two lovers, she the daughter of a wealthy family, he a poor silver miner, fell in love.  The balconies of their houses were separated by a mere 30 inches - a distance their lips easily conquered.   Her father, upon discovering what was happening between the two, became enraged.  At this point, there are two versions: either that he killed her on purpose, or, discovering the lovers kissing across the balcony again, shot her lover and accidentally killed her.  Regardless, she, in her last dying moments, reached out her hand to her lover, cursing her father.  Some say her ghost remains, although the gift store that now controls the access to her balcony didn't mention any problems with ghosts!

      Guanajuato's Museo de las momias is probably one of the oddest 

things you can see in Mexico.  Akin to Philadelphia's Mütter Museum, it is a display of that which you do not normally see - in this case, desiccated bodies of the poor (including babies) whose families were unable to pay the yearly burial tax.  It's an odd experience.  

        

Guanajuato is the also the site for the annual music/art/theater festival, Festival Cervantino.  We stayed right in the heart of the action at a charming bed and breakfast called Casa de Pita (Pita herself made us breakfast every morning and entertained us wit

h stories of former guests).   Street musicians, modern theater groups, interpretative dance, a parade with elaborate costumes- you name it, we saw it.   The best part was that a good number of the musical performances were open air, so you could stand in the street and listen for free.   

On our busiest day, we went to one art exhibit, two museums, had lunch with Fulbright friends, went to the market, listened to parts of three open air concerts, watched an interpretative dance and theater performance, and ate a late night snack of tacos while listening to the estudiantinas, a group of university student musicians who lead a happily drinking crowd around the streets at night, playing music and singing the whole time.  

Cursos

With a little bit of cooperative learning, use of rubrics, and how to clean the computers mixed into the instruction, our course on the use of the language laboratory software began today.  The positives:

1. The software expert knew something about effective teaching methods. 

2. We got lots of  time to become familiar with the two programs we use, TellMeMore and EduStar. 

3. The English department (all three of us) finally got together!!!

4. Maybe I worked on my blog entries.  

The negative:

1. All the time to work has a price. It was decided that the best way to educate us on the software was to pull us out of our English classes for 5 days,  (approximately 6-8 hours of instruction per student group). 

2. I now know it is possible to be told to read the manual over 10 times in one training. 

3. Surprise!  This curso goes until 6 pm every day.  (We managed to negotiate a slightly different time frame for the other days, and I politely excused myself at 3 today, explaining I had prior obligations, which I did!).  

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.