I am now home but wanted to end with this statue in Nora's neighborhood. It is a deer made of rebar and nuts and bolts. I think it is largely forgotten but it stands strong and guards over its domain.
It is hard for me to come home. Re-entery is always hard. I was looking forward to seeing Senor J, the kids and my house but I feel I belong in two places.
I feel I have family in two countries and homes in two countries.
I am one lucky woman..
I have to say something about Nora.
First I feel so blessed to call her a friend. I feel like I have known her for years. And although I rarely understand the specifics of what she says, we understand each other heart to heart.
As a traveling companion she is amazing. I have yet to get up the nerve to drive in MX so she does all the driving. She can go thru her gears and slip her car between other vehicles like a race car driver. She can park in a postage stamp and flip a u-y on a dime. She merges like she owns the road and in MX that says alot because they all own the road. And she goes toe to toe in her little car like she was in a Suburban.
She passes when I would not but I always feel confident in her driving. She knows she can pass on a hill or curve if each of the lanes going in the two directions has a shoulder because if you start to pass, both the on coming car and the one you are passing pull over to each use their shoulders, making a lane right down the middle for the passer.
She is good humored, never seems to tire of driving, enjoys the tidbits I have learned on Wikipedia or somewhere and that I try to share in my deeply flawed Spanish and is always taking me off somewhere to a place or experience I would never have found or known about.
She is also a great parent, patient when needed but can also set clear limits. She has that fabulous Mexican way of always referring to her children as, "mi amor" or " Mi vida" etc
I feel an angel crossed my path the day I got placed in a school with her as the teacher. The first day she drug me off, when I had no idea where we were going, to eat on plastic stools at a roadside, tarp covered eatery, I knew we had something special.
I know we are going to have more adventures together and as my Spanish gets better our friendship will only deepen.
On Sunday we went to another nearby small town, Chignahuapan.
We had a great breakfast and then went to one of the churches that has a beautiful statue of Maria and Jesus at the front alter. Nora said it was carved of wood but another source said it is plaster. Either way it is quite stunning.
It was raining and Nora was prepared with two ponchos so we bought two more. Me still in my Tevas.
As we left the church we ran into a huge parade. ( I think my 4 or 5th on this trip.)
It had marching bands, flag girls and floats. The floats were all pulled either by great vintage trucks or tractors. And these were working machines not ones that sit in a garage and only come out for parades.
This town is known for celebrating X'mas all year. Shops are filled with globe sets of all sizes and colors.
And the town square had a huge world globe made of mesh. It was Sunday but lthere were workers stringing lights all over it. Because it was raining they were wearing yellow rain gear so in the harnesses crawling all over this thing, they looked like bees in their hive. It was at least 35 or 40 feet tall. And nearby they had the tallest artificial tree I have ever seen. It looked like a frosted glass cone. It towered over the world globe.
There is also a number of glass blowers, one even had a float in the parade.
The girls watched a glass blower and then bought one of his creations to paint there.
When I was looking up how to spell the name of the town, the article says the town looks like X'mas threw up all over it and that is a pretty accurate description.
On the way home we stopped at this great cheese stand.
This guy is winding one of the types into a big ball. Nora bought a delicious one that was lightly smoked.
We got back to Cuernavaca well after dark.
And we got back to more dead bees all over the floor. The house had been closed and locked for over 2 days. And I had thought I had solved the bee problem.
Tomatlan is the little pueblo, near Zacatlan, where we stayed.
This hotel could not have been more different than the 300 year old building in Puebla.
This one is way out in the country, out a dirt road surrounded with apple trees and then pine trees. They had chickens and a turkey and all the rooms have fireplaces because of the cold mountain air.
The cabins were all pine and would have fit right in the Sierras or Cascades. I think she said the hotel was about 10 years old.
We had two rooms to our cabin. One with two comfy beds with light weight, soft but very warm blankets and the bathroom attached.
The other room was a living room and fireplace, with a covered porch in front.
There was a restaurant there and play equipment and pastures for kids to play in. A very secure and tranquil setting.
At the suggestion of the woman who managed the place, we decided we needed to see these interesting rock formations near there.
We checked in and then drove to the State park where the rock formations are. Over time the area around the rocks eroded down leaving these rocks standing. Like clouds you can see familiar shapes or animals in them.
We rented horses and two guides for $34.00 US for 4 people for over an hour and 15 mins.
It was not really a horseback ride but just ambling along on the horses taking pictures, looking at the rocks and listening to the guide. I did not mind at all. He was charming and fun, easy going and definite eye candy.
I was also glad we did not walk. The ground was muddy, filled with ruts and hummocks and we returned in the dark and I was in Teva's.
At our last stop the girls got off their horses for climbing and picture taking and Nohemi's horse ran off.
One of the guides jumped on Berenice's horse and took off after it but it had too much of a head start. It was fun to see him ride full out, like in a movie.
The girls rode back double. They are both good riders.
This park also has a cabin you can rent in the middle of the area so you could experience the place alone at night and have more time to explore.
My pictures at the end did not come out it was too dark and my battery was gone. The guide said the rocks take the power out of batteries.
It was a great day and amazing that Nora could find her way back to the hotel on the dirt roads in the dark.
At a roadside store on the way we bought bonbons, which is Spanish for marshmallows, and Nohemi cooked a couple in the fireplace in our room.
(I am not sure if that is how bonbon is spelled but that is how it sounds. The dictionary and translator says they are called malvavisco but bonbons is easier to remember. )
Another amazing day being part of this amazing family.
This town is in the mountains. The climate reminded me of WA. Misty steady rain, people in boots and vests and me in Teva"s.
Nohemi watched this man cook and chop his meat, all the while asking him questions. She sat there while he prepared our food and then sat at the same place while she ate and continued to observe and talk to him. He was very friendly and I think he enjoyed her appreciation for his work.
Zacatlan is known for three things. Apple's, apple's, apples , waterfalls and clocks.
It is the Wenatchee or Sebastopol of Mexico. They make apple cider, Apple wine, a specially baked individual bread that has apples inside and every other things that can be made with Apple's
The bread is like a mini apple pie shaped like a domed thing.
There is a two sided flower clock in the main zocalo. One mechanism runs both sides at the same time. There is not another clock in the world that can do this.
The man who designed and made it, started taking clocks apart when he was 12. He taught himself how to repair and build them and he made his own tools for his craft. As an adult he started a clock factory and it is still on operation today
Unfortunately we were too late for the tour.
Along the road that borders the gorge where the waterfalls cascade, is this long wall which is a mosaic of small ceramic pieces and pieces of mirrors. It is very beautiful and different parts of the design commemorate different things in the life of the town post Hispanic. The Spanish came here to "bring Catholicism" to the Indigenous people, 300 years ago..
I never tire of Puebla.
Our hotel was in a 300 year old building. They preserved the old frescoes they found in renovation and they left some of the old original stone wall in a rectangle over the bed like a piece of art. They painted much of it in bright colors and filled these deep niches in the walls of the hall and tunnel with Talavera pottery. The staff was fabulous and the beds hard.
We visited the zocalo and watched another slide show on the church. This one was on the history of the construction of the church.
The stone carvings on the buildings and the way they are painted always amazes me. The Spanish, in all their destruction, certainly left their mark of beauty as well.
When I see 300 year old architecture it makes me realize how young the West Coast of the U.S. is.
Tonight I got the full story amidst tears and hugs. Worse than I understood.
Mari Carmen was not in Piedras Negres when she was killed but in the tent next to Nora.
There was two pine trees about 12 feet apart. Nora and the girls were near one. Near the other was a tent with 2 or 3 women from Argentina.
Out in front, in like a triangle, was Mari Carmen's tent. The tree near the Argintinian"s tent fell, killing Andrea in the Argintinian's tent and Mari Carmen in her tent.
Mari Carmen's tent was closed and with the torrential rain and wind Nora did not know for sure if Mari Carmen was in her tent or not.
Nora got the girls into their boots and got them to safety and then tried to search for her dear friend , continuing to return to the girls.
Finally it was discovered that Mari Carmen was killed instantly in her tent. It was Nora who had to call Mari Carmen"s husband and family to inform them. The body could not be immediately removed because they had to wait for authorities, probably like a coroner, as well as the equipment to lift the tree.
I feel that neither Nora or the girls have adequately dealt with this tragedy and trauma.
I was planning to go with them to this event but decided not to. I feel I am excellent in a crisis, I am clear thinking and can prioritize well and save my emotional clean up for later. But in this situation with my limited Spanish, other than being a comfort to the girls, I could well have been a liability.
I am SO GRATEFUL they are all safe and home.
Nora and her girls went for a week to a spiritual retreat near Guadalajara. They arrived back here late Sunday night and told of their "adventure".
The rain pounded down on their camp but they were warm and dry in their tent that they had covered with a large tarp. After a tree fell, killing one of the participants and injuring two others, they were evacuated to a shelter.
The people organizing the retreat were unorganized and unprepared and most of them left.
Nora and the girls were at the shelter cold and wet, with no belongings for one night.
Then they found out that one of Nora's close friends in Piedras Negres was killed in flooding caused by the hurricane weather.
They then were able to get their car and belongings and they drove to Zacatecas where the girls stayed with cousins and Nora took a bus to Piedras Negres. It is about a 14 hr ride.
She helped and visited with her friends family and the community and then took the bus back to the girls and then they all drove here with their Dad.
Nora said Nohemi talked all the time about what was happening but Berenice got silent and would not talk at all. She was in shock from the trauma of it all but a few doses of Rescue Remedy brought her around.
I am so glad they are all home safe.
We arrived at Ocotepec well after dark with candies to give the children, candles for the houses we visited and an empty mug in hand.
Gerardo said that the town of Ocotepec is unique in a couple of respects. All land is communally owned and the town is very well organized, so if the government says they have to do something and the citizens don't like the rule, they don't do it.
They are also unique in that on Dia de Los Muertos any family that has had someone die in the preceding year, opens their house to all visitors. You find the houses by the long lines in front.
The family serves something to drink hot fruit punch or coffee usually and many also have bread. A few have tamales or other food. You have your mug for the drinks.
One gave a splash of tequila in the coffee.
The houses are decorated with archways, flowers candles and of course the alter.
At the alter they use loaves of bread under clothes to be their loved ones; surrounded by their favorite foods, personal items and flowers.
The first house we visited was very moving for me because they were commemorating three people. One was their daughter of only 26 who died of leukemia. They had the gathering in their large garden complete with a bon fire and fireworks. They had a video of their loved ones lives and live music.
The last house was very small and the room for the people to file in was their kitchen, dining room and living room with the alter taking up half the space. The area had all the furniture removed and was only identifiable by the small stove in the corner.
There are no photos inside the houses or of any.alters for obvious reasons. The one alter you see surrounded with candles was on a street corner and the two Catrinas were in the outside area of one house.
It was amazing to take part in this personal and yet public event.
