1000% Guapo
Taken in Guadalajara’s Lucha Libra Arena, El Coliseo, in early 2006 just before they told me to stop taking photos…
Lightning in Michoacan
30 Second exposure… two strikes
I love Guanatos in the spring time
Trees are blossoming, grass is turning brown, and at risk of looking even more like a foreigner I’ve taken to wearing shorts
So I thought why not head out into the 35 degree afternoon heat, or whatever it was, and publish some evidence of the flora jalisquilla. Here comes the colour:
There were a few more carros cameleones too:
PS. I spared you the sight of my bare legs…
Tlaquepaque… Ajijic… Tonala… Tequila… Guadalajara
The John and Jennifer Mexican Tour 2007 continues in fine style taking in local sights, learning exotic vocabulary (“pinche”, “tahona”, “abarrotes”) and honing the use of the pinche subjunctive… I wish pinche telmex would hurry up and double our bandwidth as promised a month ago so I can upload the dozens of pictures without slowing down the interweb to a crawl though…
So in summary (cos it’s getting late, I’m knackered and tomorrow morning there’s a potential breakfast meet up with Ian and family, and the following dates / days might not be quite right…), Sunday was Tlaquepaque for better than average crafts with prices to match followed by a meatfest BBQ on the “lawn”. Monday was rejigging flights and a quick look at Chapultepec’s cows.
Tuesday was Ajijic for crafts and lakeside wandering and breakfast, followed by furniture hunting in Tonalá (a failure, forgot there’s no market on Tuesdays there…) but fun all the same. Evening meal in MaComeNo, highly recommended italian place in Avenida Americas.
And today: mum, dad and me went to Tequila and were v. happy to discover that El Columpio was open for visitors, that’s the olde worlde distillery where they make tequila using centuries-old techniques (so old that they don’t / can’t be bothered to qualify for their product to be labelled Tequila…). A v. friendly bunch there and Cofradia also gave a fine tour through their new museum and cellars. We added another 4 litres to our well stocked bar today…
And while these photos were uploading I read a fine article written by one of my heroes, Simon Pegg, about US/UK humour found via the always interesting Separated by a common language maintained by an American linguist living in England:
Photos will accumulate in my Flickr set here…
San Juan Cosala – Temazcal
So as I mentioned in me last post, Ana took us to the Temazcal yesterday, not along the road to Chapala as first thought, but between Jocotepec and San Juan Cosala on the “Chapala Riviera”. It was quite a sight. I made the right choice in not going to the saunas there, as, just as I suspected, there were touchy-feely new-agey rituals involved. But everyone looked cleansed as they emerged from the experience. Cleansed and hungry…
It’s got gorgeous views of the (surprisingly full) lake and all manner of aztec follies scattered around the immaculate grounds. Worth a look definitely and there’s a 100 pesos per person special on Wednesdays apparently if you’re up for pushing your body’s temperature controls to their limits and hugging sweaty strangers. Anyroad, all photos from that particular outing hence.
(UPDATE) and here’s Mamá de Rocco’s version of events and Monte Coxala (for that is the place’s name)’s official website (warning, plays sound on opening.)
This morning I read 2 pages of A4’s worth of description of the Camino Real project for the voiceover on the demo. I really hope they get the funding it’s going to be an amazing project, I get credit somewhere as Zummerzet Voice-Over Bloke and author and translator of the historical essay. Go, as they say, me.
Symbolism in Dia de Los Muertos Altars
I found the aforementioned photocopy of the Day of the Dead altars. Below is a translation, I find this kind of stuff fascinating. The best we can come up with in England at this time of year is that the Guy represents Guy Fawkes. And chucking him on the bonfire, his torture and death…
“We thank you for your visit and invite you to say the rosary with us…”
Interesting, no?
Click here for more Día de los Muertos info and pictures!
** Update 2015! **
There’s an awesome day of the dead / día de muertos infographic (en español) over at:
http://deliciasprehispanicas.com/es_ES/2015/10/03/el-altar-de-muertos-y-su-significado/
Dia de los Muertos 2006
On Wednesday I had a fine old day wandering around the city’s graveyards and markets enjoying the colourful celebration that is the Day of the Dead. If anything I was doing the tour a bit early as things really kick off in the evening and the following day. On the plus side I got to take lots of photos without being too much in the way.
First off I went to the Panteon de Mezquitan which is a huge, fairly posh graveyard. The usual silence of the place was interrupted by the officials reminding everyone through a huge speaker system to pay for another year’s “storage” for their deceased and to be watch out for “criptas fragiles”. Another reason to visit during the day is you’re less likely to fall into fragile crypts and open graves, which would put a damper on anyone’s evening… Everyone had bought their flowers in the market opposite. They’re called Cempazuchil (there are many alternate spellings, zempoalxochitl, zempazúchil or “Twenty-Flower”) which are African Marigolds and are the official Day of the Dead flower, representing the Sun, the source of all life put on the graves to attract the dead to the offerings. And if you’re planning on buying them, you’re best off avoiding these 2 or three days of hyperinflation.
In the same market you can also stock up on your “Pan de Muertos” Bread of the Dead, a slightly sweet, brioche-like affair with skull and bone shapes moulded onto it.
After there I went to the centre, to the Panteon de Belen where they have an Altar competition and it’s one of the oldest graveyards in Gwod. 25 pesos to enter with a photography permit…
There were about 20 different altares here honouring such luminaries as Pedro Infante, el Santo, Pope John Paul II, Che Guevara, Elvis and Maria Felix. Each one has all kinds of symbolism going on. They gave me a photocopy of the meaning of everything but somehow I lost it and all I remember is that the crosses made of salt are for purification. There are treats such as tequila, bread, chicharron, and their favourite brand of fags left too. A friend of mine said that she’d left a bottle of coke, bread and Marlboro lights on her uncle’s tomb. The next day the bread turned to powder, the cigarettes wouldn’t light and the coke had gone flat. Proof positive that the deceased visit their tombs and chow down on the various things left there for them.
I could write a lot more about these customs but you know how it is, work to do, etc… I think it’s a great tradition all round, and something that needs to be kept up to combat the all encroaching gringofied version of hallowe’en. T’was a lovely day all round.
Click for: Dia de los Muertos photos, Dia de los Muertos Slideshow
More about the tradition and meanings of the Dia de los Muertos Altares here
Birria and Salamanders (?)
Another quick post just to show you one of the visitors to our house on Saturday night. All manner of beasties seem to want to take refuge in our house but I’d never seen one of these outside of a zoo. It might be a gecko, but they’re green aren’t they? This one (and his friend, not pictured, but pretty much identical) seems translucent and in my (unscientific, poorly-researched) book that makes him a salamander. Or are salamanders the ones that breathe fire? Any zoologists reading?
Yesterday i went to Santa Tere’s Sunday market to pick up things like an antena for the telly and ‘rent’ some new DVDs. Jose tagged along and recommended going for birria. Birria is a spicy soup/broth with goat meat floating in it. For a long time, I’ve been well suspicious of it but my worries turned out to be baseless. It’s really tasty. If you’d like to try it and can’t quite bring yourself to eat in the main San Juan de Dios market, you could do a lot worse than check out Birrieria San Luis Soyatlan in Santa Tere (Andres Teran/ Hospital) purveyers of goat-based dishes since 1970.
Over the last few days I’ve found time for a bit of movie watching too:
Zathura: Jumanji in space minus Robin Williams. 3 Lulus…
Irreversible: French film about an evening of violent revenge told backwards. 4 Lulus for its panache. But won’t be seeing it again…
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Such a good film, deserved a repeat viewing. 4.5 Lulus
Fernando came round yesterday too, Pocilga Beat has a MySpace page if you’re into that kind of thing… They’ve already got an impressive list of ‘adds’
Weme
To make up for some sparse blogging in the last few days, have a pictures and text extravaganza:
If you wish to do this Letter Meme, comment, and I’ll give you a letter. Then, post 10 words starting with that letter which are important to you in your journal.
gwyn:
Go on then Flash, assign me a letter. I’ve been sorely lacking on the blog-inspiration front of late and maybe I just need a meme to get back on track… Unless I get an X. Regardstechiebabe:
I award you a “W” – prompted by your middle name. Enjoy!
I thank you, Flash. And thus it begins…
The bit of England I’m from. Green, verdant, rainy, green, rainy, verdant Somerset. Home to cider, The Wurzels, the Quantock Hills, and almost completely free of football teams, what more could you ask for? And the accent has got to be one of the best on the planet. Along with south Wales, natch.
Wales– When you’ve got a name like mine people assume you’re Welsh. Gwyn means white/fair in Welsh and I’ve recently taken to translating it as Guero in Spanish. Gwyn’s a bugger to pronounce if you’re a native Spanish speaker though. Oo-eeen is the usual, but last night I met a tapatia round Victor and Jana’s who could pronounce it perfectly and who spoke French like a native too. Anyroad, back to Wales, of course me Mum’s Welsh with O Levels in it and everything, and I went to University there for the best part of 4 years. Wales has a lot going for it in terms of natural beauty. WWII and decline in heavy industry scarred a fair section of it, and you wouldn’t find me out in Neath after dark, but overall if you haven’t visited Cymru, hie thee hither. Bring waterproofs.
Wine. Not just the grapey stuff ((Red) Zinfandel with its peppery overtones, please, Sommelier). Vino in Mexican Spanish refers to tequila too, and what with my wife’s academic endeavours the agave-based beverage plays a fairly large role in the house. Todo con medida, nada con exceso. come fruta y verduras, your home may be at risk if you do not keep up the payements…
Web Design. I design web pages. Just like this one you’re reading here. Tell your friends. Here’s my latest creation, which I’m pretty proud of but haven’t run past the clients yet.
Well lit photography
For reasons I still can’t fathom, my camera (I?) sucks at taking photos in low light conditions. First off, it can’t autofocus then it tries to shorten the shutter speed so unless you’re careful with the tripod you get blurry messes. If you set it up manually it forgets the settings every 2 minutes and you have to start again. Hence my predelictation for outdoor photos on sunny days. Happily I’m in the right country for that kind of thing.
Wrestling (Mexican Lucha Libre)
Like some crazed surreal violent pantomime. I defy you to go and not love it. Absolutely nothing like it’s soulless, brash, commercial American counterpart. I’m heading there again on Tuesday if last night’s organizing with Victor, Berta and Javier holds up in the cold, harsh, sober light of day.
Whistling. Have you noticed that when you whistle to yourself, someone else will start whistling shortly after once you finish? For some reason I can also remember the first time I managed to whistle a tune, I was 6 or 7 and walking to Kingston School and it was the theme to the Mr. Men. I’m not forcing you to read this, you know…
Waldo’s mart– Mexico’s answer to Poundland/99cents store, with everything costing a nice round 13 pesos. For some reason this is the only place in Guadalajara that sells decent chocolate and it’s where we got our fine set of Scooby Doo coffee mugs. How much you ask? Why, 13 pesos each.
Words– Love’em. I’m not a huge conversationalist, but I’m fascinated by language. There’s a post about my favourite words if you fancy it. An interesting thing about Spanish is there are very few words beginning with W. The sound exists but you use ‘gu’ to write it. Most W words in Spanish are imports from other languages. Hence the W section of the dictionary being half a page on ‘El Walkie-talkie, ‘Whisky, ‘el Windsurfista and a couple of others.
Mexico. Cos if you invert the W it’s an M, and in case you never noticed I adore this country, the good and the bad. And that’s not something I say about many places. While I’m at it, don’t forget, no buying American products tomorrow (May day) which should annoy Bush and show how important mexicanos are for the gringo economy. Another thing that’s going to piss him off no end will be the imminent legalisation of small quantities of drugs for personal use in Mexico, showing common sense prevailing in Mexican politics. Nice one, Vicente.
I asked Sita for her favourite 10 Ws and off the top of her head she said: Whodunnit, witch hazel, whatever, wannabe, wetback, wine, whining, whether, window, weeping willow. And then the word ‘was’ she says, because you can’t live without it. Bless her, that’s more interesting and intriguing than all mine combined. She should get a blog…
To Tequila and beyond
Friday was a latish night, Jose, Sarah and Fernando were round to see what it was like living in a house with 4 bathrooms and no water. I’d spent the best part of the evening trying various raindances and even having a go at getting the hose pipe to reach the water tank on the roof and then the kitchen sink. With zero success. Anyroad, apart from the drought t’was a nice evening that ended a little late (02h30) given that we had to get ourselves to the meeting point near Plaza Galerias for 09h00. We were second to arrive there after Sarah and could easily have had another hour in bed as we waited for everyone to arrive. sometimes I forget we’re in Mexico. We got the directions and organised the purchase of essential supplies (beer, tequila, quesadilla/taco ingredients) and headed on down the road to Tequila.
On the way, as I mentioned earlier, I was well chuffed to see my designs on billboards and the like, although they seemed to be outnumbered by other candidates with slogans like ‘Together we can do it’, ‘Trust in my decision’ and ‘Zero kidnapping’. Reminds me of the recurrent Monkey Dust sketch with Tony Blair intoning ‘A bicycle for every baby. multiple cures for cancer. an end to all suffering… etc’ over it. Anyroad, we couldn’t find Dr. Jaime’s farm so we parked and called for help/directions. 45 minutes of poring over Sarah’s celebrity gossip magazines later, the reinforcements arrived and we convoyed (our recently washed car) down a dirt track to the El Columpio tequila factory that’s jumped straight out of the 18th century. A bloke was outside cutting wood with an axe to fuel the ovens and inside they were unloaded the roasted piñas into the tahona. Hang on, here’s a quick Tequila Production 101:
Agave plants take a good few years to grow. Some tell you 7, some 10 it all depends on who you ask. When they’re ripe the jimador comes along and cuts off the leaves (pencas) with his coa (sharp knife thing on a stick) leaving you with the agave pineapple (piña). A load of piñas (that start of white then get honey coloured) are cut into halves or smaller and slow-roasted for 24 hours in the aforementioned ovens. After that they’re usually shredded in a machine and squashed and the resultant mixture is fermented, then distilled, then barrelled.
In the past, rather than putting the roasted agave through an industrial shredder, they were shoved into a circular mill called a tahona which has a huge stone grindstone dragged round in circles by a horse or donkey. Well this Columpio place (I looked up columpio and it means swing, not trampoline as we first thought. which is a shame.) uses the olde worlde tahona and horse set-up and looked fantastic in the medieval glow of the ovens. Dr. Jaime and the owner of the place gave us a guided tour of the room and then we tried the 100% (not-yet) tequila straight out of the still. It tastes of alcohol more than anything and needs to be mixed with a bit of water to let the agave taste come out. Still, it’s a great mouthwash and takes the edge off your hunger.
Next up over to Dr. Jaime’s agave plantation where they’ve been building a house, folly and dining patio. El buen doctor explained what the various varieties of agave were that he had growing there and took us on a tour round the fields pointing out the hijuelos (little clone plants that the agaves put out after 3 years of so, Sita took one home, ready to plant), telling us the local legends (ghosts of hanged men who didn’t want to fight for Santa Anna protect certain parts of the plantation), and identifying the colourfully-named weeds (tumbavaqueros, a local bindweed). All during this little tour we were sipping on the good stuff with the occasional beer for quenching thirst.
The next stage involved hopping in the back of el Dr’s 4×4 and heading off round the incredible little local villages to see the ruins of old tequila factories. A highlight for me there was seeing the women washing their clothes in the stream. The photos probably tell this part of the day best. We headed onwards through the fields and had another tequila stop under the shade of a huge tree and took a few photos, then on to more factory ruins. In the ruins there were tons of chile plants, apparently started from seeds in the salsa people eating tacos there.
Back to the dining place and we feasted on quesadillas and carne asada. Plus a bit of tequila for good measure. As the sun set, Dr. Jaime produced a rifle and everyone got a go at shooting targets in the field. What could possibly go wrong, as young sita said before waving the gun around. Sarah took a few photos, hopefully I’ll shove ’em up here soon. We went into the town center (knackered by now) found the hotel where sita’n’sarah’s friend works and got a couple of rooms. I tended to my sunburn and had a cold shower and then went out for double espressos. To celebrate El Dia de la Mujer (last Tuesday or so) the main square (zocalo) was full of little stores especially for the ladies offering such feminine delights as depilatory treatments, shopping bags, earrings and breakfast bars. Viva la igualdad. anyroad, we met up with agustin a kid from the tequila course and he took us round the bars of Tequila ending up eventually in El Cielo, a v. cool place with a view of the entire town center. I was knackered by then but it was a fun evening and a fantastic day. Tequila, photography, steak and guns.
Sunday, in brief: fruit for brekky, drive home, fall asleep watching Pedro Paramo (1965), gigante, soup & spuds, Jose, 9 Canciones (reviewed right)… luckily next weekend might be a puente.
See the post below for links to the photos sets… or buy the calendar come october 🙂
Mexican plumbing
I may have mentioned we have 4 bathrooms in this here mansion, anyway, last night they were all for nowt cos the water stopped. It was coming in from the street OK, ‘cos the little triangle was turning round on the meter, but the tank on the roof was empty and wouldn’t respond to gentle prodding at midnight. So Jose and I went to inspect the pump, which can’t have been working properly. Jose wrapped a towel around his hand and removed one of its fuses to look at, only giving himself a minor electric shock. I tripped the whole house off and took out the other one… Anyroad, it seemed like one of them was buggered. So I resigned myself to a trip to the Tlapalerias of Santa Teresita to get new fuses this morning. Overnight, somehow the tank’s full up again and that’s with no pump, so either there’s an elaborate fake pump system or there’s enough pressure from the street to fill the tank on the roof, but the water can only flow freely through the pump when it’s turned off completely. Please write your Mexican plumbing tips in the comments, and bear in mind the Spanish for pump is bomba.
As for the plans for yesterday, I got most of them done except agaveweb.com and the advertising. But they’ll happen today, mark my words. One of the highlights was filling in an application form for the job of “Correspondent” at the English school. Among the questions on the sheet:
What primary school did you go to? Its address, the years you were there, and what qualifications did you receive. If Kingston St Mary V.C. Primary school gets any phone calls from Mexico, you’ll know why.
What’s your sister’s name? What does she do? Where does she live? How old is she?
Have you ever belonged to a union?
Do you belong to a sports/ social club?
How old’s your mum?
Attach a recent photo here…
I took a photo of the app sheet, if you don’t believe me. Hopefully they won’t pass it on to the Mexican INS, although I was explicit that my visa was a tourist one and that I just wanted to know my options…
In other news, Ed from Taunton/Bristol/Plymouth (depending when you met him) might be coming over for Xmas. He’s in Belize right now, follow his Latin American travels here.