La Paz for the Pigment Challenged

San Agustin through the gate, Jan 6, 2023

Since I last left you, dear reader, Jon and I had the fun of seeing what Three Kings Day is all about in Tepatepec as it swirled about us. In the U.S., we generally don't make that big of a deal out of January 6, unless, of course, we're storming a capital. Thankfully, in Tepa we were spared the drama of that anniversary, and instead found ourselves bombarded by the sight and smell of Rosca de Reyes being sold everywhere we looked. What is Rosca de Reyes? Why, Three Kings Day Cake, of course!

Within the cake, 5 or 6 little plastic dolls are hidden, and the person who finds one has to perform a pre-determined task - usually something silly. Essentially, Three Kings Day is a day for the children. Also known as Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, it is the day when the three wise men supposedly reached Bethlehem with their gifts for the baby Jesus. Wandering around the town on that day, we found a fair, complete with free rides set up for the kids, as well as stand after stand of toys for sale. There were also multitudes of tables selling Rosca to the point that we thought, "how will they ever sell it all?" Well, apparently, they do because people buy it and eat it for days after. My friend Maria makes her own version, and her husband Frederico was selling it at our landlord's cafe where it flew off the shelves as long as it was available. In fact, that night, a lady rang our doorbell, wanting to know if my neighbor, who is also a baker, had any for sale. I told her that the neighbor wasn't there, but directed her down the street to the cafe where I knew she could get the best Rosca available. She was very grateful, and I felt like a real local. 

La Paz

Three days later, I was on the plane bound for La Paz, Baja California Sur, for the midterm reunion of Fulbright/Comexus. Sadly, I arrived there with a slightly off stomach and so did not participate in the first day activity, which was a boat trip to Espiritu Santo island, about 40 minutes across the water from La Paz. When the organizers mentioned that it would an all day excursion, on the beach, including swimming with seals, with a lunch of ceviche tostadas, and only one bathroom on the boat, I asked if I could bow out. Not only was my stomach not up to it but I had not yet received the full-lenght-sun-protection wet suit I'd ordered, and I felt like it was going to be way too much exposure for a redhead. The trip was planned, I think, more with the younger crowd in mind, and from the stories and pics they shared, it seemed like they had a great time. However, some complained that the boat was cold and the beach was hot and the lunch wasn't great; that the water was chilly and snorkeling with the seals a little scary, making me feel like I had made the right decision. Sure, I experienced a bit of regret at missing out, but what I did instead that day was take two lovely walks along the waterfront (with LOTS of sunscreen slathered on), stopped in at an adorable cafe for brunch, and holed up in my hotel room, catching up on The White Lotus. It was kind of the rest I needed. 

Sunset in La Paz with some of the group

The next two days were taken up with non-stop meetings, during the majority of which attendees shared presentations about their time thus far in Mexico, whether about classes, community, friends, food, projects, or any other relevant information that could be squeezed into five minutes. My presentation was called Mujeres Extraordinarias (Extraordinary Women) and it focused on the women I've met in Tepatepec who have impacted and inspired me in some way. It was hard to confine it to five minutes that's for sure, because everywhere I go I meet extraordinary women who seem to run this community with the utmost love, kindness, and ingenuity. Many have become my good friends and I anticipate gettting to know more in the four months we have left here. 

The café where I ate in La Paz

My yummy brunch

Me and one of my cohorts, the amazing Ashlyn Anderson

A smattering of Fulbrighters  

Returning to school after that was satisfying, in that it was great to get back into the routine, and I found myself experiencing an even greater sense of belonging. Everywhere I go on campus, the staff and students know me and greet me, and going into the classrooms and seeing the familiar faces smiling enthusiastically at me makes me really happy. My writing project continues to move forward and I feel like I'm in the groove. 

A colorful classroom

My goals for these next four months are to spend as much time as possible with our friends here, travel more widely in Mexico, teach as effectively as possible, support those in my writing group to bring their projects to fruition, and to enjoy every single aspect of being here - even the inconvenient ones. This is the opportunity of a lifetime; I plan to live it to the fullest. 

Photo credit San Agustin Through the Gate to Jon Ellis

Amor, Paz, y Abundancia

As I write on this thundery, rainy New Year's Eve 2022 in Tepatepec, I wish you all love, peace, and abundance. Here, we are a little sad because Nacha, the Pug who lived in our patio, has passed away. She got out the front gate yesterday and was hit by a truck. And though she didn't die, her injuries were very serious, so our neighbors decided to put her down. Poor Pompón, the Akita, will be very lonely.

In spite of this bit of sadness, Jon and I have had a wonderful holiday. My mother Pat, my sister Susan, John, my brother-in-law, and his sister Carol came all the way to this far-flung area of Mexico to spend Christmas with us. It's not necessarily an easy trip for a ninety-year-old lady and a man with some physical challenges, but they braved the three-hour flight and two-hour drive, and arrived unscathed. In fact, they were up for adventure. The first to confront them, about two hours after their arrival, was our downstairs toilet flooding. This situation was not confined to the bathroom, but came oozing out into the living room and kitchen, and was only kept from spreading farther by our using every towel available to sop it up. Keep in mind, this was Friday, December 23rd. We frantically called around for a plumber, Jon and I dreading the idea of having to spend the Christmas weekend without the use of our toilets - or any water in the house - and of having the family visit ruined. Eventually, the plumber showed up and discovered that the blockage was not accessible from the toilet. Instead, he had to dig up the cement in the front patio to find the culprit, exposing raw sewage. Oh boy. I had sent Susan, John, and Carol to their hotel to check in and get away from the stench, but Mom was staying with us, weathering it all with good grace. The plumber had found the problem and fixed it by the time we returned from dinner out. Thank god our fears had come to naught. We spent that night without the use of the downstairs bathroom, which was okay, and with a stench in the front yard, but the next morning it was all fixed. I scrubbed the entire house just for good measure and we got on with our Christmas celebrations.

On the 24th, we took the gang out into the marketplace to experience the crazy wonder of the swarm of people doing their last-minute food shopping for the holiday. Carol, John, and Susan did some exploring of their own around town, impressed, I was happy to hear, by the quaint charm of our sweet little town. For dinner, we had tamales from my friend Anna, and taquitos that I bought in the marketplace. Susan read her traditional Christmas story after dinner - this year, it was The Legend of the Poinsettia, a beautiful Mexican tale - and we felt as cozy and contented as could be. 

Now, I have to back up and relate the story of the tamales, which we acquired on a very special day: that of the Festival de la Gordita here in Tepatepec. The festival has been an annual tradition for six years, though it was paused for two because of the pandemic. Arlo was one of the festival's main organizers and pulled it off with great success. Gordita, which means "little fatty," is the name of a food that consists of an oblong, thick corn tortilla, split in half and stuffed with all varieties of fillings. In Tepatepec, they are famous for panza de res, which is beef belly, making the gorditas de panza de res a local delicacy. At the festival, which took place on December 17th,  vendors sold gorditas of all kinds, those of panza de res being the most popular. For the festival, the whole center of town was converted into an outdoor food fair with two blocks of tables and chairs set up so folks could dine in comfort, plus many blocks more of artisans selling foods and crafts from all over, and tables set up by the local merchants, lining the streets. (In this video promoting the Festival, Anna sings https://youtu.be/FmIy3XBeC6w. I hope you'll take a look - just skip the preliminary ad.)

There was a main stage where musical acts and folklore dance groups performed, and another where a puppet troupe performed throughout the day. Jon and I feasted on the gorditas in the morning, and caught some wonderful dance performances in the afternoon. We bought some artisanal chocolates, coffee, and non-artisanal sunglasses for me. We socialized with many friends we ran into, and then, at seven that evening, headed to Anna's neighborhood for a posada.

The Pilgrims

The Posada is a Mexican tradition wherein families welcome "pilgrims" from the neighborhood, who come representing the holy family looking for shelter. The family inside the house sings a kind of call and response with the pilgrims, refusing them shelter, until the pilgrims convince them to let them in. They come in bearing figures of the holy family, and place them in the nativity. Then there's more singing and a short service, followed by...tamales!!! The host family gifts tamales, sweets, and ponche (punch) to all their guests and a party ensues. We left there laden with extra tamales, most of chicken, some of chocolate! We promptly put them in the freezer to save til Christmas Eve because my family has had the tradition of eating tamales and other Mexican foods every Christmas Eve, having adopted the tradition from living in Tucson for so many years. 

To return to Christmas day: the family gathered at our house for a breakfast of homemade blueberry coffee cake, bacon, and eggs, then we exchanged little gifts. This year, of course, our gifts were each other, but Jon and I received organic chocolates which we'd been sorely missing, and gifted soaps and lotions to the others from Anna's shop of natural products. Though Christmas was on Sunday, the tianguis, or street market, was in full swing and I was thrilled to be able to share with my family one of my favorite weekly events. 

On Monday, we toured my university - kind of. Jon, Carol, and Susan walked the mile and a half there, but Mom, John, and I, for lack of a taxi, ended up taking a combi - as you recall, the little vans that make up a network of local transportation. As we could see the university from the road, we told the driver we were going to stay on and ride with him on his route. This took us up into the hills behind Tepa, through farmland with chickens and sheep, on dirt roads, and into an even more "real" Mexico than Tepa, which is about as real as you can get. The driver became our tour guide, pointing out interesting things, and when we got back to town, only charged us the price of a round-trip ride to the Uni and back - though I gave him a little extra for his kindness. That evening, Carlos and his boyfriend joined us for dinner: pastes from the local shop that makes them extra spicey.

Tuesday morning we had a brunch for Anna and her family here at the house, then in the afternoon, went to Actopan for a stroll, to see the beautiful convent, and to have a nice dinner out.

Convent in Actopan

Ceiling of the basilica in Actopan

Wednesday was my family's last full day here. Anna's mom had told us how to rent our own personal combi to take us to the archeological site of Tula (see previous post for more images), a comfortable and easy trip for everyone. While Susan and Carol clambered up the pyramid, I walked with mom, taking our time, as it's about half a mile from the main building to the site on a dirt path. Doing the mile round trip was a challenge for her, but she accomplished it like the trooper she is. All were impacted by the historical significance and the beauty of the place. 

Thursday they left in that same rented combi, and Jon and I were left with our heads in a whirl. Other than that first day disaster, it couldn't have been a more wonderful visit. 

Friday we had a visit from one of my Fulbright comadres who spent the night and caught us up on all the happenings with our fellows in other areas of Mexico. I will see them all in a week when I travel to La Paz, Baja CA for our mid-term reunion. 

We've spent the evening quietly, watching movies and basking in thoughts of family, friends, and this amazing place. We can't wait to see what the New Year will bring.