Keeping up Traditions on my 100th post

Guilt has reigned supreme in the past couple of weeks as I have neglected writing in favor of spending time with our good friends Lynn and Barry.   But based on our recommendations, they have taken a 3 day trip inland to two of our favorite places,Patzcuaro and Uruapan.   Gene and I find ourselves home alone and this gives me time to catch up on what the past couple of weeks have been like.  

On this my 100th blog entry since deciding to chronicle life in Mexico from my perspective, I am aware of the impact traditions have had on me.   Perhaps it is our current immersion in Downton Abbey, something that I would have never imagined myself doing here in the tropics, but it is the epitome of tradition as we observe life in the aristocracy of England in the 1920's.  

Gone is my need to be out every night in the town, and I cherish these quiet evening spent in our comfy living room watching a show about a lifestyle so remote from this place we call our winter home.   

So when I think of traditions,  I knew I couldn't pass up my annual visit to the Uruapan Michoacan Domingo de Ramos Artisan's Fair.  This annual pilgrimmage by myself and a group of women friends has become a pre-departure tradition for me.  I no longer go with a list of items needing purchase, but instead I go with the desire to re-connect with that feeling I had when I first saw this massive display of women's arts and a celebration of indigenous cultures in the modern world.   Sadly, this year, my good friend Iris couldn't make the journey - we are all waiting for more news from Iris who went back to her California home with health problems.    I want Iris to be strong and well and be my friend here for many more years of travel together.   So we connect daily hoping for good news.  

This year my travel buddies were Canadian friends Shelagh, a lover of Mexican people and Buffy, who was afforded the chance to travel with me and leave her husband in the care of his adult daughters visiting for Spring Break.   Driving up to Uruapan, through Tierra Caliente with outside temperatures soaring to 42C,  we were thankful our car with it's newly refurbished airconditioner didn't let us down.   We stayed at the lovely small hotel Mi Solar immediately adjacent to the zocalo, ground zero for Michoacan artists' displays for the next 2 weeks.  But by attending the fair on it's starting weekend, we were able to enjoy 3 special features, the Juried craft fair, the demonstration food fair featuring tradtional Purhepecha cooking and the parade.  After the let down of our local Carnavale parade, I was reluctant to inflate expectations of my friends who have never witnessed this event before.  But I shouldn't have feared, this parade has yet to disappoint me.  Each puebla has a distinct clothing and art and every artisan walks the route proudly showing off their clothing and art forms to their full advantage.   It is a photographers greatest opportunity and although without my own camera, I tried my best to capture some of the special images of the day.  

The weekend was magic and renewed my hope of someday having another house to decorate as the large decorative items spoke to me...but I am going home with inspiration for renewal of our backyard water feature with clay fish and shells from a tiny village on the coast of Michoacan.   

And coming home to Zihuatanejo I am now in the final weeks of sewing projects for Sol Sisters, Dawn and my Mexican oilcloth products made by Lety.    We have completed all the bags, make up bags and travel pouches for the year.   She has made me aprons and bags for my daughter Amy's new farm market in Ontario.  5 barbeque covers are packed in my take home luggage for friends in Victoria and all that's left is our latest item;  dragonboat paddle covers.  Yes, Gorgeous Gals dragonboat team is about to receive oilcloth paddle covers thanks to the guidance of our coach Corey Teramura who has provided me with measurements and designs that just might work.  So Lety who has never seen a dragonboat, nor held a paddle is about to embark on production of at least 20 beautiful and I hope durable and practical paddle bags.  In her words, Ojala!!  








And this weekend is Easter (the pinnacle of Semana Santa), the change over to Hora Verano (Mexican Daylight Savings Time) and 3 weeks till our departure date.   We miss our home in Canada, our friends and family but we are determined to see and do everything we want to experience before we head back to our other life.   Another tradition I wouldn't change for anything.  

 

Party town...when the party is over

It's hard not to feel a little let-down today.  Like the day after every big event, Xmas, birthday, wedding etc......the party is over! 

We've just enjoyed another "week in paradise" attending as many events as possible of the annual Zihuatanejo International Guitarfest.  By everyone's account, this was indeed the best ever.   It's the 10th, and it was time to move up into the big world of concerts, overcome past problems of sound, lighting and venue suitability and I would have to say that this week showed how well it can be done.  How does a small Mexican tourist and fishing town, plagued by problems related to the US travel advisory, worldwide economic collapse and drug cartel violence stage an international festival of this calibre?  Well, in my mind, it boils down to a few good women who knew it could be done better.    The women who organized this event are a mix of local Mexican business women who wanted to embrace the slogan from last year's festival...."es tuyo" or " it's yours"....this festival truly is the town's opportunity to highlight Mexican's love affair with music and guitars.  They were on the committee lead by a few young American women who are savvy with e-marketing, music and networking.   The goal of the festival used to be to support a small Casa de la Cultura (Arts workshop) here, but in reality, the biggest benefit to the festival is to tourism...which is the lifeblood of this community.  When tourists come, everyone is happy!   

The musicians are an eclectic mix of classically trained perfectionists, playing intricate pieces on highly specialized instruments to the down and dirty sounds of aging folk guitarists who play a single chord while belting out their soulful melodies.  And for the most part it works, cause just like in everything,...there's no accounting for taste and the range of tourists attending is as diverse as the music.    But the highlight of every festival is the finale where no matter what style the guitarist prefers, they all blend into jam sessions that have the audience cheering for "uno mas"..and those of us who can, dancing like there's no tomorrow..

 But the "tomorrow" has arrived.  Our friends Lynn and Barry, my longtime nurses' training amiga and her husband, are staying in Zihuatanejo for 6 weeks, at our rental apartment and experiencing Barry's first two months of retirement Mexican style.   We want to give them their personal space, but as always, we like being "tourguides".   So lucky for us, they've enjoyed our regular run to Saladita, a second shopping spree to Petatlan and the new archeological site at La Chole.  Lucky for us, but not so lucky for my camera.   3 digital cameras in as many years have bitten the dust here.  This one actually did bite the dust along the road edge as we squeezed our 3 generous bottoms into the back seat of our already tightly fitting car with Cori in between...and somehow the camera missed entering the vehicle, and may well have been driven over on our way to the museum at Soledad de Maciel.   I'm sad, but can only say...it's one more sign along the way that it's time to head home...time to face whatever reality living is going to throw our way this year.  

We've got 5 more weeks to experience our Mexican life in the tropics.  Between now and when we return to Canada, there's Zihuatanejo's version of Carnavale...a visual spectacle that includes an awesome costume parade and the annual Feria de Artesanias in Uruapan  Michoacan.   And last but not least, how can I forget Semana Santa, the two week period that is a combination of Easter and Spring break that draws crowds to Zihuatanejo.   I've been dealt a blow, with the loss of a functioning camera, but Gene has promised to help me to keep my photographic interest alive. So on our nightly walk down Calle Adelita, when he spied the "shaving brush tree" still showing off it's lavishly exotic nighttime flowers that are the magnets for the bats in the area...he made me proud with this little visual extravaganza. 

 
Party on.... till the cows come home..or in this case, till we head home with Cori...the best travelled dog in Mexico!