Headed South: The Virgin, The Prisoners and The Manatees

Yep. I'm gonna tie these three seemingly disparate topics into one smooth flowing narrative. Maybe. Let's start with the Virgin of Zapotan (pronounced Sa-po'-pan). She normally resides in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan but makes a yearly trip to Chapala and from there to the small villages surrounding the Lake. She made her trip to Chapala a couple of weeks ago. Amidst the festivities was a parade that featured the tiny Virgin (not a real virgin) snuggled up to the Bishop in a humongous car; marching bands; native dancers with flags; bottle rockets; shrieking children and several dogs. So why the giant hoopla you ask? Well, there is the general answer and the Chapala specific answer. So Mexico.

First the general answer. The Spaniards found the original population to be somewhat uncooperative in terms of giving up their mineral resources, land and religious practices. Being clever, the Conquistadors decided that the best way to achieve total domination was to incorporate aspects of the indigenous peoples existing culture into what would become their new, improved (of course) culture. So, they crafted the Virgin of Zapopan out of corn husks and assured them that she would perform miracles at a prodigious rate --far more productively than their old, outmoded Corn God. Well, this 14" corn husk based Virgin started performing miracles as promised and by the early 1600s was attracting a lot of attention. By now, the Indians were on to the fact that "if it's good, it's on its on the road to Spain" so the Virgin went into hiding.

During her absence, an upstart, the Virgin of San Juan de Los Lagos, started to usurp the Virgin of Zapopan's popularity. Unacceptable. Our Virgin reemerged from wherever and the Battle of the Virgins, as they call it locally, began. I honestly have no idea how religious icons battle and there is no documentation of the take down but the Virgin of Zapopan was the victor. But that's not all. Due to her ending a massive siege of pestilence in Guadlajara in 1734, the Royal Court of Justice proclaimed her the Patroness of Thunderstorms and Epidemics. No, still more. After Independence was declared with no bloodshed in 1821, she was named General of Arms and authorities placed in her tiny right hand a tiny baton (still visible today) denoting her new role as Commander of the Armies of Jalisco. But why am I going on and on about her impressive resume? Well, let's get right to the problem in Chapala.

Flawless segue one. By 1956 a draught had been going on for ten years. Lake waters were at an all-time low and Guadalajara was running out of drinking water. How low was the water? Flawless segue number two. It was so low that the prisoners kept on the island in the Lake just walked away. Now, one would think that as the lake's level decreased inch by inch each day, people might have anticipated this prison escape and taken some preventative action to detain the inmates but let's just let that slide. Clearly a miracle was called for since no one had thought to build a dam, or restrict water usage or....

Cardinal Garibi whipped into action and implored the Virgin of Zapopan to save the Lake and restore the water levels. OK. She is implored and the rains do come. By the time the rains stop, the water level is at the top of the highest step leading into the church in Chapala. The church is easily 500 feet away from and somewhat uphill from the Lake. Stories like this set even a pagan like me to wondering.

Clearly this problem with water levels is an ongoing drama which no one wants to grapple with except on a religious basis. So, when the next water level crisis occurs in the late 90s/early 2000s, a new approach is tried with the Virgin of Zapopan. Now the Cardinal begins to bring the Virgin to make house calls at each of the small towns surrounding the Lake including Ajijic where we live. While not as flamboyant and exciting as the parade and festivities in Chapala, our little village can stand tall in its ability to make the Virgin welcome. Some of the photos below show the simple decorations that are put up for her arrival which is marked by two nights of celebration featuring well attended masses, street food, endless bottle rockets and church bells chiming Ave Maria on the hour.

You may remember that the low water levels discussed in the previous paragraph were what precipitated the outlandish efforts on the part of local government to eradicate the water hyacinth explosion. Flawless segue number three. Regrettably, we fear that the plague is back upon us. Within the last week or so, they have begun erupting on the lake at a furious pace. Michael went online to research the issue more closely and, while on the site, discovered an alternate theory about the demise of the manatees. So here it is. The manatees were delicious and the fishermen were poor. Let's not belabor it. The single sentence is hideous enough. Actually, both theories could be true and coexist.

Killer Croquet Debuts

As you know, I risked jail or deportation to import our croquet set. At the last moment I had to remove the balls from our checked luggage due to overweight. I threw them in my carryon where they presented as small cannon ball like bombs (like in the old cartoons) in Xray scanners. It was a little difficult in the US but afforded much merriment to the TSA guy when he figured out what they were. It was a little more complicated to explain to the Mexican authority who spoke no English and had never heard of croquet. She seemed to believe they were supersized golf balls and I was OK with that. So, we finally got around to having a croquet party on Sunday afternoon. It was an amazing amount of fun. Run out and buy a set, invite 20 or so pals over, stock the cooler with beer and you're good to go.

Both Searles sons are doing fine. Alex is back in Wellesley trying to earn some money. A recurrent ankle injury and 100 degree heat on the AT convinced him that doing the trail in two tries might make more sense. We concur. Justin is still having a good time and working in LA. Take care and have fun.