March 7, 2010

Hola again, Everyone...

Tomorrow, we will begin the countdown on our last week in Guanajauto. So much has happened since I last wrote; the day after our ladies left.

That Monday, I started my second week of Spanish lessons at Escuela Mexicana, but due to some mix-up, I was placed in two intermediate grammar classes. As I listened to our teacher, Esme, talking about past tense and flexile Spanish verbs, I panicked and wanted to run screaming from the classroom! But, probably due to my French language experience, I realized that I understood at least the gist of what she was taking about and I decided to stick with it. I managed to make it through the whole week, but made sure that I asked for BEGINNING grammar classes in the following week.

I certainly like group classes better than the private ("privada") as you find yourself learning from the others and sharing laughter over everyone`s mistakes. Plus, you, of course, meet more people and participate more in the life of the school.

This is the way I found out about a locally famous hike up to the top of "La Buffa". "La Buffa" is a landmark peak in the skyline high the city of Guanajuato. We can actually see it from our house, but I didn`t realise that people could easily get up there. David and I found out the details and one afternoon, we decided to at least start the climb and do some birdwatching along the way.

We found the trail to be pretty easy...a slow uphill which took us higher and higher above the city...with increasingly gorgeous views of the mountains and the bowl containing the the city below. As this country is very arid, there were many kinds of cacti, some really enormous, mesquite and all kinds of thorny locusts. We had been warned about snakes, but luckily, didn`t see any.

At about the two mile point, we came upon the most amazing sight. In a huge cavern that reached far back into the rock, there was kind of a church! We were absolutely amazed to find it in such a remote place. In the center of the cavern there was a religious statue...St Francis?...and little altars with flowers and religious pictures. On the outside of the "church", (really, almost a cathedral) there was also ample evidence of donkeys...footprints and you-know-what, so we surmised that people came up by that mode of transportation too.

This is just one example of one of the things we love about this place...the total serendipity of life here. Today, as we went past the little tienda (store) near our house, we happened upon a man furiously making ice cream. He was using a wooden paddle in a big bucket set in an even bigger bucket filled with ice. He offered us a taste, strawberry, so we ended up buying a pint of the delicious concoction.

Another example: one day as we were passing the main church, Our Lady of Guanajuato, in the main square, we noticed a group of tiny girls dressed in the fanciest gowns imaginable...all frills and hoop skirts, with tiny tiaras set on their heads. Some were even wearing tiny white "mink" stoles. All of them were surrounded by their loving and doting families. Of course, I got very busy with my camera after asking for the families` permission to take photographs. As if all this wasn`t photogenic enough, suddenly, an even tinier girl appeared in a pink robe and a green cloak covered in gold stars. All I could guess was that she was supposed to represent the Virgin Mary. She posed for all the photographers with praying hands, and my pictures of her are among the most beautiful pictures I have taken on this trip.

We stayed and watched until all the tiny ones and family entered the church, saying to ourselves that we will have to find out what it was all about.

One final note...as we walked away from the church, a mother ran past us, carrying a little boy in her arms who seemed to be dressed as The Pope! NOW, we really have to find out what was going on!

Well, on to last weekend and David`s adventure at the Leon car rally...I hope I can do it justice. Those who know David, will know that David is mad about cars, soccer and motorcycles, so the opportunity to go to a car rally in Mexico was a Big Thing for him. Ditto for our friend Corvus, who kindly offered to take David with him last Saturday.

Actually the whole rally thing started last Thursday night, here in Guanajuato. First there were fireworks over the city and when David and I arrived in the main Jardin plaza, the crowds were just amazing. The rally cars were coming through, greeted by the screams of girls and women (perhaps some men were screaming too?).
It seems that these drivers are like rock stars down here. I managed to push forward to the barricades to get some good pictures, but just then the crowds pushed forward too, and David and I were separated. Luckily, and unusually for us, we had set up a meeting spot if this happened. Then we had the great task of finding Corvus, Violet and Milo...seemingly an impossibility in the chaos. But luckily, great minds think alike and we found the little family sitting together in another totally deserted square...the place where we all had breakfast together at the beginning of out trip.

On to Saturday....
Corvus came by at 6:30 AM (!) and joined by a German friend, the hombres taxi-bus-bigger bussed to the race site near Leon. There they joined the crowds of thousands, mainly Mexican men, who had camped out and had built little cooking fires all over the fields surrounding the course. There was muchas drinking of cervezas and lots of passed out men lying all over the place. Certainly a different view of Mexico than we have seen in the more "sedate" city of Guanajuato.

Still, the race was an incredibly exciting event for David. The guys got to see cars racing and sliding all over the place in massive clouds of dust. David showed me some of the pictures online and, really, the dust was so thick that it looked like the crowds were being hit by tidal waves of flying dirt.

The guys came back after dark, of course grimy as all get-out, but the verdict was that they had had a fun and exciting time. There is a website on the rally for those who would like to check it out, www.rallymexico.com It is all in Spanish, but the pictures are interesting.

Well, that`s enough for this installment, but get ready for the next "e", where I will tell the tale of our Mexican adventures, starring as ourselves in an episode of "House Hunters International". Yes, we have been looking at real estate down here! Seriously? Not really, but it`s been fun to see what`s available and at what prices...

To be continued....

Adios.
Los Exploradores

PS We watched the Academy Awards...all dubbed in Espanol, much better that way!