Headed South: September 2014

A Break in the Action

It's been a while since a blog but that is because there has been no one defining event deemed "immediately blog inducing" in the last several weeks. We have gone OVER a month without a parade, no cajotes have been exploding at 4 AM and even the village dogs are just lying in the middle of the street lethargically. But August has not been without it's charms, so we will sort of paste together bits and pieces and promise that September will yield more dramatic events.

Well, If You Want Drama....

I'd suggest you attend the Gay Miss Ajijic Beauty Pageant as we were fortunate enough to do. We assembled a crew of our gay and straight friends and swung on down to Bugambillas Plaza for the event. Actually, it wasn't in a Plaza but in the lobby/ballroom (hard to tell) of the local movie theatre. It was supposed to start at 8:30 PM, so pals Alex and George and Michael and I gulped our drinks and dinner to be sure we were on time. WHAT were we thinking? When we arrived and met up with the rest of the gang, they were only beginning to decorate the stage and had just spun up the disco ball on the ceiling that gave the room an ambiance of "je ne sais quoi". By 10:30 (well past the straight Gringo bedtime) they were beginning the contest which featured parading across the stage, introducing themselves, and performing a dance number. Thankfully no one tossed batons or anything. First, let me say that all the contestants looked WAY better than I did -- if a little tarty. The dance performances varied greatly in both musical style and ability with our group favorite being the contestant that almost careened off the stage multiple times. At midnight, with the contest still going strong, we crept off to our little old people beds while the band played on.

Most people think that Mexico is a conservative culture wrapped in (or warped by) the strictures of the Catholic Church. But NON! As an example, take the Gay Beauty Contest. Many straight people were there. Our gardener, who was the bartender at furst looked a little baffled that his old, gringo employers were there -- but no big deal. Whole families (including small children) were there. There were no cat calls, no pickets, no nada. Everyone had fun. And Jalisco (our state) is supposed to be one of the most conservative states in Mexico. God knows what goes on in Baja!

The contestants line up to strut their stuff.

The one emcee looks a little like Pee Wee Herman.

More of the contestants lined up with their numbers held by their side.

The talent portion of the contest featured props & ...

lip-syncing as well.

On Related Matters....The End of a (Short) Era

You may remember previous blog entries about El Piano Rojo (The Red Piano). You know, the partners from Puerto Vallarta and Francine the transgendered former ice truck driver, logger and currently very successful artist. We LOVED the Red Piano. Sadly, it just closed this month. For those just catching up, the Red Piano was a cabaret. A cabaret! In our tiny pueblo! Weren't we lucky to have good, live entertainment in a cozy, clubby atmosphere. But luck never tops cash. In spite of trying everything under the sun including Movie Night, Karaoke Night, Gay Acts, Straight Acts, Open Mic Night -- they just couldn't make it work. We went to the last two nights before closing and it was very bittersweet. Kateri (very unsure of spelling) did a belly dance and Francine sang a stirring rendition of Ring of Fire. Really good musicians performed. On the last night they just emptied the bar stock and it was all on the house. In retrospect, even if the business model couldn't be supported by a town this size, we should have just all adopted it as a charity. Lord knows we have charities for everything else here and cabarets are an art form...kind of. Oh well, too late. But I think we've all learned our lesson. If someone starts something here that you like you better be there A LOT if you want it to last.

The stage is set for one of the last performances at El Piano Rojo.

Open mic night featured a ukelele player....

and a band playing music with a Spanish flavor,

which was joined by two gringos. The sax player is a professional musician who plays twelve instruments.

On the final night we were treated to belly dancing and ....

karaoke by Francine among others.

Deirdre comments on the performance to Jorge while our friends Todd and Donna dance in the background.

A Party for Paco

Most of us try to just ignore birthdays at this stage but for our younger friends like Paco birthdays are not yet so tinged by encroaching mortality. So, to celebrate we all headed down to Nueva Posada for a party. As the night progressed more and more people showed up, the Spanglish factor increased, and the room was filled to bursting. But THAT was just the pre-party. The real action (missed by all the old Gringo's -- except Jim--due to bed times) went on until dawn down in Chapala at Jim's house. But even though it was at his house, even JIM ditched around 3AM. I can not exaggerate Mexican's ability to party.

A Rare Summer Visitor

We always have a bunch of visitors from January until March or April but most of our friends and family linger in the States for those fleeting days of summer. We understand. When you only have three or four months of warmth why head south. But our friend Marilyn bucked the trend and came to visit for a week. We rambled and gamboled and ate a bunch and she met our friends and we even did a little real estate foray. Always trying to entice our favorite people to retire here...or at least winter here. Or summer here. Pick your most horrific season and come!

When taking guests to Tlaquepaque, you never know what you will encounter. From the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers) from Vera Cruz, who were performing in the plaza...

to the waiters racing with a tray of glasses filled with water, there is always some new form of entertainment.

A trip with guests to Tlaquepaque is not complete without a trip to the gallery of the sculptor & designer Sergio Bustamante. This is the back garden of the gallery.

The whimsical sculptures of Bustamante are scattered here & there...

and everywhere throughout the garden.

Other stores in Tlaquepaque also display interesting items, such as this swinging pair.

Even the bases of the trees are decorated in Tlaquepaque, ...

and the arches too.

I don't know how large the candle was at the base of the crosses in the beginning, but judging by the amount of wax covering the stone base, it must have been quite large.

Our good friend Marilyn posing in the obligatory picture in the giant chair.

Finally August Redeems Itself!

Breaking News! On the last day of August we finally got a big event in town. The Charreria came to town. We've written about these events before but the photos really tell the tale. Charrerias came into being as contests between workers on different haciendas to determine who had the best riding, roping and associated skills. While the hacienda life has faded, the charros and charras continue -- some are fifth generation from the same Charro families. Well, once again we were overly punctual. It started at 1:00, we arrived at 2:15 and things started grinding along around 3ish. Favorite moments: 1) the tuba band starts up and the littlest charra (about 5 years old) finds herself on a run away horse spooked by the hideous refrain. She is recovered and three people come over and talk seriously to the horse. Really; 2) They put "horn hats" on the bull so he won't gore the rider or the horses during the roping session. He looks silly and seems somewhat bored; 3) The charros have stretchy rain hats they pull over their gigantic sombreros when the skies threaten. Who makes such a thing? How many would ever be needed? All in all a nice time.

As you can see only the gringos arrive early.

Even before the official start there is impromptu entertainment and charro tequila imbibing.

In charro the females always ride sidesaddle.

Note the braiding on the horse's tail.

The Mexican version of the Marlboro man. Look closely.

The most important part of a live Mexican band at a charreria is to play very loudly.

The very young learn Escaramuza, a form of charreria which blends rodeo, horseback ballet and speed.

Leading the runaway horse back to the group.

Imagine riding side saddle with the horse at a full gallop...

and then slamming on the "brakes"...

so that the horse comes to a complete stop as quickly as possible.

These next two photos demonstrate the "balletic" nature as the horses cross in front of each other...

and rotate around one another.

This charro demonstrates how tightly his horse can turn circles.

One of the events involved roping a running horse by the hind legs. It took several attempts, but someone finally managed to rope the horse.

There was one bull rider, but note the horn covers to protect the rider and horses from being gored.

The ride was very short.

A rain hat is covering this sombrero.

What's Next

We're due to hit the road in less than a week. We'll be briefly in New England catching up with Alex (our youngest) more family and friends and then off to Morocco. Should be back in Ajijic in early October with more tales to tell. Fear not. Morocco is shielded from Ebola by a stretch of the Sahara. Or so I tell myself (is Ebola worth a phobia #19? -- no not yet). Michael is trying to convince me we need to take a sailing vacation on the Sea of Cortez (Baja) this winter. We'll see. George, our friend who used to sail there a lot, regaled me with tales of Giant Squid twenty feet long that come out at night and eat people. Some salesman, that George. Anyway, enjoy what's left of summer and we'll be in touch upon our return.