I should not have done it

But I did.
I bought this painting from this local artist.  His Dad builds the frames and stretches all the canvases and they both paint.
The paint is still wet in the thick parts so I took a taxi home. I was afraid on the ruta something would happen to it.
My friend Charlie has two from, I think, the same.artist.  I always admired them and then on Wed I happened upon their little shop where they sit and paint until it gets dark.
So yesterday I went back and bought this one and left it there until after the parade, to give it more time to dry.
It completes my room.
$350.00 pesos, about $22.00 US.
Hand painted oil..

Daddies and daughters

Every culture has this.

The last dad put his daughter down and started dancing with her in the street.  It was so cute.

Dia de los Muertes parade

The parade started at Iglesia Calvario and went thru the streets ending at the Jardin Borda.
There were some groups like the ones in Ballet Folkloric dress with their faces painted but there were also families both costumed and not. Anyone could join in.  No police telling people to get back on the sidewalks.  Everyone moved and danced to the trumpets and drums.

I loved the young guys painted totally black, no tights. Then they must have let it dry and then someone painted very well done skeletons on them.
The dragon was awesome.

I smiled so hard, I felt like I was going to cry.
I just love this country and culture.
It was incredible to be in the middle of this tide of people.

Work

In the past often work was not only to get a task completed but was a form of self expression.  
Now I think it is usually only artists that get that luxury.
Now people often are rated on how many tasks they complete and if the number is too low the person is told to work more quickly.
In Mexico there are many examples of common utilitarian things where the builder or maker has also completed it with self expression.   These things make such a wonderful contribution to the surroundings.
Some are old but many are new.

The first is a sidewalk.   The next ones are different walls and the last two the small dome in Nora's house.

Today if a worker was pushing little stones into the morter that had oozed out between the larger stones or bricks in a wall, the worker's boss would point out that while the worker was doing this, other workers were on their third or forth wall.

Tuesday market

Right around the corner.   Everything you can imagine.
And I even passed on Nora's contact info to a woman in obvious need of chiropractic care.  She was grateful and also that Nora is so close.

At times it is fun to be the gringa who can speak a little Spanish.
I feel so much better that I can participate in life here, rather than only being more of an observer.

Bees (abejas) final act.

I went on the roof and found the skylite to be totally tight.  I concluded that the bees were coming in under the eaves to a little covered balcony off Nora's room.  The door is always open for light and ventilation. 
Due to their crazy activity around the lights I figured they were coming in before dawn attracted to the lights that are on while the girls get ready for school.

So I bought screening.  The first photo is before and the second after.

Due to the height,  angle and having only a chair, I could only use the staple gun on the bottom.  (I love a woman who has tools. : ) )
I am going to look for brown duct tape for the sides.  The ceiling is cement so I turned the screening out so it will be like razor wire for the little suckers.
The last photo is 3 days of bees.  I saved them in case I needed the bomberos to come. I thought they might need proof I was not a crazy gringa, if they hadn't found a nest, which they would not have.
So, I think, no more bees or mosquitoes.   Yeah!

Note* I have enough screening for about 10 houses in the neighborhood.
The bees are now going to the basura cemetery.

Museum

Sunday museums in MX are all free and I went to a new one.  It is a museum of contemporary indigenous art.
It was small but very well done.

Afterwards out to the streets for a festival called "The Taste of Morelos".  (Morelos is the name of the State where Cuernavaca is).
There was music and food booths everywhere. Many done by restaurants and culinary schools and many of natural food options.
And of course the payasos, clowns.

After that I headed to a small town Tres de Mayo.  It is gearing up for Dia de los Muertos as well.

Dome

The dome over the computer area is much smaller than the one over Nora's big bedroom, so you can see, better in these photos, the beauty of the brick work.