Birthday Party

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Birthdays as in other celebrations in Mexico are big affairs.  We have often seen sections of roads closed off to accommodate the chairs and tables etc.  All vehicles just drive around this celebration if they can or take a detour.  No one honks their horns or complains.  So what if you have to drive a bit on a one way street.  It is just a way of life here.
So it was a pleasure to be invited to our landlord’s granddaughter’s 3rd. birthday party.  She was dressed up as Cinderella and as you can see, she was not camera shy.  Perhaps practicing for her Quinceanera? 
The tables had lovely floral arrangements; there were balloons everywhere and of course the piñata.  It does seem strange to have boys whacking away at the piñata which was a Cinderella.  Obviously they do not look at it the way we gringos do.  Next there was a square “box” filled with big balls.  Everyone got a chance to swing at that until it broke and they all scrambled for the balls. 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

We watched with delight a very young boy around 6 years of age, stack chairs until he could reach the rope that held the square box up.  He would stack a couple of chairs and then climb up, discover he couldn’t reach it so put a couple more chairs on until he finally reached the rope.  One of the guests finally helped him undo the knot. He would pull it back which raised it and then he would drop it and then run and pull it back and drop it again.  He enjoyed playing with that for quite a while. It was fortunate that there weren’t any kids underneath the box when it dropped.
 
 
 
 
Everyone at the bungalows was invited along with their family and friends.  It was quite a gathering and the food was wonderful.  I really enjoyed the rice water.  They rented a juke box and played music the whole evening.
The cake was brought out and I am not sure of the significance but they shoved her face into the cake!!  She thought that was fun.  We all hoped that we did not get that particular piece.  
 

 
 
 

Tonala, Mexico

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This is the shopping day! First we went to Tonala which is a mecca for shoppers.  On Thursdays and Sundays it is even busier because there is a market which apparently is blocks and blocks long.  We were there on a Friday and even without the market, did not have time to see all the shops.  The prices are a lot lower than anywhere in Mexico and the beach vendors buy all their stuff on the Thursday or Sunday market.  We will definitely have to come here again when we have more time.

I don’t know why I couldn’t bring this home!!!

The next stop was Tlaquepaque which is a more upscale version of Tonala.  We did not have directions to the shopping area so missed all the good stuff.  We did have a lovely walk around the square and decided to have a bite to eat on there and people watch, my favourite pastime.

 

 

Opal Mine and Guachimontones Pyramids

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Gold fever?  Try Opal fever!  We travelled to Magdalena to view the opal mine and try our luck at finding “the big one”.  We stopped first at the Opal store and I think we overwhelmed the owner.  First it was a tiny store and then add 40 people trying to look and/or buy.  Our guide Antonio warned us that opals were expensive and I think he figured there would be few sales.  Both he and the owner were a little surprised at how much these tourists bought.  I bought a couple of items for myself, my favourite being a gecko pendant with an opal on his back.
Once we arrived at the mine, we were all given chipping hammers to try our luck as we could keep whatever we found.  The walk to the mine was all uphill but we were willing to go anywhere to get our opals.
The mine was an open pit and it was hot but no one seemed to care.  Some people found a few nice pieces but I don’t think there were any big finds.  We were still hammering away at rocks that we saw on the roadside on our way down.  There were lots of obsidian rocks and I got a lovely piece that I hope can be made into a nice pendant.

 

The town we walked through was obviously a poor town.  I don’t know why there would be a mine but not a lot of employment.  Perhaps this mine was for “tourists only”.  The people here were surprised to see a huge busload of tourists.

Our next stop was at Teuchitlan where the Guachimontones pyramids were.  Well over 2000 years ago, a unique civilization arose in Western Mexico.  This civilization created a metropolis of 25000 people and its economy was built on mining, working and trading in obsidian, one of the most precious substances in early Mesoamerica. This civilization developed an ingenious system capable of feeding its entire population and used geometric formulas to design the only circular monumental architecture on earth.

The pyramids were truly amazing to see and we were allowed to walk up one that was the largest and as yet had not been restored.

 

The ball field is approximately 110 meters long.  The players would sometimes play for days.  The winner “got to to to heaven” by having his throat slit by an obsidian blade.

Tequila, Mexico

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Tour Day Two
The hotel I Ajijic provided us with a buffet breakfast that was made by a local woman. It was a very tasty Mexican breakfast.  The coffee had been made in a large pot but we didn’t care at that point, we just wanted coffee!!
We left for our first tour of a tequila plant in Amatitan.  The first plant was called Tequila Tres Mujeres (Tequila three women). We went out into the field where a Jimador showed us the process of harvesting the agaves.  The “Jimador”, is an expert in selecting and culling the agaves.  He uses a sharp long-handled tool called a Goa to cut the thorny leaves that stand out from the heart of the plant leaving the center intact.  The center is called the pina (pineapple).  He then cuts the pina in half for its ideal cooking.  The Jimadors are always men as it is a very physically demanding job.  The Jimador we met would be like most Jimadors who learned the skill from their fathers who learned it from their fathers and so on.  This goes on for generations and from what I understood from the guide was that this happens because of the lack of education in those families.
Andres
The Jimadors start at 5:00 am and work until 3:00 pm to escape most of the heat of the day.  An experienced Jimador can do about 2 – 3 tons per day.  They are paid approximately 400 pesos for 3 tons which is less than $40.00.

He let the tourists try it out.  I think we quickly realized how hard it is and how much work goes into getting that 2 or 3 tons.  It typically takes up to 8 years for an agave plant to be mature enough for harvesting.

After our hard “work” we went inside for the taste testing.  This is all before lunch.
Our guide for this portion of the tour – Antonio
Our guide and interpreter Amy

We carried on to the next tequila plant called Casa Herradura.  This is where they make Jose Cuervo and other brands.  It is a huge plant with very tight security. They employ 1,000 people within the plant and approximately another 1,000 outside the plant who grow, harvest etc. the pinas.  We had another demonstration from a Jimador.

We then proceeded to be shown the processing system.  As part of their processing, they recycle the ethanol and methanol produced by the primary distillation stage.  They store it in a 2 million litre storage tank.  They then add it to natural gas.  They use this to fuel the ovens that cook the pinas.   They also compost the leaves of the plant. Casa Herradura is very proud that they are using recycling and composting as part of the process.
Ovens where they cook the pinas
Pinas before they are cooked

As we were travelling I noticed that a lot of people were staring at the bus.  I later learned that it is very unusual for a large tour bus to be in this area.  They are very pleased that we were there.  When we arrived at Terraza de Tequilera for a buffet lunch. We were welcomed by an eleven piece mariachi band and three delegates from the presidents (Mayor) office.  The president of Amatitan was not available so sent his three delegates to greet us.  We were given a wonderful buffet lunch and free drinks while the band entertained us.  They were the best mariachi band that I have heard so far. The drink was very unusual and I am not sure what was in it.  Someone thought orange, grapefruit and tequila with some kind of spice.  It was very good. We danced and then had our picture taken with the band.  A representative from our bus presented the delegates with a couple of gifts.  A great time was had by all.

We left for Tequila to register at our hotel.  The tour bus could not make it down the cobblestone streets of Tequila so they sent for two barrel buses.  What a hoot.  Thank goodness it wasn’t raining.
We were on our own for the evening so we wandered around looking at the sights of Tequila.  We had a margarita at the Jose Cuervo bar in their retail store.  That was the best margarita we have ever had.  Wish we could have the recipe.

Tequila has a population of approximately 40, 000 to 45,000.  Tequila was settle in 1656 and named after a local Indian Tribe. Tequila means “Lava Hill” in the Indian language.  Tequila is also known as the Magical Town.

Ajijic, Mexico

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We arrived at the Hotel Danza del Sol in Ajijic mid-afternoon and got settled into our beautiful huge two bedroom apartment which we shared with two other friends.  There were two bedrooms each with an ensuite; big kitchen with a stainless steel stove, pantry etc.  Just off the kitchen were a dining area and then a large living room with a fireplace.  We also had two separate patios.  The hotel had a large swimming pool and several manicured lawns. We could have stayed there for a long time.
We strolled downtown and ended up at a restaurant by Lake Chapala.  We watched a woman weaving rugs, and other activities going on by the lake including some men horseback riding who seemed to annoy the woman.  She was not pleased with them being so close to her.  Lake Chapala was much polluted but apparently there have been some efforts to clean the lake.  We did see some debris but not as much as we had expected.  Hopefully they will continue with the efforts to clean up the lake.

 

 

Afterwards we wandered around part of the town, taking in shops of every description.  There were painted murals all over town.

 

 

 

 

We also saw some beautiful restaurants including one called the Garden Restaurant, complete with a live peacock. Ajijic is a town that I would like to come back to and explore more.

Quinceanera

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Quinceanera
We were very fortunate and privileged to have been invited to a Quinceanera – 15th birthday celebration for Franceline.
As is custom in Mexico, when a girl turns 15 they have a huge celebration.  The 15th year signifies that she has become a woman.  The celebration looks very much like a wedding celebration but NO groom.
Families save for years for this celebration.  They also have godparents or sponsors.  There is a sponsor for the food, a sponsor for the alcohol, a sponsor for the tiara, a sponsor for the dress etc.

The celebration starts at the church.  There is an hour long sermon and instead of a church organist there is a mariachi band.  It was unfortunate that we could not understand enough Spanish to know what the priest was saying to her. Franceline arrived at the church in a beautiful purple gown.  Her parents were behind her followed by two of the main sponsors as she went down the aisle.

After the church ceremony and pictures were taken,
Franceline lead the way to the party venue followed by the mariachi band playing songs and then the guests.  People in vehicles didn’t seem to mind waiting while this procession took over the streets.  As a side note, you rarely hear car horns going as the Mexicans despite the speed in which they travel, don’t seem to mind these little inconveniences.
The venue was decorated in purple and white, with a separate “tent” for Franceline, friends and family.  On another table there was a Cinderella cake stand with two portraits of Franceline on either side of the cake stand.
Then the entertainment started.  It is traditional for the girl to dance with several young men in choreographed dances.  It was very well done so there must have been several rehearsals.  What was not traditional was the dancing that the young men did afterwards.  They wore what appeared to be white underwear and short white boots and did very provocative dances.
Franceline danced with her father and once they were finished, she sat on a chair in the middle of the dance floor while he removed her “old” shoes and placed fancy new ones on her feet.  This was supposed to symbolise her going from a little girl to a woman.
All during the evening we were served with beer, tequila or whatever else we wanted to drink. Someone at our table wanted a glass of coke so they brought over a 2 litre bottle
The mariachi band went from table to table playing whatever song that table requested.
We finally got to eat sometime after 10:00 pm.  There was a wonderful buffet that appeared to be catered while the mother was busy cooking ribs and other food.
Once the DJ started playing around midnight, we decided to go home and leave the partying to the young ‘uns

La Manzanilla

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La Manzanilla
We started our trip to the La Manzanilla “Art Walk” in a very over crowded bus that chugged along the curvy highway.  I was glad that the trip was only 20 km. I am sure that the 15 people standing were happier.
There were 7 different venues with as many genres of art from jewellery to collages and everything in between.  Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes good art but I found several pieces that I would have bought given more space in my home.
We had lunch at Valentina’s which is on the beach.  The food and service were very good.
People come from Barra and Melaque to walk the beach from La Manzanilla to Boca de Iquana.  The walk is approximately 4.6 miles.  The beach is flat and the surface hard enough to walk, ride a bicycle or take a vehicle. So of course we decided to see how close we could get to Boca.  At this point, you should know that I was not prepared to do any walking.  I did not have suntan lotion on, no water, no hat and a spaghetti string dress on.  But hey, why should those little details stop me?  We figure we made it about 3 miles when I decided that we had gone far enough.  We still had to walk back!  By the time we made it back, I was dehydrated, sunburned and tired.  My husband wanted to go on the swaying bridge over the crocodiles but I needed water and shade quickly.  The crocodiles could wait.

 

The crocodiles?  Running through La Manzanilla is a lagoon which harbours crocodiles and other species of wildlife.  The town has erected a fence around 3 sides of the lagoon.  When we were there last year, some of the fence had been pushed down by something rather large. We assumed it was a crocodile.  They hadn’t at that time put a fence along the beach side of the lagoon so the crocodiles were allowed to sunbath alongside of anyone on the beach!  This year they did put a fence along there but the crocodiles have pushed their way under the fence.  Now they can continue to enjoy the beach too.  We have seen crocodiles as long as 12+ feet.  You can pay to feed them with fish which is interesting to watch. The lucky crocodile that was being fed that day was approximately 16 feet long.  The head on them is huge.

Unusual things in Mexico

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Having thought more about the title of this article, I realized that you never know what to expect in Mexico.  As you will see with some of the pictures, the people are quite inventive.   Please enjoy the pictures, we had fun taking them

 

Notice the picture of Jesus behind the driver. All buses have a  picture or some religious symbol on every bus. Do they know something we don’t?

 

Just a typical friendly Mexican

 

Believe it or not, that is a camel

 

The man in the middle is my doctor in Mexico and one of the other men is a dentist.  They belong to a band called Banda Loco

 

This man is climbing up to the top of the coconut tree without any safety rope.  The rope at the left is for sending down the coconuts and leaves.  He is trimming the tree of dead leaves and coconuts so they don’t fall on someone.

 

Gecko on our wall – yes it is alive

 

Do they really want to sell tobacco products??

 

Note the buses on the right, approximately 6.  This is just a small amount that come into Melaque on major holidays such as Christmas, Easter etc. Some of the kids sleep in the luggage compartment below.

 

This is a swing made from a tire.

 

Pelicans plus one other bird which we think is called a blue footed bubi

 

Blue footed bubi

 

Yes, they are live chicks.  The kids were fascinated with them

 

Why pay for expensive light fixtures when a painted pop bottle will do just fine.

 

This was a wedding in the middle of the street.  they just closed down one section and had one heck of a party.

 

The goat is standing on a hippo – no kidding

 

These pelicans were doing a role reversal.  They were watching the diver while drying their wings.

 

Note the wooden child’s “seat” on the front of the bike

 

Iguana

Barra de Navidad and Grand Bay Resort

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Barra de Navidad and Grand Bay Resort
Barra is the next town over from Melaque.  You can walk to Barra on the beach or take the bus which cost 6 pesos or less than $.60.  Barra is a lovely little town but a bit more upscale than Melaque.  Barra has its own charm but we do prefer the more laid back town of Melaque. 
 
We enjoy walking around Barra and seeing the different stores, restaurants    
and of course walking along the Malecon.
My husband decided that we should take the water taxi over to the Grand Bay Resort and have lunch as that has been on our “bucket” list for a couple of years now.  The water taxi was 20 pesos each return so we paid a total of 40 pesos or less than 4.00 for the trip for the both of us.

 

Once there the special treatment started. We were shown the way to the poolside restaurant that we wanted to eat at by a charming young lady who also told us about all the things we could do while at the resort.

Once at the restaurant, we had 4 waiters to see to our every need. The service was impeccable but I found it a little cloying.  We had hamburgers and a drink.  Very pricey. The hamburger was okay but we have had  better hamburgers in a simple little restaurant in Melaque.

our lunch entertainment

 

After lunch we walked around the whole complex.  The resort is large and quite unique.  We wondered how they were making money as we did not see that many people around.  Perhaps everyone was golfing or in Barra.  There were a few people around the pool.

We stopped at a restaurant in Barra to have a drink and this poor little fellow was not having a good day. Apparently he fell out of a tree and a dog bit him.  The owner of the restaurant said he was taking him to the vets to see if anything could be done for him. I doubt that much could be done.
We also like to walk over to the canal although on this trip we didn’t have time.  Expensive vacation homes line the canal but in the other residential areas, the homes are more affordable.  The homes in Barra for some reason cost less than in Melaque.  All in all another good day.

Food at your door

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Trucks of every description amble slowly down the streets of Melaque, blaring out their wares from the loudspeakers on the top of their trucks. Tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, watermelon, almost your whole produce department is in the back of these trucks. Some just watermelons, others oranges.

I was fortunate enough to be home for the one that sells oranges.  I bought a 5 kg. (11 lbs) bag for 20 peso or approximately$1.85 Canadian.  Our neighbour Sal kindly juiced all the oranges for us.

Of course this purchase required that the next day we make a trip to Cihuatlan, 18 km. away to buy a juicer. At the Bodega, which apparently means son of Walmart, we found a small one for $15.00 Canadian.

Here’s to good juicing!