ONE DAY in the market I saw a man with a sparrow in a wooden cage. He said for 5 pesos, the bird would tell my fortune. I gave him the pesos and he opened the cage door. The sparrow hopped out onto a table. On the table was a match box filled with tightly folder papers and a plastic figure of Speedy Gonzales from Loony Toons cartoons. The sparrow had no tether and could have flown away, but it didn’t. It hopped over to Speedy Gonzales and bit his nose, then pulled a paper from the box and gave it to the man. The man gave his little bird a single seed as a reward and the bird hopped back into it’s cage.
The paper contains my fortune.
I’M IN SCHOOL. I’m studying Spanish 4 hours a day in an immersion program with 4 other gringos. Last week we learned about the most famous Mariachi in all of Mexico: Jose Alfredo Jimenez, who is buried in Dolores Hidalgo, a town just to the north. Our teacher said Jose Alfredo Jimenez gravesite is a popular pilgrimage. As famous as Jim Morrison’s grave. Yes, he said Jim Morrison of The Doors.
So of course we had to go find it. Which meant a trip to Dolores Hidalgo and a Mexican graveyard. Whoa. Mexicans are as boisterous and colorful in death as they are in life.
The phrase, “la vida no vale nada” means “life is not worth living.” It was one of Jimenez most famous songs and is now his epitaph.
Links:
what is the mariachi?
José Alfredo Jiménez
GOING TO THE marketplace is stepping into a surrealist movie. A movie by Luis Bunuel. In the traditional market, one finds unexpected mixtures of ancient and modern, poverty and abundance, filth and the sublime.
To buy groceries, you must visit several stores. If you want bread, you go to the panaderia. Tortillas? The tortilleria of course. In Mexico, chicken is not meat and you can’t buy it in the same store as beef and pork. The polloria sells chicken, chicken feet, and eggs. The carniceria sells meat.
Fruits and vegetables are in el mercado. Cheese and milk at another store. Canned goods in another. Of course there are supermarkets but I prefer the traditional markets. Shopping takes a while, but buy a little every day. It’s a pleasure. It’s a trip backward in time. It’s a Fellini movie.
I WAS wandering around the city and came upon an Aztec Pow Wow. Yes, you read that right. An Aztec Pow Wow. Right in front of the Catholic Church, which I thought was ironic. Maybe they do too. Maybe that’s why they do it there.
Nearly 100 dancers all in feathered costumes, dancing to drums, very serious. Not done for the tourist. Just like the Pow Wows the Native Americans have in Wyoming and Montana but with different costumes. Dancing and prancing to drums, burning copal incense, blowing conch shells, shaking rattles. I was quite moved by the spectacle.
I made these illustrations from photos I took that day. 
I found this apartment in San Miguel de Allende on vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner). The price is $850 for the month – I could have rented something cheaper, but I am expecting my mother and a girlfriend to visit, so wanted something big enough for guests. It’s beautiful …
My apartment is one of 13 in a remodeled hacienda
Various photographic impressions. Sorry, they are not in chronological order.
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Aeromexio delivered my suitcase to the hotel the morning after I arrived – to my very great relief! I didn’t know how I was going to deal with a lost luggage claim in Spanish.
So, put on clean clothes and set out on the third leg of this journey: the bus ride from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende. It was awful. The bus and the stations are clean and comfortable … but it took 9 HOURS to get from the City to SMdA and it utterly exhausted me. Several hours of waiting in Mexico City station for a bus and 4 hours wait in Queretro for a transfer. And of course nobody speaks English no one is particularly helpful about explaining which gate, which bus …
A confession: I missed the first bus because I had set my wristwatch to the wrong time zone.
The busses in Mexico are nicer than airplanes in the US. Luxurious seats, video screens, complimentary beverages. They seem to favor violent movies: we watched “Taken” with Liam Nissan and “Sparticus”. Both gory as hell. Both dubbed into Spanish. I sat up front where the driver and his assistant flirted shamelessly – the driver asked for my phone number, I smiled and said no. Both men were handsome and shorter than me! Finally arrived in San Miguel around 9pm and took a taxi to the Hacienda Santa Maria De Lobraje where I have rented an apartment. The night watchman, Juan, met us at the big iron gate and let me to my abode. There are 13 units in this remodeled estate just a few blocks from the center of town. Muy elegante! and tranquil. surrounded by gardens, I can hear only birds and crickets – no traffic sounds. My host (who I have not met) sent me flowers, a bottle of wine, and coffee for the morning. Ahhh. Settling in.
Arrived Mexico City, but my suitcase didn’t. I have a room at the Ramada Aeropuerto (trill that: RRRRRRamada), I was too tired to ask about price, but they didn’t ask for my credit card – so I’ll know what it costs when I check out. Its an elegant hotel with free shuttle service to airport. Wish I’d known about the shuttle service – instead I took a taxi. In La Ciudad there are many illicit taxi services. One must pre-purchase a ride from an ‘authorized’ service. You go to a kiosk and pay in advance. They give you a ticket and you get into one of the waiting cabs. My driver wore a starched white shirt and tie. He looked to be about 15 years old.
I’m hoping that the bag will arrive tomorrow … its frustrating because my Spanish isn’t good enough to manage this sort of difficulty and few people are fluent in English here. But I’m exhausted and am going to lay in bed and watch a vintage mexican movie on tv. I washed my clothes out so I’m nekkid and wrapped up in a blanket till they dry. The bellhop turned on the airconditioning for me and then made off with the controller, so its chilly in the room, but Mexico city is very warm.
Nice dinner of Azteca Soup (like tortilla soup but spicy) and Ensalada San Franciscan style (meaning fruit and nuts and cheese on Romane) with one generous glass of wine = 190 pesos (about $15 US). That seems pretty inexpensive considering the beautiful presentation, white tablecloth, hovering waiters, and elegant surroundings.
So I’m calling it a day – a long one. Keep your fingers crossed about that bag arriving. I can replace most of it, but it contains some of my favorite jewelry and paintbrushes and all of my watercolor paint. And a swimsuit that actually flatters – that’s irreplaceable!
R
