As a follow-up to the video about our house, here’s a link to a video of our backyard: https://youtu.be/rNBwnvMaAG8
Here’s a photo of the doorway into the backyard:
Our Backyard
Month: October 2019
Our House
I made a video today to give a quick glimpse of our living situation. You can find the video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/9tEBPhjfInY
This is not in the video, it’s just a photo I like of the house at night:
Merry Christmas
Here’s a photo of our tree, cut from the nearby hills. No Christmas tree farms here!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Posadas
This week we’re participating in the Posadas here in town. It’s a little like Christmas caroling, but there’s more to it. Every evening from the 16th through the 23rd of December, people from town gather and march through the streets, singing of Mary and Joseph’s journey and stopping at various houses asking if there’s room for them to stay. There are also displays along the way, typically with kids posing as angels or shepherds waiting for Jesus’ arrival. At each stop along the way the crowd is turned down, until they get to the last house. The last house welcomes everyone in and provides traditional treats for everyone. Each evening the route changes, leading to a different part of the neighborhood.
On Wednesday, our house, along with several neighbors’ were the final stop. There’s been well over 100 people participating each day, so it’s pretty fun.
I’m trying my first video post today. I can’t do it directly on the blog, but you can see it on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/7xnowoMfqWo. If you listen closely you can hear me describing what’s going on. I didn’t want to speak too loudly and disturb the crowd. Same with the lighting – it’s dark, but it gives you the spirit of the event. (Note that at one point in the video I say “Jesus and Mary”, but meant to say Joseph and Mary.)
Traffic
We don’t have many automobiles in our town, but we do still have traffic jams from time to time. Sometimes it’s goats, today it’s cattle…
Note the truck that is stuck behind the cattle. This guy drives through the neighborhood a couple times per day selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Just listen for his loudspeaker announcing his arrival and walk out to the street in front of your house. If you want something he doesn’t have, just ask and he can probably bring it in the afternoon or the next day.
Road Signs
What street is this? Can I turn here? If the signs below look difficult to read, keep in mind I took these photos while out on a walk. Imagine trying to read the signs while both driving and attempting to find your way at the same time. At least these streets had signs, which is often not the case.
Two-way street <—>
There seems to be a lack of standardization among roadsigns, and definitely a lack of maintenance.
By the way, we have Google Maps on our Mexican cell phone, but there are several problems with it. For one, if it tells you to turn on a certain road, it’s unlikely that you will see a corresponding road sign confirming that you found the correct road. Second, if there is a road sign, it is often as pictured in the photos above. Third, I would say about 75% of the time, the app identifies roads differently than posted signs do. An example for those familiar with Pleasanton would be if the app said to exit at Santa Rita but the only sign indicated Tassajara. Locals know that this is the same road (on different sides of the freeway), but if you aren’t already familiar with the area, how would you know? Fourth, and I don’t recall if it does the same thing in the US, it often says something like “Follow the route toward Main Street.” Since I’m in an unfamiliar area, how would I know where Main Street is? Finally, the Google maps app frequently “goes crazy”. You’re heading along fine, and out of the blue it will tell you to exit, make a bunch of turns, make a U-turn, etc., until it eventually brings you back to where you just were. I’ve learned that you have to strategically ignore (i.e., make an educated guess) certain instructions from the navigation. Find the route that looks correct, and then if any of the subsequent instructions seem to deviate, ignore them. If you’re lucky, this will keep you on the correct route; otherwise, at least you still have the navigation and eventually it will take you back to a workable route. When we were in Mexico City, we took a trip one day that was just nine miles away but took us 90 minutes to get there. It was partly due to bumper to bumper traffic all the way, but the navigation played a role as well. Thankfully, people are friendly and are always happy to help get you back on the right path.
Pyramids
A few miles north of Mexico City in Teotihuacan, an ancient civilization built several pyramids and other structures. This culture thrived between 100 BC – 550 AD. In it’s prime, this area supported an estimated 150,000 people. The largest pyramid is known as the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world.
Below is a view down what is called the Avenue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon. This was seemingly a massive settlement at one time. The Pyramid of the Sun is on the left:
Interestingly, much of the area, especially underground, remains un-excavated, i.e., unexplored, with the likelihood of more artifacts to be discovered in the future.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Among Catholics, there is a tradition that over the years there have been a number of apparitions of Jesus and Mary throughout the world. In Mexico, Mary is said to have appeared to an Indian peasant in the year 1531. When he reported the appearance to church authorities, they asked him for proof. He presented them with his cloak, upon which was imprinted an image of Mary. Many Mexicans still venerate this image (known as Our Lady of Guadalupe) and you will find it everywhere.
The original cloak is on display at a large (holds 10,000) church (basilica) in Mexico City and it is a popular destination for visitors. The most popular day to visit is December 12, the “feast day” for this Saint. Since we happened to be in Mexico City on that day, we made a trip to the church. Below was as close as we got to the cloak, due to the crowds. The cloak is in the frame below the cross between the green and red banners.
On the drive we encountered dozens of buses, bicyclists, caravans, torchbearers, etc., making pilgrimages to the church from miles around. It was hard to get a good photo, but here’s a group of cyclists on the highway following a truck carrying a small shrine.
As we approached, the crowds were significant. We saw many people carrying statues or paintings of the Lady of Guadalupe. Some come crawling on their hands and knees. People believe they will be blessed for making the journey, such as receiving healing from an illness, forgiveness, or the ability to give up alcohol or other vices.
Masses run all day, while outside, dozens of groups perform Aztec and other types of dances.
It was an impressive display of faith.
Hanging Gardens
We found a couple of buildings in Mexico City covered with hanging gardens. The perspective in this photo makes it look to me like rows of crops growing in a field…
But it’s actually hundreds of small succulents growing on the sides of a building. Here’s a wider view:
Mexico City
We decided to get out of our small town for a while, so we drove to Mexico City and spent ten days there. It’s a thoroughly modern, cosmopolitan city which also happens to have a lot of history visible at every turn.
We stayed on the 32nd floor of a high rise just a couple years old (it’s the red one):
Here’s a view of the sunrise from inside our apartment:
We were within walking distance of every amenity – multiple grocery stores, shopping malls, Starbucks, the Soumaya Museum of Art:
The Soumaya Museum of Art was funded by Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world. It contains art from around the world representing many genre’s and eras. We went back a second day because we didn’t get to see everything on our first visit.
We visited the National Anthropology Museum, the pyramids of the sun and moon at Teotihuacan, the basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and more. Sometimes we drove, sometimes we walked, and we rode the metro. Walking to the metro was a lot like walking on the Iron Horse trail to BART. Here’s a photo of the path:
Overall we had a great time, but as they say, “it’s a nice place to visit”. Even though it had everything you could possibly want, just as in any other large, cosmopolitan city around the world, it was a bit large and crowded and busy for me. That’s not to say we won’t visit again, but as for living, I’m enjoying our small town life for now.
Amazing and Unique Craft Fair
As you drive through Mexico you will pass through many small towns where they specialize in a particular type of artisanship – woodworking, pottery, weaving, stone carvings, etc.
We read an article online about a town* known for making glass Christmas ornaments, painted by hand. It would normally be out of the way for us, but when we planned a trip to Mexico City it was right along our route. And the timing was good, since we were traveling in December. *Try to pronounce the name of the town: Tlalpujahua (Tlal-pu-ha-wa).
We were very impressed with the workmanship of the ornaments. And apparently many others are, too. The traffic getting into town was crazy. You don’t generally find traffic like this in the small towns. And then when we got into the main auditorium where the ornaments were being displayed and sold, it was difficult to walk through due to the large crowds.
This photo doesn’t give a complete sense of the crowds, but it is what the inside of the auditorium looked like.
Outside, additional small vendors were selling ornaments, as well as other crafts and foods:
No two ornaments are exactly alike, since they are hand painted. And if they don’t have exactly what you want, they’ll make what you want. Here are some samples:
Before continuing our journey to Mexico City we ate lunch at one of the stands in town. Tacos for both of us plus one soda to share cost about $3.80 US, including tip.