A Fun-Filled Train Wreck of Fiestas

The end of October and beginning of November are pretty wild here.  Religion collides with superstition (some of our pals would argue they are synonymous ), the veil between life and death becomes less opaque, and mucho spirits of the drinkable kind are imbibed.  It is also a photographic feast so get ready for a slew of pics.

The Virgin Gets Some Rest (and so do we)

Our local Virgin spent the month of October going from church to church within the locality visiting the various neighborhoods.  This is a fairly low-key affair by Ajijic standards.  However, every day -- and I do mean EVERY day-- at 5AM several cohetes (large skyrocket firecrackers) are set off to herald her perambulation to her next venue.  A procession would accompany her and mass would be said at the next stop.  Now, we categorize cohetes "attacks" as either Roll Overables or  Life Threatenings. Days 1-30 in October were Roll Overables where you'd just flinch in your sleep, roll over and get on with snoozing.  Day 31 was a Life Threatener.  This is when they detonated about 623 cohetes simultaneously before dawn (remember Gary and Ginny?). We bolted upright in bed, slammed pillows over our heads and waited for the concussive force of the explosions to wander across town and thump us in the stomach-- which it did.  When the roar of the cohetes died down the tuba bands began. Renewed sleep was not an option. You would think that with more than a year of this under our belts we would have become desensitized.  Maybe next year....

Halloween Horror

Why, oh why, do we have to export things like McDonald's and Halloween? I mean the Mexican's have a perfectly magical holiday in Day of the Dead and along we come mucking it all up and confusing small children about what culture they should follow.  However, that said, I must admit that the Mexican Halloween makes me nostalgic for the Halloween of my youth.  You remember.  The one where you made your costume out of weird old clothes and you roamed the neighborhood in packs and no one worried about child molesters and razor blades in apples.  As we very carefully negotiated our way home from The Breakfast Club Thursday night, seas of small children in rag-taggy costumes or no costumes at all were careening across streets and jumping off curbs in a frenzied attempt to score candy.
The irony in this is that Halloween night begins the celebration of the Day of the Dead for the "Angelinos" -- the infants and children who died.  We felt certain that the ranks of Angelitos would swell dramatically that night as the lack of street lights, sugar highs and erratic Mexican driving customs created a perfect storm of Halloween mayhem.

Finally, Why Mexicans Joke about Death Rather than Fear It

Even though I'd been told over and over that Mexicans are OK with death because it's just another phase of life, I just didn't really buy it.  I mean, it's not up to me to decide what they should buy, or not buy, as a belief but I just kind of thought it didn't really make sense.  I mean life is all about  breathing and moving and speaking and heavy emotional content which, let's face it, when you're dead doesn't seem to happen a lot.  So how can it be a phase of life? Well..... I was reading the Guad Reporter the other day and there it was.  The answer.  The Aztecs believed that LIFE wasn't real.  Life is a dream. You only enter reality when you die.  This life thing is just some big, old mirage. Thus, death is your entry to THE BIG EVENT -- LIFE!  The reasoning is a little convoluted but not more so than its inverse, I suppose.   And it certainly does explain the Aztec's proclivity for human sacrifice.  I kept wondering why the populace put up with being marched in large numbers to the tops of temples and having their hearts cut out.  I mean, you'd think there would have been protests.  Now I know.

So fast forward to modern Mexico.  You have this Aztec take on things melded with the conqueror's Catholic concept of heaven-- and death looks pretty danged OK.  Well, for whatever reason, Mexicans have a light hearted approach to the death topic and, while they miss and mourn loved ones, the Day of the Dead is really a celebration.  North Americans have a little difficulty with this as is obvious from my rambling attempts to "get it".   Gringo friends regaled us with the story of attending a Day of the Dead celebration at an elementary school where songs were sung, poems read and little boys dressed in black laid down next to their very own fake coffins.  Not seeing many of those school plays in SWellesley.

So, how did we celebrate?  Met up with some pals and headed to Chapala where we saw the Catrina's. Catrina's originated in the '20s in a cartoon strip of political satire against the foibles of the rich.  They have now become firmly associated with Day of the Dead.  Most of the Catrina's shown were crafted by school children working in teams.  We are always very taken with the way groups work together here on artistic or community projects.  Sometimes it's school based, other times work groups or clubs but the collaborative effort is much more prevalent here than in the U.S.

Then we ambled over to where the altars had been erected on the main street.  Some honored family, others famous people.  All the colored designs on the ground are created out of sawdust and flowers -- most predominantly marigolds and cockscomb but also roses and glads.   Very impressive.

Then back up to Ajijic to take in the action at the Plaza.  Grabbed some dinner, ran into some other friends and waited for the parade to arrive.  Of course, there was a problem resulting in the parade having to be detoured due to a broken down horse cart but everyone took it in stride.  A man dressed as Pedro Loco rode Vino Blanco.  Small children dressed as skeletons balanced precariously on the beds of dump trucks.  Just the usual.  The plaza was packed.  Catrinas danced. People danced.  Tubas played.  Elvis was sung in Spanish.  Lots of street food.  A rollicking good time.

Many of the schools created Catrinas for display on the Ajijic malecon.

All of the Catrinas were made from recycled materials...

and each was more unique in the use of materials.

The malecon in Chapala also had their own Cartrina display.

Our friend Barbara gives an idea of the scale of the Catrinas.

This restaurant even uses a Catrina to display their menu.

These two gentlemen carry on their conversation in the shadow of this Catrina.

Creativity abounds in the variety of Catrinas on display.

The altars recognizing famous individuals are also an important part of Dia de Los Muertos.

The flowers and colored sawdust create intricate designs in front of the altars.

Elaborate face painting is also an intricate part of the clebration.

The altars are very colorful and the candles will be lit when it is dark. Quite flammable really.  Hmmm.

Pan de muertos is also an important tradition at this time.

An example of an altar honoring Selena.

This couple made quite a pair!

This person is depicting a nun being honored at this altar.

Even the Chapala City Hall has a Catrina decorating their balcony!

This altar is honoring Cantinflas, the Mexican Charlie Chaplin, who also appeared with David Niven in "Around the World in Eighty Days".

Checking to make sure the face is perfectly done.

Some of the altars use an astounding number of colorful flowers...

while others also combine an amazing number of objects associated with the dead person.

A tribute to the Aztec origins of this celebration of death.

Back to the Ajijic plaza to be serenaded by a cellist on the left and a person on the keyboard on the right.

This art gallery had an altar on the inside of the gallery...

and on the outside as well.

In the Ajijic parade there was even someone honoring Pedro Loco by riding in the parade on Vino Blanco.

Even the very little ones get involved in the celebration, complete with appropriately painted face.

After the parade it was back to the plaza for the dance of the dead.

The make up and costumes show great creativity...

with couples coordinating their outfits & faces...

and all join in posing for the camera.

Even the local decorations sold at the papaleria have the Dia de Los Muertos theme.

This sculpture adorns the plaza....

as does this recent addition.

The Last Hurrah

Well, in less than two weeks we move into our new digs.  So we felt we had time for just one final croquet party.  Our new, smaller yard is more suited to bocce so we decided we'd better hoot it up one last time on the playing fields of Casa de las Palmas.  About forty folks showed up and, I believe, a good time was had by all.  I think we'll miss this house and we'll always be glad that we spent our first year and a half smack in the middle of the Village.  We will not miss the mirror over the bed, the tiled walls, the popcorn ceiling or the stained glass unicorn and mermaid.  By the way, the latest sale fell through on this old house.  I call it the Curse of the Mermaid.

These photos are courtesy of our good friend Chris, since we were too busy hosting to take pictures.  Yeah, yeah we know.  It's croquet, not crochet.  They sent the photos as a play on words joke and we couldn't remove them.  Joke's on us.

Just a Few More Random Items:

*  Years ago, when we lived in San Antonio my friend Kent and I had a contest for the most bizarre headline in the Rupert Murdoch owned newspaper (his first in the U.S.).  Winners were: 1) Man Mistakes Mother-In-Law for Raccoon -- Kills with Ax;  2) Uncle Tortures Tiny Tot with Hot Fork; and 3) Aliens Fight in Pitched Urine Desert Battle.  Well Kent, this one's for you:  "Mexico Clown Convention Condemns Costumed Drug Cartel Killing".  The article goes on to say that "Delegates to the three day clown convention in Mexico City distanced themselves from the murder of a drug lord by a costumed clown."  They said "no genuine member of the profession would commit such a crime".  I was so relieved.

For those desiring to read this fascinating article and see full color pictures of the clowns, just follow this link: www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/mexico-clown-convention-drug-cartel-killing .

  -- P.S.  Can't resist this one either:  "Mom Lets Son Wear KKK Halloween Costume.  Says it is a Family Tradition."- Craigsville Va.  When asked to expand she says: " My brother wore it when he was in kindergarten and when he was 15."  Must have been a mini skirt KKK by then.

*  I'm always saying how the cost of living is great here.  But quirky.  Michael and I set out to buy those little ceramic things that hold a toilet bowl brush.  A York brand one runs about $10 in the U.S. Here it cost $850 (pesos).  That's about $70 USD.  We somehow managed to pass it by.  On the other hand, two guys spent two full days reinforcing our floor, pouring concrete, cutting and installing tile and the bill was $295.  Go figure.

* Zombies at it again.  We had the annual Zombie Thriller Fund Raiser weekend before last.  It raises money for Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and is always fun.  Just including it because I love zombie pictures. You'll note that Santa was an integral part of the Zombie Festivities.  At least they didn't do him up in Zombie makeup-- although that might have scared the muchachos of the Village into really being good before Christmas.

Two zombies posing for the camera.

This dog with the colorful "do" was cruising through the plaza after the zombies danced.

In addition to the zombies, there was the annual pumpkin carving contest...

with colorful pumpkins and people.

This year a zombie parade was added after the dance & even included an early appearance by Santa Claus.

All the world loves a parade, even the zombies who managed to cram as many zombies as possible into this pick up....

while others rode in golf carts.

The zombies included white collar types...

and even a cheer leader zombie.

* Climate Change?  Rainy season always stops mid to late September.  Not this year.  We've had two hurricanes (I don't know if they qualify) but also on and off night rains throughout October.  On Saturday night (November!) we just made it home before a huge Thunderstorm rolled in.  It's raining now.  And it's November--- something, I forget.

Well, our next missive will probably be penned at the new abode.  If it takes a little while to reach you it's just because we have to get the electronics up and running and find out where everything is.  Have fun. Take care.