Toros y Mujeres

Yesterday I witnessed my second bullfight. What fun! And so much more interesting than the first one I saw in March. I've posted more pics on Facebook.

All four of the toreros were women - and they seemed more tenacious and more fearless then any of the men I had seen. These women were tough and their bulls were feisty, and I thought this is the epitome of the Latin woman who is brought up having to deal with Latin men - bows and braids and covered in blood, tossed and trampled, they got right back up and stood down these huge beasts without taking one step back. Bravo mujeres!

Lest you think I've become an addict of blood sport, the next best thing about this event was that none of the bulls were killed (at least not in the ring). While they were taunted by the picadores and blood was shed, at the end of each fight, the girl would face the bull and toss down her cape and sword, turning her back and walking away victorious. Then 6 young men strode in and wrestled the bull (more or less successfully) out of the ring.

The Festival was sponsored by one of the candidates, Lucy Nunez, who is running in the upcoming local election, and was free. The Plaza de Toros was packed with people waving the flags of their favorite candidates and enjoying a great day. We even did the wave. It was a good day to be a girl.

A typical day

Yesterday evening after a typical day (which included not so typically mangling my left index finger with a box cutter, but that's another story), I was walking down my street and saw a typical sight.

This little burro is carrying drinks for the party of people walking behind the band as they travel from one locale to the next. The band plays continuously the length of the route (try doing that with an acoustic base).

Some might think it's a bit strange to see a burro in hat followed by a band dressed in colonial costumes. In fact it would be strange not to hear music or the clatter of hooves in the streets, or the sound of fireworks in the middle of the night.

Just another typical day. How lucky am I?

My first scorpion

After hearing tales from a friend here how he stuck his hand under his pillow one night and was stung by a scorpion, I couldn't believe that I'd ever really run into one. Maybe I was just in denial.

Well, lucky me, tonight I just saw my very first scorpion. Ever. Three inches long in the kitchen sink. I still can't believe that things crawl up out of the drainpipes. I mean, isn't there supposed to be a u-joint with water in it that keeps smells and things like that away??

Sorry there is no picture to go along with this post but the last thing I was going to do was run around looking for my camera and risk discovering that the thing had disappeared, and then stay up all night imagining it was under my pillow. No, instead I grabbed my most treasured possession - my can of Raid under the sink and blasted the thing, before taking a 10 inch knife and cutting it in half.

Normally I'm really buddhist when it comes to living things - I feel so guilty if I have to squish an ant. But scorpions cross the line. eeesh.

postscript: I thought I'd add a link to a web picture in case anyone was interested. How wonderful that the first link I clicked on included not only a picture (quite accurate) but also wonderful news that Mexico is home to the fifth deadliest scorpion in the world which kills 1000-2000 people a year here. Great.

Dia de los Locos

Yesterday I spent the afternoon observing one of the most popular and colorful fiestas in San Miguel - Dia de los Locos - day of the crazies - in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost things. It's really best described as a cross between Mardi Gras (without the puking), Halloween, and maybe the Gay Pride parade (without the nakedness).

Thousands of families line the parade route, while thousands more dressed as birds, cartoon figures, animals, aliens, drag queens... you name it, dance behind truck floats or bands blaring music, and throw handfuls of candy at the crowds. We dodged flying candy from the balconies of our almost-renovated dance studio on Hernandez Macias. It was amazing.

For a visual tour of the parade, see my pix on Facebook.

For a little history, here's a nice excerpt from Gorden Jett's article in MexicoFile...

In the 17th and 18th centuries Catholic priests introduced San Pascual Bailon as the patron saint of field workers and kitchen workers. The newly converted Mexicans celebrated his “day” on May 17 by decorating themselves with tools and other symbols of their labor and dancing to the sounds of pagan flutes and drums.

To keep the paraders and observers separated, some paraders were dressed as scarecrows and their characteristic movements were described as “loco,” i.e., crazy. Somewhere along the way, paraders dressed as clowns replaced the field and kitchen workers, though the music and the dances stayed the same.

San Antonio de Padua’s day was celebrated on June 13th and it had its own dances. But the dances of San Pascual Bailon were so popular that they were also used for San Antonio’s celebration. Gradually the two celebrations melded and are now celebrated as one on the first Sunday following June 13.

Nowadays, neighborhood groups or groups of workers join together to make elaborate special costumes. Some ride on the back of trucks decorated as floats and some march the route. Almost all have bands or recorded music which competes in a glorious cacophony that is so characteristic of Mexico. Early on, the marchers handed out pears to the people along the parade route, but now each group throws candy into the crowd, causing even more noisy mayhem.

A good cause

In San Miguel, there is no lack of opportunity to support a good cause no matter what your passion. Last week, I attended a fundraiser for the local Waldorf school. San Miguel also has a fast growing organic food movement so many (actually I think, most) of the local organic farms and restaurants partnered in the event, raising awareness not only for creative education, but sustainability as well.

One may question whether donating pesos to benefit an alternative private school is more worthy than supporting the many families whose survival depends on their children selling Chiclets in the streets. Personally I think we're obligated to do what we can wherever we can if it involves benefitting the children who are our future.

Recreating or re-creating?

A common question in San Miguel is "do you live here or are you just visiting?" That's usually followed by "so what is it that you do?" I've met quite a few people since I come here and so get hit with these questions all the time. And I still don't have good answers. Which is a little scary.

When I made the decision to leave Cheskin to take a "short" sabbatical, my idea was to shake up my routine and open myself up to new experiences, people and places. In my imagination, I'd reemerge inspired and with a whole new network of opportunities. My travels, work and studies in Morocco and Mexico would build character (I'm a big believer that no matter what age, we can all benefit from a little character building) and a couple nice paragraphs on my resume. The unknown possibilities were intoxicating.

Well, it's been almost a year since I made the decision to change course and 9 months since I got on a plane to Casablanca. Shouldn't I be entrenched in my new career as Global Children's Ambassador for Peace? What have I been doing for the last 9 months??

Fortunately, I just read two articles in the New York Times today that have calmed my anxiety a little. The first, about Making Vacation Last for Months, profiled a few "work-travelers" who spend summers collecting enough cash to see the world on a really limited budget the rest of the year. 

What interested my wasn't the lifestyle of these travel addicts or even the article itself, but the rash of conflicting (and sometimes rather hostile) reader commentary. Clearly we're divided between those who equate status and value with 9-5 jobs and 2 weeks vacation, and those who value the experience and personal creative challenge that extended travel brings. (Guess which side I'm on.)

The second, by Michelle Slatalla, A Play Date With My Imagination, examined creativity as we age - why some of us keep coming up with new ideas while others essentially run out. The important thing is to keep imagining and creating, even if it's not radically different from your current skill set. An interview quote in her piece nailed it for me - 

“Usually the people who keep going are the ones who are open to new experiences. Do something different. Take a risk. Try to believe in the future tense.”

Perhaps I just need to be a little more content with "recreating" - refreshing and renewing my imagination and inspiration, rather than "re-creating" myself totally anew.

I feel better already.