Sandy's Amazing Mexico
Well, here we are still in SMA living the good life!
Friday we were supposed to wait for the mirror man to deliver our custom bathroom mirror and light fixtures. So we kept hanging around waiting, still no mirror man. Finally they called and said to come (we thought they were delivering) in about an hour. We got there, no mirror. But the father did show up in about 10 minutes. During that time we went next door to get an ice cream. The had at least 30 different types of frozen fruit bars. Real fruit! I got a mango for 10 pesos and Sugar got chocolate chip for 15 pesos. All total American $1.66. Fabulous!
So the Dad showed up in the back of a pickup. The mirror was too long to fit into our car of course. Also it didn't have as much color as we expected. So Juan, the son, said ,"no problem". We will add the color you want and will deliver it Monday late afternoon. The light fixtures from Home Depot they decorated with silver foil, added foil roses and painted them, turquoise and rose, to match the mirror which is also silver foil. One of those artistic things they do here in Mexico..We are excited to see the whole thing put together.
Leaving the mirror man we decided to syfog for a while. (Syfogin' is an old Indian term learned from my Daddy. It means just to mosey around.) We stopped by a man carving stone. Pillars and wall decorations. He was so nice, didn't speak any English and or course our Spanish is way limited. But we had a good visit and he showed us how he carved the stone with a hammer and a chisel. Beautiful work.
We went on out of town towards Deloris Hidalgo where they make all of the colorful talavera pots, sinks, toilets, etc. that you could ever want. We stopped along the way to a joint that has all sorts of stone carvings, wood carvings, old wood wagons etc. We had been talking about getting a typical Mexican fountain, and low and behold, there it was! Nine pieces not counting the stone pieces to make the bottom pool. It is made of cantera stone, all hand carved. He will deliver it this Saturday, then we get to put it together with Heraldo!
We were bad on Sunday and skipped church to go to the Loco Parade. We thought, you know, how often do you get to see that many locos all in one place? We had no idea how many!! It is always held the Sunday closest to June 13th. Each little neighborhood/family gets together, chooses a theme, then fashions costumes to go along with it.
Back in the 50's when this all started the masks were all made of cardboard, but you know how things get out of hand. There is now a "float" to precede each group. This float is generally a truck with many HUGH speakers blasting out music. The parade people throw candy of all sorts, and there are lots of men dressed as women, makes you wonder:) Many people have umbrellas because of the hot sun, but when the candy really starts to fly they hold them upside down to catch the treats! Smart.
We were watching from a roof top terrace in the center of it all. A friend sitting next to me said this is the first parade where she probably needed safety glasses because of the incoming rounds of candy! The parade lasted about 3 hours, steady going and LOUD. At times the streets were so crowded there was no space between the watchers and paraders. Packed. It was a hoot and I'm so glad we got to experience it.
The orchard workers did not have enough space for dancing, so they started wearing masks for scaring away the onlookers. They also began carrying raccoons, pelicans, skunks, armadillos and other animals so the audience started calling them locos. In the past it was typical that a coral was built where the so-called locos were just men dressed as grotesque women and they would dance. Then someone got the great idea to release a bull to make everything a little more funny and interesting That's how it all started. But there is no bull in the parade today. A tradition full blown. Sort of like Aggies!
Back in the 50's when this all started the masks were all made of cardboard, but you know how things get out of hand. There is now a "float" to precede each group. This float is generally a truck with many HUGH speakers blasting out music. The parade people throw candy of all sorts, and there are lots of men dressed as women, makes you wonder:) Many people have umbrellas because of the hot sun, but when the candy really starts to fly they hold them upside down to catch the treats! Smart.
We were watching from a roof top terrace in the center of it all. A friend sitting next to me said this is the first parade where she probably needed safety glasses because of the incoming rounds of candy! The parade lasted about 3 hours, steady going and LOUD. At times the streets were so crowded there was no space between the watchers and paraders. Packed. It was a hoot and I'm so glad we got to experience it.The orchard workers did not have enough space for dancing, so they started wearing masks for scaring away the onlookers. They also began carrying raccoons, pelicans, skunks, armadillos and other animals so the audience started calling them locos. In the past it was typical that a coral was built where the so-called locos were just men dressed as grotesque women and they would dance. Then someone got the great idea to release a bull to make everything a little more funny and interesting That's how it all started. But there is no bull in the parade today. A tradition full blown. Sort of like Aggies!
The parade had the most amazing creatures walking, dancing, jumping and running through the streets. These are the locos, people who pay favors to St. Anthony and St. Paschal to give thanks for the harvest, food and goods received during the year. It has grown from around 200 folks 60 years ago and todays parade has 15,000 marchers!
Long ago SMA was surrounded with orchards so after the harvest the land owners opened their homes for the workers and families to eat all that wanted. There were also some religious celebrations held in churches with the congregation dressed as harvest workers and they would dance to honor St. Paschal Baylon.
So now it is Monday evening and the mirror folks show up as expected, but we weren't home. Forgot about the mirror man!. But luckily Heraldo was here, told them to wait a minute and he came and found us at the Italian Coffee Co. down the street. Mirror is beautiful, they take it upstairs and look around, it is too big. Oh my gosh! They had taken the measurements we had given them and then they added the frame! The frame is 5 inches wide. The dad is a good guy, no screaming or anything, and they take it away to be refashioned. So, still no bathroom mirror. Supposed to be here Wednesday evening.
It is now Wednesday morning, been busy sitting up a bank account all week long! It has taken 4 trips to the bank, filling out many forms, getting them a picture of our house, passports, visas. copy of a utility bill and the deed of our house. Finally getting checks and debt cards today. We are really styling now!
Today Heisman and Denny Crain are going to the groomer. the groomer also shows dogs and we are talking to him about taking Packer to hopefully get her Mexican Championship.
Still have no internet and home phone. Learning to adjust.
Went to Pollo Felize to get a charcoaled chicken for chicken pot pie tonight . Sugar is cooking. Having to make our own crust because the store doesn't carry Pillsbury. Rats! Pollo Felize means Happy Chicken! There are 5 locations around town, the largest is very close to our casa. On Wedyou get a half chicken extra at no charge. I went to the one up the hill because it is 45 pesos cheaper! Learning to save money!
So many more tales to tell, but another day.
Love to all,
Sandy
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