Another Full Weekend

There was lots of activity around Mexico this weekend. Thursday was the Day of St. Michael – the patron saint of San Miguel de Allende. An executive decision was taken by the city fathers to move the celebrations to the weekend. Fireworks started at about 3 a.m. on Saturday and continued sporadically through Sunday. There were two parades of similar makeup – one on Saturday that went up Canal Street – half a block from my house – and another on Sunday that went up Zacateras Street. These take about 2 hours to go by. There were lots of native costumes with feathers and painted faces, paper machete statues of religious and political personalities (Mejigangas), and acrobatic kids on stilts who, in a separate act, also swing awesomely from ropes on a tall pole in el Jardin in front of the Paroquia. Native drums and oompah bands compete with each other for attention. Giant floral altars are carried in the parades to be set up in front of the Paroquia as offerings to the patron saint. Elaborate fireworks displays started at 11 p.m. to cap of each evening. Greg was pleased to finally have a good sleep last night without loud bangs every minute or so.

FIFA’s under-seventeen World Cup of Soccer took place in Peru over the past few weeks. Mexico was beaten only by Turkey in the round robin but advanced to the semis where they defeated the Netherlands last Wednesday. In the final against Brazil on Sunday the young Mexican men performed flawlessly in a 3-0 victory. President Fox was on the box congratulating them within minutes. The Angels Square in Mexico City was soon flooded with enthusiastic celebrants and all over Mexico the pride people feel for their young world champions was evident. Mexico will savor this victory for many months. The closing ceremonies featured a line up of Peruvian ladies bearing medals and trophies for the teams and making the point that Peru could turn out as many beautiful blond women as the next Latin American country.

Sunday evening saw the first regular season NFL game ever played outside the USA. The venue was the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City where the Cardinals and the 49ers played to a full house. At something over 100 thousand it was the largest crowd the Cardinals had ever played to. They showed their appreciation by winning by a good margin. Half time featured an extravagant mix of traditional Mexican and NFL (read cheerleader) entertainment. Busloads of gringos from all over Mexico were in attendance but mostly the crowd was Mexican. NFL is big business in Mexico. Three TV stations carry a total of four to five games a week (including Monday Night) in Spanish. There have been a few Mexicans play in the NFL but the popularity really comes from the many Mexicans that have lived and worked in the US. As well, there is an active American Football league of about 12 teams in Mexico that plays at the college level. It is by no means as popular as soccer but growing.

This just in: Sister Joan and husband Darrell are planning a visit in November. Should be fun!

And these paramedic stats from last weekend:

wounded by bulls -------25
sun stroke -------------11
falls -------------------2
brawls ------------------1
illness -----------------3
intoxication ------------2
0ther -------------------3
women wounded ----------15 don't ask I am just reporting

And the police stats:

police on duty ---160
ambulances --------11
People detained for intoxication or brawling ---170

Don't you wish you had been here!!