Beach Time

And now, off to the  beach...  I took a long time reading about the beaches I hadn't yet visited (I had done a big tour of west and east coast beach destinations years ago, and my pretty hard and fast rule is to always go somewhere new). So no Puerto Vallarta, Alcapulco, Mazatlan, or east-coast beaches, either...  I chose Puerto Escondito because of the proximity of a lot of beaches south of it, in case PE did not hold my interest for the whole time I was there.

 Puerto Escondito is home of the "Mexican Pipeline" - a world famous line of surf.  It is not safe to swim in that water as the undertow is just incredible.  I pranced around in it - had a blast! 

 (No fool I, I was right under the elevated hut of the lifesavers)

In spite of the great beaches in Puerto Escondito, those who know me know I can only sit still or lay around for so long, so in fact I did jump on some buses and check out some others too -

 here is a taste of a number of them:

 OK, I'll stop with the beach pictures now - any more and you'll accuse me of bragging.  

Yes, the were as glorious as they look - stunning, in fact.

  

On my beach-reconnaissance day I travelled on bigger buses, but then had to catch small local ones from beach to beach.  I let a few of them go by before I realized that they were buses at all:  

 Now, I ask you - does that look like a bus to you?!

Pelicans and fishing boats - these was the scene outside the hotel I stayed at.  

As I write this it is the 1st of December and I am FREEZING inland and northwards in Tequis!

And my tan is fading fast - oh how I yearn for more beach time....

Karen

Oaxaca and The Day of the Dead

I never really focussed on the fact that my birthday is 

the Mexican Day of the Dead, but hey,  Dia de los Meurtos is very very cool!  

So black-humoured and campy and fun - it really kicks butt on Halloween!

So, the Oct/Nov week off came - and it just seemed right to go to the Mexican heart soul and funny-bone of Dia de los Muertos - Oaxaca.  And so I did - took a night bus from Mexico City with 2 of my 3 English lads and we arrived bright and early on Nov 1.  Now, let me tell you - crowds were predicted, as this is a BIG festival, but the trick is to arrive at these things early, and avoid the crowds - and so we did. 

We got to the hotel that I had arranged (remember, I am known as the Compound Mother) and there we were - a perfectly nice little hotel:

Now, I may be truly old now but I have not lost my razor-sharp wit:  I told the boys we could only afford a black & white hotel.  (It seemed funnier after a long bus ride) .

Here is me with some of the locals:

  Just so you know, I am wearing a fetching skeleton necklace and earring set  :>)

Here is one of hundreds of altars to the dead - this can be a very personal memorial to one's relatives:

Candy figures heavily into the whole D of the D scene - this skull is a cake covered in marzipan:

The next day was spent at Monte Alban - one of the great ruins of a great lost culture:

Do ya see the moon?

And there I was in heaven, on my birthday:  ancient Mexico, with an eagle that soared overhead at one point, and me reading Shakespeare's sonnets.  No, it actually doesn't get better than that!!

Will write about the 2nd half of this trip - the beach part - later...

Adios, KMG

Life in Tequis

Had to laugh.  A dear old friend said she was relieved to see this new blog as she thought maybe I had gotten lost in Sri Lanka - funny because I stopped writing my China blog (Chinese New Year solo trip to Sri Lanka) in March after writing 2 of the 3 planned blogs on that trip.  I got caught up, y'see, with the unpleasantness of my life in China;  I didn't lose my will to live, but I sure lost my will to live in China.  But I was conflicted, because I liked my job there.  Anyhow, after much hemming and hawing, I did choose to give notice - but I just never had the heart to resume the blog.  And it had such a good name, too - Karen in Cathay has a lovely ring to it.


So, yeah, now it is Mexico, and I am re-focussed, with new drive, to keep up a blog... We will see how we go...I have been pretty good so far, but I guess at any point I could just drop off the map again.
So today, there is no theme - all random shots to show you.






















Yes, people really do ride horses down the main street of my little area of Tequisquiapan:

                   and goats really do get herded right past the main gates of the school I teach at:

and in both pics you can see the cobbles on the road.

Here are two particularly wonderful kids I teach - Alan and Pablo (of course) - yes, they are as bright as they look - and funny and fun.  I LOVE my Lit classes with them.  

A clever way to sharpen knives:

So many great places to wander by or wander into in the towns (this is a restaurant):

:

Adios from me and the cucaracha!

KMG

Independence Day

The Mexican national anthem is "acknowledged as one of the most beautiful national anthems, for both its poetry and musical score the Mexican National Anthem reminds its citizens of the struggles and commitment of the populace to defend the nation from foreign invaders."  

Our school marches out the Mexican flag, sings the anthem, arms across chests, every Monday morning.   The anthem has a delightful, light lovely melody - I love it.  But then the words:
War, war without truce to any who dare
Tarnish the country's coat of arms!
War, war! The patriotic banners
In the waves of blood.
War, war! On the mount, in the valley
The terrifying cannon thunder,
And the echoes resound
To the cries of Union! Freedom!

Mexican Independence Day (September 16) is a huge deal here - major crowds in the town square:

One must buy a moustache if one does not have a real one (fellow on the right is a school parent) !

The fireworks were fantastic! 

 So a good time had by all - 

Adios muchachos!

Karen

ps: here is a little cutie of mine (Y7=grade 6) at a school event - Octavio:

Mexico City's Pyramid Complex

I seem to be on a bit of a roll here so I am going to post some picks of my trip to the pyramids outside of Mexico City.  Martin and I took a bus at 6am and got to the gate by 9:30.  Teotihuacan: this complex was old to the Axtecs - they thought the ruins (already abandoned in their time) was the birthplace of the gods. Interestingly, some people feel there is spiritual/psychic power in this place so you occasionally come upon groups of people sitting and meditating(?).

Quetzecoatl - the feathered serpent:

I had been at the complex 30 years earlier and it is much more built up/uncovered than before, with good museum displays in place, etc.

No picture of Martin, my buddy from Kent.  An affable young man if ever there was one...He asked, as we walked along, did I think people thought we were mother and son, and I said, "yes, likely, cause I don't look rich enough to have employed you as my toy-boy."

That's all for now - Karen

Cobblestones, Opals and More

I arrived at school this morning sick sick sick and my students found the expression "Moctezuma's revenge" quite amusing.  I sorted out lessons for the day and headed home - throwing up twice on my way.  Fireworks at both ends - nice.

Queretaro - the nearest city to little Tequis has some great little corners to discover in the old part of town:

I love the little things you discover in new places.  There is a bird who make a sound like the strident music played during the shower-stabbing scene in Psycho - it makes me laugh every time.  And here is a snap of some cute little nests that are built on wires:

 Butter packaged differently than I am used to:

There have been so many festivals centred at our little plaza, and many of them include dancers in traditional gear:

Flower vendors set up their wares every weekend: 

Tequis is renouned for its opal mining, and I spent a great afternoon there poking around the mine tailings picking up rocks.  I did not have the eye for finding the opal bits (you can see what they look like in situ)  but I did commune with the rough rocks (those of you who know my "thing" about rocks will smile).  You see that a lot of the opal is a reddish-orange, but occasionally another facet of the rainbow shows up. I also picked up a little ring that has a multi-coloured opal held between the fangs of 2 serpents - I could not resist the connection to Mayan and Aztec art - or at least that was my excuse!  The mines have been owned by generations of several families and they are under pressure from the Chinese (no surprise there) to sell the whole thing over to them.  They are resisting this, thank God.

I haven't mentioned the local cobblestone roads yet - my-oh-my are the old roads ankle-twisters.  On some they have filled in with dirt or cement to fill the deepest crevices, which is a relief:

Some of you will know that I dream of having a little place in Mexico to escape the grey, wet winters of the Pacific Northwest.  I would love to create a little patio like this one! Gorgeous, isn't it!

 Gonna go now - I don't want to push my recovery as I don't want to waste the weekend "calling Ralph on the big white phone".  Adios!  Karen