La Bufa, Momias y Mas

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Wednesday, January 17

Last Saturday, we hiked to La Bufa, one of the bluffs surrounding Guanajuato. We were instructed to take a left at El Pipila and start climbing. After scrambling up scree slopes, walking on cattle trails and passing several parked cars, this is where we ended up. I think La Bufa is actually the mountain behind Dave - just missed it! In any case, it was a beautiful day and a great view.

On Sunday, we joined an Escuela Mexicana outing to the nearby town of San Miguel de Allende. It’s basically an upscale version of Guanajuato (the Carmel of central Mexico). Sometimes its called gringolandia because of all the U.S. retirees living there (about 20,000 as compared to about 200 in Guanajuato). The town is lovely--orange, yellow and red houses topped with lush gardens, bright cathedrals and basilicas frame the central plaza. Along the way, we stopped at la ciudad de Dolores Hidalgo, where, in addition to learning more about one of the fathers of the Mexican independence, we had our pick of dozens of flavors of ice cream (a local specialty). We tried avocado, corn, mole, honey and cactus. I finally settled on corn and Dave chose lard (which was the special of the day). De-lic-ious.

Sunday, January 21

Every Friday night, our hosts, Ana and Hector get together with their friends for a fiesta. They have been doing this for years; most grew up together in Guanajuato. Last Friday, we were included. Ana and Hector served up tequila and tostados. Their kids (all girls) file in and out of the party, doling out kisses and asking for money to buy ice frappes in the plaza.

We had a great time. We mostly listened, trying to follow the conversation, and occasionally chimed in. After about three palomas (a delicious combination of tequila, Squirt and soda), “si, si” was my emphatic response to just about every question or comment - including when one of the women asked if she would have to bring her own food if she came to visit us in San Francisco. Despite my apparent cheapness, we scored an invitation to the next party. I think what saved us was Dave’s impressive knowledge of el Santo, a lucha libre and film hero who fought, among others, las momias de Guanajuato. After a few rounds of chanting “Santo! Santo! Santo!” we were back in the fold.

On Saturday, we visited the former foils of el Santo: las momias de Guanajuato. Cemetery overcrowding and an arid climate have led to Guanajuato’s most profitable tourist attraction. Las momias are a collection of corpses that were unearthed as early as 1865, when the local cemetery ran out of room. The town put those bodies on display and now charges $5 to take a look. It was more than creepy to see the bodies of men, women and children halted in their progress toward decomposition--gaping mouths, teeth still in tact, clothing clinging to leathery skin.
A more pleasant museum visit was to the childhood home of Diego Rivera. The home itself is unremarkable (except for the small doors) but the collection of Rivera’s early paintings is great. It also made us think of our wedding and the beautiful Diego Rivera mural of California at the City Club.

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Photos

Dolores Hidalgo
Hmmmm... lard ice cream

Los Momias
Donde esta Santo!?

Casa de Diego Rivera
Rivera's early cubist work

Casa de Diego Rivera
A perfect fit!

Comments

[Natalia]

Celosa
Estoy tan celosa...quiero llorar! Pues, estoy celosa de todo que estan haciendo, menos la visita a las momias. Les odio a las momias. Al mejor les veo a ustedes alla en abril!

[anonymous]

I LOVE Diego Rivera-- I'm so glad you're seeing his works. Your blog is great Emily, excellent photos. BTW please let your new compadres know that if you won't feed them in SF there are other options. Are you sure that wasn't a "Lost in Translation" moment? Cheers, Kathleen