Jan & Steve's México Report #11 March 24, 2006
NEARLY THREE YEARS...
You can find this report here: http:://www.SteveFilipiak.com/mexico/report11.html
Our time here in this beautiful, captivating country, will soon be coming to an end. This has been the most magical three years of our lives, and we owe it all to the new friends we have made, south of the border. We also want to thank the friends and family who were able to visit us, during our time here. You spent your money and precious vacation time with us. Thank you.
I just discovered that our last Mexico report was some time ago. I have a lot to inform you of. First, my best friend Mike, came down to visit a second time. This was the second birthday he has spent on the road, in some tiny little village. (At least we remember ringing in this birthday.)
One of the highlights of this trip was going out to see the Paricutin volcano. I had heard of a trail or dirt road that would take us through the lava field to the cathedral. Failing to find the road, we hired horses to take us to the ruins before the sun set.
All was well and good, until the sun actually set. Hardened lava is black, and on that moonless night, it was very difficult navigating over the sharp edges of this newly formed stone, to get back to our horses and guide. By the time we made it back to the clearing, our horses were no where to be found! It was so dark that you could not see your hand in front of your face.
As I tried to negotiate a ride with the owner of a pickup truck, our guide appeared out of the blackness. For the next hour, we bounced along on horseback, through absolute darkness. We could not see where the horses were going, nor what low branches they were taking us under. We talked about this experience for the rest of the trip. The next morning, I asked directions from a woman we saw walking along the road. She went into her house and returned with her husband, who apologized for his wife, because she did not speak Spanish! We were that far off the beaten path.
Over the recent months, we have had so many wonderful visitors, Elise and Jim, Larry and Barb, Cathy and Jim, thank you all. We try to show our guests something memorable about Mexico. Something special. When Jan's sister Cathy and her husband Jim came to visit, we took them to a small town that specializes in silver jewelry. I had read in the guidebook that during the first weeks of November, nearly all activity in town stops, while villagers hike up into the nearby mountains...to eat bugs. Yes, since pre-Columbian times, the residents of Taxco celebrate the regional insect migration--by eating them.
A couple of the residents were thrilled that I was aware of this custom, and demonstrated eating live insects, for Jim and myself. They presented us with a vibrating, buzzing, plastic sandwich bag just filled with flying bugs. Sort of a snack. Something to eat in the car, perhaps. However, we gratefully declined their gift.
Between visitors, Jan & I attended two beautiful weddings, where I was hired to photograph. The first group was from France. Thanks to that experience, I learned that French people, tend not to understand Spanish, especially after a few drinks! Organizing group photos that night, was a lot like herding cats. The second wedding was at an ancient hacienda, where nearly everyone in the wedding party sang. The groom wrote a song for his new bride. The groom's father sang a song to his new daughter in-law. In Mexican tradition, the wedding went on nearly all night.
Another highlight of our experience here in Mexico, was a trip with our friends Aileen and Rahul, to Chiapas, possibly Mexico's poorest state. The four of us, spent a week in the car together...and honestly had a great time! Thanks to our new friend Alejandro, we were able to visit a remote village, during the annual ceremony where they install their new local government. Our introduction to Tenejapa, was seeing women walking with "hair skirts," or skirts made of roughly woven black wool. Men also wore matching fuzzy black wool vests. Since the movie "King Hong" had just been released, I couldn't help but wonder if this was all some publicity stunt.
Alejandro asked permission for me to make a few photos of the ceremony. The new village president gave his permission, but getting cooperation was another matter. I asked Jan to run back to the car and get my portable photo printer. This changed the entire experience! People were literally dragging me over to take photos. In Chiapas, the indigenous population drinks something called "posh." For the uninitiated, posh is 100% grain alcohol, flavored with whatever was in the 55-gallon drum, before it was used to transport the liqueur. Since we were now friends with the locals, we were asked to drink several shots of the stuff. Luckily Alejandro was driving.
Another highlight was seeing Palenque, the famous Mayan ruins. We rang in the new year in a remote village called Ocosingo. The next morning, we visited Tonina, the nearby ruins, where we learned that the rise of this Mayan center was due to the capture and beheading of Palenque's king.
Jan's birthday this year, coincided with Carnival. For her birthday trip, she chose the Mexican state of Campeche. The capital of this tropical state is a port city, also called Campeche, on the Gulf of Mexico. The village was the main port in the Americas during much of the Spanish colonial era.
We also wanted to see Edzna, the nearby Mayan ruins. We hired a taxi to be our "guide" for two days. He knew a lot of cool places, including an abandoned hacienda that had been turned into a hotel. As we drove through one remote village, I asked our guide to stop, so I could take a photo of a very traditional Mayan house.
The next thing I knew, he was walking into the house and asking the elderly owners if I could take their picture! I followed him into the house, where we met the very shy señora. She corrected the taxi driver, when he tried to show me how to weave the hammock, she was working on. That broke the ice, and soon we were chatting away with nearly the entire family.
Jan commented on how beautiful the embroidery on her traditional Mayan dress was. The señora talked about how many months it took to embroider. Then, the señora suprised everyone, by giving Jan a small embroidered table cloth! Jan tried to pay her for it, but she would not except. So, I took the family's portrait, in front of their 200-year old home. Jan had the photos sent to them, via DHL. Imagine what the neighbors said when a DHL truck stopped on their dirt street, and out comes a delivery man in uniform.
There is so much more to write, but I have run out of time, this morning. I promise, there will be at least one more report before we return to Chicago. I have so many things to write about, like being trapped in a bullring with an angry little bull...during a birthday party.
Thanks for reading
Jan & Steve