HeyH

We hit the ground running, that is after sitting on the tarmac for an hour while our plane's communication system got fixed. In a city this size always has something going on at any hour, so we are walking all and dropping at night. First surprise was were the "Alebrijes" on the sidewalks of Reforma: weird creatures some ten feet high. Pedro Linares started out as a common papier mache artist who eked out a living on the outskirts of Mexico City by making traditional piñatas, carnival masks, and Judas dolls for local fiestas. In the 1930s, he broke from tradition and started creating elaborate decorative pieces that represented imaginary creatures he called alebrijes. Inspired by a dream when he fell ill at age 30, and in the delirium of his fever he started to have ... read more

What a blessing, that there are people and cultures that are not afraid of color! Not just rich, saturated hues, but delirious combinations: red & blue, yellow & purple, green & orange. All on one house! Multiply that by a hillside collection of dwellings, and you get the sublime. These little neighborhoods and serpentine streets are awesome, a waking dream. Giotto-esque, not only for the color, but the jack-straw hodge-podge organic building of one structure upon another, nary a parallel line. A short walk down the hill there is a tree filled median where fruit and vegetable vendors set up there stands. Luscious produce grown on nearby farms. There is a lady there who has a table on which sits twenty or so plastic one-gallon containers. Each holds a different sauce (mole) or salsa. She also ... read more

First to the Thursday market in Etla, a fraction of the Tlacolula market, but delightful, with the most beautiful local vegetables and fruit, and pottery. Then the entire afternoon on the mesa of Monte Albán, one of Mesoamerica's most incredible Zapotec ruins. Words and even the images don't do it justice; the expansive space and massive structures are stunning rock constructions, perched on the top of a mountain that dominates the valley below. It exhudes a power and a mystery, 'facts' are few, and even they are open to dispute. A thunder storm was moving in from the west, adding to the drama.... read more

Well, okay then. A number of people have asked about food. I will admit to three daily foibles. In the front of Pitico there is a sorbet counter, usually two highschool-aged girls run it. These sirens wait at the edge of the cashier station with teensy plastic spoons on a tray that have tastes of the flavors in stock. They know me now, and know I need no temptation. They don't always have the pistachio and cream that is my weakness, but I'm easily convinced to try something else; tamarindo, grape, 'tuna' (cactus fruit), hibiscus. I stear away from capuccino or chocolate. For some reason they find it funny that I only ever want one flavor, even when I get the size that has a half-dozen scoops. "¡Puro!"and they laugh. So, the other day when there ... read more

The third entry and last of the cemetaries. Setting off at about two, we saw plumes of smoke coming from the university area. A woman we passed urged caution as "people were being rounded up." We were heading in the opposite direction, to the northern edge of the city and the tiny cemetary of Sn Filipe del Agua. It, too, was bustling, but in an more familiar, everybody-knows-everybody, small town kind of way. We sat on the massive knarled roots of a huge tree, just watching families go about their business, arm-loads of flowers. Sweeping, washing, making flower crosses and hearts, a few painting. A group of kids playing a roudy game of tag. One pair, obviously brothers. The older, concerned about his younger brother, kept yelling "Goose! Dame la mano!" And you would see Goose ... read more