El Dia de Muertos

It is not difficult to realise the importance of this day as you walk through the centre of Guadalajara.  On every corner there is a representation of Catrina.  The plazas are full of stalls selling special cakes, chocolate skulls, flowers, candles and alters. 

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the first Spaniards tried unsuccessfully to eradicate. Now the ritual has been mixed with christian religious practices and has evolved to the present day celebration.  A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

This is a very special ritual, since it is the day in which the living remember their departed relatives. Sometimes, when people of other cultures hear for the first time about the celebration of the Day of the Dead, they mistakenly think it must be: gruesome, terrifying, scary, ugly and sad. Nothing further from the truth, Day of the Dead is a beautiful ritual in which Mexicans happily and lovingly remember their loved relatives that have died. Every house makes an Ofrendas  (alter) are set up in the houses for their dead relatives. Generally ofrendas are set up on a table covered with a tablecloth and papel picado. They are decorated with sugar skulls, candles, cempasuchil (marigolds) flowers, and paper mache skeletons. Plates with the favorite foods of their dead relatives are also set on the ofrenda. Some have also liquor and cigarettes. On the ofrendas for the deceased children they place toys in addition to the food.

On 1st  November , there is a ceremony in honor of the Angelitos takes place in the cemetery.  The little angels or angelitos are the children that died and that could never experience the happiness and sorrows of adulthood. The celebration begins with a mass. After mass, the women and children go to the graveyard to clean and decorate the tombs. They bring with them flowers, bread and fruits in baskets covered with napkins that they embroidered themselves, as well as the copal, incense, that they will burn so that the aroma will help guide the returning souls. Each family brings with them in honor of their deceased relatives.

The ritual to honor the deceased children ends around nine in the morning.  Then in the evening at   at nightfall, the most impressive celebration will begin, the ritual in which the souls of the deceased adults are honored. Stages are set up for dancing and celebration.

At night, with everything ready, the dances begin. The Danza de los Viejitos, Dance of the Old Men, representative dance of this region. In pre-Hispanic times this dance was performed as a ritual honoring the Sun.
At midnight it is the graveyard is the place in which living and dead will reunite once again.

The bell at the entrance rings all night long, calling the souls to return and enjoy the splendid ceremony. The women and children who silently find the tombs of their relatives, on which they place the lovely embroidered napkins and set candles, the flowers and food that their dead so much enjoyed when alive.The essence of this beautiful ritual is to lovingly and happily remember the dead relatives, their life, and in this way, give meaning and continuity to human existence. It is a festival in which family celebrate the life of those who have left them with food, drink (from what I here quite a bit of this), dancing and singing.

I think that the Mexicans have this right!! It is a celebration of life, of those who have gone.  A very natural way to celebrate the flow of life.

Day 3 En el campo - plus every type of Taco you can think of!!!!

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On the second night of our trip we stayed in a small hotel in Zapotitlan, basic but clean with comfortable bed.  There was no time in the morning for breakfast, as we had to pick up some of the locals and then drive to Alista for the final meeting of the trip.  However, when we picked up my favourite little lady, she had prepared warm tacos, with bean filling and salsa for us to eat on the trip.  Amazing, she must be in her late 60's and she was up making us breakfast!!  We all squashed into the Ute with another 5 locals sitting in the back.

Today's meeting was to try and assist the group of eight business to move on to taking over the program for themselves and to try an resolve a couple of internal rifts.  Quite a difficult day for Paula and Marco.  Everyone arrived from the four villages and each group was laden with different types of taco.  (Potatoes, fish, meat, beans with salsa)  To wash all this down Raymond (the only man in the group) brought along 4 bottles of his home made punch (made from plums).  (Here I am talking about food again!!).

The meeting was a difficult one and it was interesting to watch the different body language as people put up their arguments. Finally, some action points were agreed on and each group had small projects to complete for the next meeting in two weeks time.

It was time to drive back to Guadalajara after a couple of very tiring days for the two consultants from CAMPO.   

Day Two - Copala

It was up early on the second day of this trip.  Marco again negotiated the multitude of dangerous curves and pot holes as we headed to Copala for the first meeting of the day.  When we arrived, there was time to grab a quick bite to eat for breakfast.  Paula and Marco took me to a small shop where they informed me they always went for coffee.  The reason for this was the lady that owned the shop, always knew what was happening in the town.  (A valuable source of the latest gossip).  The shop consisted of one table with three chairs, a couple of shelves with bottles of soft drink and a tiny kitchen. 

In no time we were sipping (nescafe) coffee from large colourful (and very chipped) mugs and eating soft tacos and a mix of beans and pork in a rich chili sauce.  Yum!!!!! (I was certainly giving my stomach a good test this trip).  The cost of our breakfast and the latest village news was 45 pesos  ($4.50 for the three of us).

Breakfast over we headed to the meeting.  This meeting was with a group of seven women who have started a business that purifies local spring water and bottles it for home use.  (Here in Mexico, everyone buys large bottles of water for consumption).  Tap water is only for washing.  In this meeting Marco reviews the business plan that he has helped set up for them.  There are discussions on some of the problems they are having.  One of the areas that stands out is how they communicate with the public.  Marco points out how important this is and the group works on ways to improve this area of their business.

After the meeting we drive back to Zapotitlan and visit my favorite little lady from our last trip.  This time I have the pleasure of watching her make tacos in her outside kitchen. This was especially interesting to me.  Many traditional homes in Mexico have two kitchen spaces one outside and a more modern one inside.  She had a huge stone bowl in which she mixes the flour etc to make the tacos, then another stone that she rolls out the tacos.  Then finally there is a big terracotta plate over coals that the tacos are cooked on. 

Recently I read a book called Kitchenspace: Women, Fiestas, and Everyday Life in Central Mexico (Joe R. and Teresa Lozana Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture,  which examines kitchen space in Mexico.  This book looks at the traditional kitchen space and all the cultural and community aspects related to this space.  A very interesting book that examines social and community traditions related to cooking and the kitchen, for women in Mexico.  I was very excited to be able to experience this first hand. 

Getting back to the food, again we were served up with a huge lunch of chicken, tacos, salsa, huge avocados from the tree in their garden.  Yes it seems that I am spending a lot of time eating on these trips!!

El Campo continued.

Our second meeting for the day was in the Village of Toliman.  This puebla is very impressive, the cobbled streets are neat and tidy, and the buildings freshly painted.  The puebla gives the impression of a community that takes great pride in their town.  This afternoons meeting is with a small group of women who have a small sewing business.  The purpose of the meeting is to help the women turn the business into a profit making organisation. 

We are welcomed into the small factory which is a semi covered area attached to one of the lady's houses.  There are a number of industrial sewing machines and all the fittings that go with a business that produces clothing. 

 Marco sets up the sheets of butchers paper on the wall ready to record the business of the meeting.  (This is the system of "White Board" that is used at all the meetings.)  All the points and instructions are written on Butchers paper.  After the meeting these are folded up and filed, with dates and places for future reference).  An interesting and practical form of record and minute keeping, which on reflection is the same as the electronic white boards that we use in our meeting rooms at home. 

  

The main theme of the meeting was to show the women how to estimate the cost of producing a garment.  A cost that included hours of work, electricity, wear and tear on machinery etc.  It was very interesting, as this was a new concept to them.  It has been very interesting to observe the way the two consultants from CAMPO present their capacity building programs to the women of the area and to watch how the women take on the new information and use it to improve their business.

Then of course after the meeting we were provided with an evening meal.  Another huge bowl of soup with meat and corn.  Yes I think we went close to eating dos vacas that day.  I could not finish my bowl.

My Second Visit to El Campo

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be able to return to the small pueblas (small towns)  south of Guadalajara with the two consultants from Centro de Apoyo para el Movimiento Popular de Occidente (CAMPO)  again.  This time we went for three days.  The four towns that we visited were Toliman, Zapotitlan de Vadillo, Copala and Alista.  

It was another early start.  My instructions were to be at the office by 7.30 on the dot.  So the night before I organised for a taxi to pick me up, packed all my gear into my back pack ready for the next day.  Of course, that night I woke every hour on the hour!!! You know what is like when you have to get somewhere early.  I was up and well organised by the time the taxi arrived, off to the CAMPO office.  Of course I was early.  So I waited in the dark in front of the office, watching the street wake up.  Marco arrived at 7.30 and we paced the pavement as we waited for Paula.  Marco was getting a little restless, as he knew we had a long drive and the first meeting was scheduled for 10.30am.  8.00am and still no Paula.  Marco checked his phone and paced some more.  Then we received the call from Paula, she had slept in.  Soon she came screaming up on her push bike apologising profusely as she jumped of the bike.  

We grabbed all our gear and caught a taxi to where the camionetta (Ute in Australian) was parked.  (They need to put them into secure parking lots).  We were off!!! Marco was on a mission, to get to the meeting in time.  However, the windy roads, potholes and the fact that the tyres on the camionetta were not in very good condition made for an interesting ride.  (Lots of squealing of tyres on the corners).   Paula called the people involved in the first meeting to let them know we were going to be late.  There was no time to stop for breakfast of coffee on the way today.  (Luckily, I brought a couple of muesli bars with me).  I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the beautiful landscape around me as we drove through the mountains.

We finally arrived at Zapotitlan around 11.00am  and there were a large number of people waiting outside ready to join in the session that Paula had arranged for the morning.

The first session was a workshop with members of the community on gender awareness.  The aim of the program is to improve the relationships between men and women in the area.  About 40 men and women from the town and outlining areas took part in the session.  Paula later advised me that over the past couple of years this community had been identified as an important area for changes in relationships between men and women and issues related to gender.  She said that a lot of this was due to the fact that a lot of the men had had to travel to other areas such as the USA to get work to support the family.  This meant that they had to look after themselves, cook, iron and clean etc.  This exposure was giving them a better understanding of the woman's role int he family and when they returned they were more open to assisting with domestic chores.

The first meeting finished, we visited the house of my favorite little lady in the district, and yes she had lunch ready for us again.  A huge bowl of soup with meat and corn, accompanied by soft tacos, avocado, salsa and onion.  (This was the start of a huge day of eating, and Marco later commented, Paula and Diane ate a cow today!!!!).

Virgin of Zapopan

One of the most important religious festivals of the year in Guadalajara is on the 12 October. This is when the Virgin of Zapopan is taken from the main Cathedral in the centre of the city to the Basilica in Zapopan (about 7 kms away).  Local papers report that around 2 million people take part in the procession. The virgin placed in an impressive carriage and a huge procession of native dancers in the most amazing costumes follow her. 

 I was very keen to witness this celebration, so I met with two friends at 5.30am and we caught a taxi into the centre of town.  The city was buzzing.  Thousands of people had slept in the streets overnight, ready for the big day. The cathedral and the plaza outside were packed.  We were lucky enough to be able to get reasonably close so that we could see when the virgin was brought out on the cathedral and put into her carriage for the journey to Zapopan. 

Then we witnessed the amazing parade that went for over an hour.  Feathers, beads, costumes of every colour you could imagine.  The dancers proudly paraded and danced by.  Many of the dancers had metal plates on their feet, so that combined with the music and drums added to the impact of the spectacle. It was still very dark, so with fingers crossed I snapped as many pictures as I could and hoped they turned out.

Once all the dancers had passed by, we joined the throngs of people on the journey to the Basilica in Zapopan.  As awe walked, we were kept entertained by the different groups giving displays of dancing on the way.  The atmosphere was that of a family celebration. Three and four generations of families, strolling along, enjoying all the different foods and drinks from the stalls that lined the streets.  Considering the thousands of people, if was very calm, everyone taking their time and enjoying the day. 

Once we got near the end, the procession became very congested, and progress was extremely slow.  However at around 11.30am in the morning we finally arrived at Zapopan.  Here we passed through about 5 arches decorated with palms and flowers.  There was possible way that we could get in to the plaza in front of the Basilica.  There were so many people.  However, we did manage to get to the edge of the Plaza and in the distance we would see the Virgin being handed over to the priests from the Basilica.   

Domingo en Puerta Vallarte

This afternoon I picked up some photos from my weekend in Puerta Vallarte.  They were photos taken with a waterproof camera.  The pictures reminded me that I hadn't finished my story about my weekend in Puerta Vallarte.

 There was no chance of sleeping off our Saturday night with the Mexican Pirates as we decided to take boat trip to Los Arcos early on Sunday morning.  This trip included snorkelling at Los Arcos then we were taken to a quiet beach for lunch in one of the local restaurants.   As all my family knows, I am not the most capable person when it comes to snorkelling and this time it was made even more difficult because I had to hold my vest on as the waist strap was broken. Trying to hold on to my snorkle and vest, I attempted to take some photos with the disposable camera. Considering I just held the camera under the water, clicked and hoped for the best the pictures weren't too much of a disaster

Before lunch I went with the group on a horse ride up (and up) a very rough muddy track to a waterfall up in the hills.  So much fun.  We had to ride through a couple of small rivers.   When we arrived at the cascades, everyone had a much need cool off in the pools at the bottom of the cascades.

After lunch it was time to take the small local boat back to our boat.  The trip home turned into a fiesta, (drinks were included, and flowed freely). 

Yes, I had to indulge in more Margaritas!!!  The Boat captain was quite a keen dancer and had everyone up doing the Mexican version of Nutbush city limits.  Then we were entertained by various passengers with their versions of tango, samba and there was a couple of very amusing pole dancers.

A great day was had by all,  and considering the cost of the day was only $50 it was great value.  When we finally arrived back into the port we fell into a waiting taxi and headed back to our hotel for a light dinner and an early night.