Back in Canada

Home in Canada!! I arrived back for the summer last week ready for a good long break.

Teaching at my school in Morelia is interesting and enjoyable, however, the amount of testing, marking and paperwork the last week of the semester can be overwhelming. You need to be very organized and I thought I was this time. Then my crazy landlord aka the little Napolean  told me that I since I wasn't coming back I had to move out ....today!  He told me this at 10 am and I had 12 hours to find a temporary place to live for a week, pack, do 3 classes and get moved. Obviously I got no schoolwork done that day.

In a way he did me a favor as I was then packed up and ready to go and didn't have to spend my last days in Mexico packing. I  and The Kitten moved into a small hotel nearby, Posada de Villa. It was great....huge bathroom, cable TV and just as close to my school. No room to clean, no dishes to wash and got take out of all my favourites: flautas vegetariano, gazpacho marisco, torta con mole.

Arriving back in Canada I have lots to do. My garden needs attention both front and back and I'm getting the guest room ready for a student from Korea who is coming to take an ESL course at Algoma University for a month. Here's a current photo of my front yard  with a giant Canada thistle growing up the front wall.

Eating on the Streets or Junk Food a la Mexicana

Eating on the streets in Mexico isn't just tacos and licuados (a fruit/milk or yoghurt drink). The picture above was taken in Zacan. Every day this guy sets up his outdoor barbeque operation and cooks up 'pollo a carbon' drizzling on a great spicy salsa sauce. I only was able to sample it once....the other times I could just stare longingly as the intercity bus drove by. 

Usually if you get chicken to go you get rice or a small marinated salad and lots of extra sauce in a bag to go with it. Some places even toss in some roasted onions and peppers. 

Here is a corner vendor on the very busy Ave Lazaro Cardenas in Morelia. The bright yellow things on a stick are mangoes....all sliced and ready for a juicy bite. I haven't tried the red balls in the plastic glasses....only because I think they are extremely sweet.....they appear to be rolled in ground pepper. (I just discovered they are tamarind balls, tamarind ground into a paste and coated in red somewhat like an M'nM's......but with a sweet/sour flavour.)

One of my favourite snacks are churros. There are 2 kinds of churros for sale here on the streets. The baked sugar-coated ones which are everywhere in the mornings  are sometimes filled with a sweet custard. I myself prefer the snack sticks with are sold in small or gigantic bags and onto which the vendor puts either lime, salt and/or a variety of salsa sauces. There they are on the top shelf on the far left.....along with a variety of other unhealthy snacks I have tried to avoid  developing a taste for.

I accidentally one day got an order of chicarrones. I had no idea what it was, just this dish in the mercado was in a great looking tomato/pepper sauce. Then I discovered I was eating fried pork rind, but the sauce was great! I just didn't eat the other bits.  I will have to add a picture of how these are usually displayed as I knew enough never to order them when displayed this way.  The stand in the mercado was just so bonita!!

 Amazingly, this outdoor type of display   found in Zamora is very common for chicharrones!

Easter week in Mexico

Easter  is a big deal down here. Not only does it start with 'santa semana'  and a week of religious and semi-religious observances but it also seems to be a traditional time when most Mexican families who can afford it de-camp of either the beach or a resort. I decided I wanted to see a bit of the more traditional ways in the small towns so I went to the west side of Lake Patzcuaro where there are many indigenous people who still follow some of the older customs. This is a view from the town of Erongaricuaro overlooking the lake and the island of Janitzio.

The island has a huge sort of moderne-style statue in the middle of it ( and a tree). I thought at first it was Jesus Christ, but no....it's Morelos......the same that Morelia is named for. Anyway I visited this town on the Thursday before Easter. There was a flower festival and also santa semana celebrations which I couldn't find....except these young guys dressed in red and black with masks kept approaching me with a whip and shaking a small bag of change. I had no idea what they wanted as they didn't seem to speak much English and my Spanish in this case really didn't fit the situation. ( I kept saying ' no entiendo' and ' que si pasa' ).Actually I was not the only one they approached; they approached everyone.  Here's a picture of one of them.

I finally came upon one who spoke English and he explained they were Judases ( as in one of the apostles) and in order to drive them away you were originally supposed to give them candy for their bag. Lately this has become more of a money thing   he told me. In fact, I had already understood from another one that the money was for a party on Saturday night.. Whatever,... the youngsters of the village really were enjoying the chase and the Judases even went into some of the local merchants  to try for their 'pieces of silver'.

Here's my English speaker. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any to raise the whip at me!

Good Friday in Morelia was a big event in my local neighbourhood . It was the 'procesio de silencio', a truly amazing display of faith which originated at the Temple of the Capucines just 2 blocks south of where I live. This procession is now a 5 hour event in Morelia. It started over by the Aqueduct, proceeds to the main cathedral for the archbishop's blessing and ends at the Capucines. Residents in my area starting decorating the day before and by Good Friday afternoon the route nearby on the way to church was festooned in purple and white with multiple religious hangings.

The police presence was also very strong. In fact , the procession itself was led by police with these scary looking dogs. Up until 2 years ago the procession was entirely dark or candlelight, but security now dictates that street lights are left on. Most parade participants are hooded, for religious reasons, but not all.

The first group beat the drums, but many others just walked, prayed, carried banners,  or crosses.

Women, men and youths were all involved. Also ropes keeping the procession from the crowds ( not so necessary in my area) were manned by scouts.....men and women. The groups seemed to be divided along parish lines with banners naming some of the local churches. Women in black with lace mantillas were particularly striking.

These women proceeded the carrying of the statute of Christ at the Column which was from the small church  of the Columna which is just a few blocks from where I live and where I went for Easter vigil. It was a very small group not more than 30. The church itself does not appear to be open regularly so I wanted a chance to see inside. There was the same statue from the procession and the walls were painted with columns and garlands of ivy. It was a very small and unassuming ceremony, part of it by candlelight...but the candles didn't light very well!

Here is the end of the procession with La Senora of Solitude at the very end as the procesio...still in silence wound down to the Capucinas church plaza at midnight. The procession was said to be 5 hours...but only took about 1 hr to pass by. Many followed it down to the church where prayers lasted more hours....so I was told...by neighbours the next day.

A small town in Michoacan

One Sunday this month I decided to visit the small town of Cuitzeo which is only about 30 min north of Morelia. This puebla is situated on a lake of  the same name which is promoted as the largest in the state of Michoacan and the 2nd largest freshwater one  in the country. Actually by Canadian standards the lake ,while picturesque, appears very shallow and not too clean. However, there were scenic vistas along the shores, many birds and several restaurants, cabanas and even small hotels and camping areas. The main part of the town is uphill, a bit to the north and it's a perfect colonial gem with tiny squares filled with shade trees. The day I was there I found the  jacaranda trees in bloom particularly striking. ( I have since found several large ones in Morelia and I read that they often bloom for months.)

Cuitzeo has the most beautiful churches and monasteries...and all within about 5 min walking distance of each other. The Augustinian monastery  aka convent  next to the church of Mary Magdelana was particularly amazing as it is so well preserved. Walking around inside and outside on the grounds you can easily get an idea of day to day life as it was only a short while ago. One of the workers there told me that it still in use till fairly recently (either 80 yr ago or in 1980. He only spoke Spanish) and that at the end there were 20 nuns in residence. The nuns`s cells in particular were fascinating, as each had a window and each had different wall paintings inside. The nuns' convent also has a tiny jewel of a capilla abierto (open chapel)inside where you can still make out murals all around the edges and also read in Latin about the last judgement. Inside the main church cheerful cherubs on serpents ride the walls! Here's a photo of one and also a view from the nuns' floor to another church across the plaza.

The prettiest sight of the day was the tiny Franciscan Hospital Church where the grounds were filled with a garden of blooming daisies. The town also has a fairly large city park where the lampposts are a melange of serpent heads!

So after a busy few hours spent trekking around the city I headed down for a snack of tacos con charales ( tiny salty fish) at a family run spot on the water. Here`s a photo of the waterfront table (didn't sit there) and also a mural that Coca Cola probably hasn't paid them for and should!!

The school that looks like a hotel

I finally remembered to bring my camera to school so here are a bunch of photos I took last  week. 

B-P Institute encompasses 2 buildings and includes a bookstore, a cafe-type restaurant, a computer lab, outdoor conversation areas, about 24 classrooms ( most hold about 8-10 students comfortably) and around 16 teachers. BP stands for  Baden Powell but there were some legal issues with the name last year. The owners were boy scouts in their youth (Scouting is very big in Mexico.) and wanted their school to be inspired by the same ideals as Lord Baden-Powell. 

So far I've taught in the main building and have had some classes on the upper floor which is wonderfully sunny, but was chilly at 8 am on Feb. mornings. The lower floors are quaint too and a bit warmer.....probably cooler too in May which everyone says is the least bearable month as it is so hot and dry. ....but there are 5 legal holidays in May! Last week I conducted some of my students' individual oral exams outdoors on the upper patio. One of the pictures is a view over to the other building where you can see another teacher conducting an oral as well. The view to the north of the school is of a small church called the Chapel of the Columns. I've been over to check it out and it's set on a lovely small plazuela, but never seems to be open, not even on Sunday. 

The main patio in the school is decorated with small statues. I asked if they were a particular saint of scholars or anything, but no one knows ....so I assume they're just for effect. 

I've met quite a few of the Spanish students. Mostly they seem to be retirees from North American who come down for a a few months and sign up for the 3 weeks of conversation and courses. The school provides home-stay accommodation and also offer cooking courses and small day tours. So far I've met people from San Franciso, Washington DC, Montreal and Nebraska in the US. They all seem very pleased with their courses and love the city of Morelia. There also seems to be a group of high school students from the US who arrived this week. The flags on the building across the street are changed to sychronize with the countries of the current students.

Las mariposas monarcas

One of the main winter hibernation sites for monarch butterflies is just a short day trip from Morelia heading into the mountains towards Mexico City. I  decided to do a day tour from Morelia as going on my own would entail getting out to the bus terminal, getting a bus to Zitacuaro and then a small mini-bus (called a cambie)  to the closest town and then walking up the mountain to the butterfly area. My tour group consisted of 4 other Canadians, a guy from Germany, a doctor from Europe currently working in San Franciso with his friend from Mexico City and 8 people from the Mexico City area. The guide spoken both English and Spanish and, alternating  between each,  was very knowledgeable about more than butterflies....Mexican history, the passing scenery etc.

 

The day had started out chilly, around 12,  and cloudy, but the guide, Carlos, had assured us that there was supposed to be a short time of sun in mid afternoon. Since it was a Mexican long weekend called a 'puente' the parking lots were very full and the roads up to the area we were heading was packed with people....mostly from Mexico. Apparently it's a very popular day outing. 

As  we head up the hill to the 'El Rosario' sanctuary we began to see butterflies along the side of the path. many were fluttering to keep warm and many had already lost the battle and were strewn alongside the path. We had been told the hike might be difficult but due to the recent chilly weather the butterflies had moved down to warmer areas closer to us. Reaching the main viewing area took only about 15 min. It was still cloudy but you could see huge black organic masses hanging from the fir trees. These were butterflies clumped together for warmth!. There werr only a few moving about as it was still overcast. Gradually the sun came out and  the monarchs began to move and fly about....few in number and then more and more.

There were so many they were flying in and out of the jammed pathways and would often land on a warm body. In fact, it was hard not to step on them. Here's a picture of one of the women in our group trying to take a picture.

We had the best part of the day as it began to get cloudy and rain a bit. We went back down the mountain to the tourist shopping area for a warm meal....cheese quesidillas followed by chicken cooked in mole sauce. Ymmm.  Here's a picture of our friendly cook.

Back in a real metropolis

Ok, I've done it. I've managed to get out of Los Reyes and am now living and teaching in Morelia, the state capital of Michoacan. It's a beautiful city....and it has movie theaters, sidewalk cafes, bookstores (both new and used) plus it's still close to the countryside. I started at Baden Powell Institute last week after finishing in Los Reyes Jan. 22. Last month was very busy as I had to come here 2x: once for an interview at the school and to look for a place to live and then another Saturday only trip to actually find a place to live. Morelia is about 700, 000 and is about 4.5 - 5 hours by bus from where I was before.

Here are a few more typical pictures of the historico centro area of the city where I am living and teaching. More about the school and the great accomodations  I lucked into in a later post.

Adios!!