guanajuato and los locos

big weekend here.  and that's the problem with writing, so much has happened that i can't decide what to write about.

so let's go latest to oldest.  today was the festival of los locos (the crazies!).  and it was truly crazy.  i spent hours watching hundreds of people dance through the streets with amazingly elaborate costumes, throwing candy to the crowd.  and when i say crowd, i mean that half of mexico was smashed onto the sidewalks.  and when i say throwing, i mean they were pelting the crowd with candy.  it was pretty funny, for a while i felt that i was a target being the tallest person around, it was a game of 'let's bean the giant chick in the forehead with crappy gum and lollipops'.  but the kids around me loved it, all they had to do was scrabble around at my feet for what hit me and dropped.

the dancers were amazing.  the simplest costumes were rubber masks and an appropriate outfit, but this is a festivous place, with a leaning towards paper mache, so most people made huge heads to wear on their painted bodies.  each neighborhood had a different theme so there were dozens of simpsons, avatar characters, clowns, devils, transformers, traditional mexican characters, cross dressers, giant men in diapers, and every cartoon character imaginable.  and each barrio had a truck filled with a generator and about 7' of speaker stacks blaring mexican music.  it was truly a site to see, and anyone wondering where they should vacation at this time of year should make the trip to san miguel for this insane parade.

yesterday was spent touring guanajuato, which is a bit older than san miguel and houses the university.  we went to the childhood home of diego rivera, which was super cool.  his parents were landlords by trade, which seems a strange thing for that time, but they built a house on the side of a mountain when there weren't many houses and every time they needed more space they simply excavated further into the mountain and created another room.  smart.
a lot of his work was on display, and can't wait to get to mexico city to see his murals.
i learned about micheladas, which is basically beer and fruit juice and salsa.  and realized while sitting in the bar that i don't know any famous mexicans.
we went to the mummy museum which was super creepy.  when i think mummy, i think about the  bandage wrapped mummies of scooby doo.  but these were full on naked dead people and it was really disturbing.  jorge has been there about 500 times, leading tours or classes, and knows it by heart.  he started going there when he was a child and the bodies were just propped up against the walls, no temperature controlled glass cases, and puddles of water on the floor and horrible smells.  he had nightmares from it.  i can't imagine, because i can't even imagine taking a child there now.  yet there were children of all ages there.  i also saw a couple on a motorcycle, holding a newborn.  so there are huge cultural differences that i'm still learning.

i'm getting a couple addictions from my 2 short weeks here.  corn tortillas and catrinas.  the tortillas are probably obvious, yummy fried corn.  who wouldn't.  but the catrinas are super fun, the skeletons dressed up in formal clothes.  created by jose posada, they represent corruption by the wealthy class.  and although he only created the basic form, now they come in every style and color, but always a skeleton in some sort of fancy dress.  i want to buy every one i see and decorate my house in them.

and as much as i love san miguel and its super fiesta ways, i think its time to move on.  more truthfully, i think this place is more party than i can handle.  my liver hurts.  and i need about a week to catch up on sleep.  so after this week i'll share a ride with juniper and head to mexico city for a few days.  i was a bit intimidated heading to the biggest city in the world by myself so it works out pretty well.  we'll check out some pyramids, she'll head home to washington and i'll hit the beach.

my spanish is coming along pretty well, despite my recent failures.  the only new embarrassment to report is at a tortilla stand on the way to guanajuato.  i got nervous because all these people were watching me, so when i tried to order i told the woman 'i am a cheese quesadilla'.
whatever.  i still ate.

two weeks down and all is well.

los locos