Getting the tail from a safe distance. 

Dangerous liaisons 

dreaming of a hot shower 

Owner of one of the new hotels in Pozos. 

Nicely fixed up colonial building is now a small hotel in Pozos. 

Not much going on in the town of Pozos. 

Ruins of Pozos in the background. This taken from balcony of a room in one of the new hotels. 

In fornt of the church on the main square in Pozos 

The rain has made the contryside around SMA very green. This on the road to Pozos. 

True love? 

Of Mariachis and Things

Just because I have not mentioned it does not mean that July and August are without their fiestas. The list of religious festivals seems to have no end in this country. Greg and I are almost immune to the 5 a.m. firecracker wakeups and frantic clanging of church bells next door – we simply roll over and go back to sleep for a couple of hours. Also, in this town there have been a number of other weekend celebrations of police and fire departments as well as events honoring several of the local and Mexican founding fathers including father Hidalgo (credited with Allende for initiating the independence movement) and Josefa Canal who (with part of her father’s fortune) built a huge convent in town that is now the Belles Artes.

In September however the fiestas begin in earnest although one of the largest has little to do with this town. Guadalajara is host to the international mariachi,horse and horsemanship festival that will take place over the course of the next several weeks into mid-Ocotber. San Miguel is of course host to the annual “running of the bulls” fiesta, (wherein hundreds of drunk youths from Mexico City descend on the town to try to get gored by a loose bull – apparently it makes them more attractive to the ladies), and many Sanmiguelences are frantically looking for an excuse to get out of town. I will not leave town but am seriously considering hiding the Chev somewhere.

El Jardin renovations are nearing completion and rumor has it there will be an official re-opening tomorrow. The mariachis will be back in business but it is doubtful many of these will make it to the big event in Guadalajara. The locals joke that SMA mariachis spend as much time looking at their watches, (to be sure not to play over the time they are paid for), as they do strumming their instruments.

Mariachis, incidentally have nothing to do with marriages although they are certainly employed to provide entertainment for those as well as every other type of party. They are an important part of the Mexican tradition and evolved over many years from pre-Hispanic beginnings. Originally they were string bands and the big base and small laud-type guitars used in the bands today originated from these early beginnings – horns were added later. The Spaniards tried to incorporate the music as an aid in their evangelizing but it clearly had momentum of its own and native workers used it to describe lost and found love along with any number of other tribulations of the day. The curate of Rosamorada, Nayarit apparently reported this to his Bishop in 1852:

"Upon finishing the divine offices of my Parish on Holy Saturday I find in the plaza and in front of this very church, two fandangos, a gambling table, and men on foot and on horseback yelling like furies as a consequence of the liquor they drink, and all this makes for a most lamentable disorder, ……who knows how many crimes and excesses are committed in these diversions which are generally referred to in these parts as 'mariachis'."

The original dress for the bands was simple cotton work clothes. It wasn’t until the 20th century that they began to doll themselves up in big sombreros and flashy tight pants and vests studded with embroidery and pearl. Today in Mexico, many of the bands include highly accomplished musicians and the best will be playing with the Jalisco Philharmonic during the coming fiesta.

I had been secretly admiring a small tree growing up against a very modest house on the route Greg and I take for our walk each morning. I swear the tree has been covered with blue flowers since we arrived here almost a year ago. The other morning I noticed a woman in front of the house sweeping her walk, (an activity incidentally that is very common here, indeed required by law of all businesses). I stopped to enquire the name of the tree. She thought a minute and then remembered it is called a “principe azul” which I find to my delight means “Prince Charming”. I thought she asked if I wanted a clipping and of course I said yes. Instead she brought me a young plant already potted, about 2 feet tall!. I offered to pay but she would have none of it. I have found a spot in my garden with a similar exposure and hope my Prince Charming will survive as well as hers.

I am having visions of taking a regular shower soon with real hot water. Got the tile all grouted and will put the walls up today hopefully. I can then try it out and take my time with the sink and the rest of the installations.

Had to take another trip to Delores Hidalgo to get some fresh tile supplies. Tried their famous “Carnitas Vicente” – reputedly the best carnitas – perhaps in all of Mexico. So successful is this business that there are at least five of them in Delores Hidalgo – this is slow cooked pork with all of its delightful grease and flavour you can imagine. I had not tried “carnitas” since Sami and I were sick in February from (I am sure) the “carnitas” I got next door – a business I am glad to say has been closed since February so I am thinking maybe we were not the only ones that got sick that day. Vicente’s “carnitas” proved to be up to their billing - wish he had a branch in SMA.

Took a little day trip to Mineral de Pozos, or Pozos as it is called here - about 40 km. NW. This used to be a silver mining town of over 80 thousand until the ore ran out some 100 or so years ago. Everyone moved away leaving it a ghost town. The ruins of what were once rather grand buildings are testimony to its former glory. In the last ten years however a few Gringos have moved in and begun to fix up some of these old places. The town now sports three small hotels (a total of 15-20 rooms in all and all done up very nicely in colonial style and costing around US$130 a night including breakfast), a couple of restaurants and an artisans market. There are reportedly 40 Gringos and 400 Mexicans living in the town. If you really want to get away from it all this would be a good place to do it. If you are looking for things to do however I would not recommend it.

The countryside is very green at this time of year since it has had a little rain and I will post a couple of pics to prove it. The rainy season however is not at all what I expected. I was thinking rain every day around 4 in the afternoon. In fact it can go for several days without a drop and then like last night begin raining at 6 and not stop until dawn. Often there will be a little shower with some lightning arond 4 p.m. but it is not guaranteed.