Wherever life takes us

TO: Your Majesties the Three Kings, Father Christmas, Santa, Papa Noël and anyone else who makes wishes come true

Greetings! I know you are all very busy at this time of year and I also know that I've left it very late to write this letter to you. But as you are all full of goodwill, I'm sure you'll find something on my Christmas List that you can maybe help with. First of all, thank you for what you did to make some of my wishes come true the last time I wrote. A lot of the holes in the road WERE filled... they have just re-appeared after the rainy season again. Maybe they could be filled up again? And I read somewhere that the lakes in Chapultepec Park ARE going to be cleaned... now we have to wait and see how long that will take. And finally, YES, the authorities have announced that there will be a COMPULSORY DRIVING TEST for everyone in DF starting in 2014. How on earth did you pull that one off?! I am truly thankful to you all.

Now here's my list this year. First of all, I have included a few things which Mexico City needs desperately and then a few personal ones:

SOME THINGS FOR MEXICO CITY:

Please could you:

1. Bring to an end to all the protest marches and blockages which are making life very difficult and terribly frustrating here in the city.
2. Send all the teachers from Oaxaca, Guerrero and Veracruz who are currently camping out around the Monumento a la Revolución back to their communities so they can do what they are paid to do.
3. Remove all corrupt politicians, policemen, judges, businessmen, union leaders, tow-truck drivers and others from their positions and replace them with honest people.
4. Cream off a bit of the nata (layer of pollution which hangs over our city most days) and deliver some fresh air.
5. Give someone the idea of planning an efficient suspended monorail system to transport the millions of people who need moving around the city each day.
6. Make sure all the man-holes in the middle of the roads are covered.
7. Get rid of the huge one-way system around Section 2 of Chapultepec Park and allow us to park free-of-charge there.
8. Lengthen autumn and shorten winter here in the city.
9. Soften the hearts of all the arrogantly wealthy people so they can spread a bit of goodwill and help the less fortunate.
10. Donate musical instruments to children and youngsters in crime-ridden neighborhoods so they have a chance to escape a life of drugs and delinquency.
11. Make it compulsory for all drivers, regardless of how long they have been so-called driving, to take a series of free driving lessons so they know what to do at roundabouts and how to change lanes without putting everyone's life in danger.
12. Remove all the sugar in soft drinks to reduce the alarming levels of diabetes in the city.
13. Increase the number of sports classes a week in schools from one to four so children can lead healthier lives. (You may have to arrange for the delivery of fresh air first before they do more outdoor activities!)
14. Ban all earthquakes over 4.5 on the Richter scale and stop the volcano Popocatepetl from smoking.
15. Align Mexican time with the rest of the world so that when they say, "See you in one hour", it means 60 minutes and not 125 minutes.

A FEW IDEAS FOR MY FAMILY

Please could you:

1. Get someone to invent tele-transportation so that Cristina can pop over for weekends from Barcelona.
2. Find a top-notch basketball team for Marc here in the city within 20 minutes's drive of his school.
3. Give Josep a magic wand for use at work.
4. Bring me a new camera. I wore my last one out.
5. Reduce Ozzy's energy and anxiety levels. Maybe he needs some tranquilizing tablets.

Thank you so much for helping out with my list and I'm sorry it's so long and has arrived a bit late.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Yours very sincerely

Me XXXXX

Ask any Mexican about the 12th December and they will tell you about one of the most important celebrations in the Mexican calendar... the Feast Day of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Ask any person who lives in DF about the same date and they will almost certainly also mention the traffic, noise, pilgrims and firecrackers. This week is when Mexico City, already bursting at its seams with over 25 million inhabitants, has to take on an almost supernatural elasticity to make room for an additional human mass of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come to the Basilica de Guadalupe, the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world after the Vatican. The only difference is that here they all descend at this site during the same week.

Today is the culmination of a journey for pilgrims from all over Mexico who have arrived to venerate the Virgen de Guadalupe on her special day, 482 years after she appeared to Juan Diego on this small hillside, the Cerro del Tepeyac. Many have come in buses, trucks and pick-ups from Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxacala and ever further afield. Some have cycled or walked with images of the Virgen tied to their backs or carrying their statues. Even more incredible are those who have come painfully on their knees. All of them, however, come with their faith in her intact, ready to thank her for the blessings and miracles she has bestowed on them over the past year.

The newspapers and TV are full of images and report that up to 6 million peregrinos are expected to have paid a visit this week, a huge gathering which stretches the services of Mexico City well beyond their already-frayed limit. With the crowds have come 1600 tons of rubbish which have been scooped up this week and an incalculable number of dogs who came along for the journey and have been abandoned to their fate. Fortunately no children have come unstuck from their parents so far. A kilometer-thick belt around the Basilica has been invaded by los fieles and I have no idea how the small stalls are providing enough food and drink for them all.

When I cycled up to the Basilica very early on Sunday morning, early-comers had already taken up residence. Whole families dressed in blankets were warming up their hands on steaming beverages in white polystyrene cups and munching tacos and molletes to give them fuel for the day. Small children had disappeared under thick layers of wooly hats, gloves, scarves and jumpers. I knew they were there somewhere because I could see their breath emerging in white wisps which drifted off in the cool crisp air. Groups of people all wearing the same color track suits were sitting on the steps or gathering around their community image or bandera, stomping their feet and conversing. Still others were decked in the typical dress of their pueblos, ready to sing and dance to the Virgen and anyone else standing around. The atmosphere was akin to that of a village fête or family outing, only on a gigantic scale, a sort of mega-city family fiesta. Thankfully, the weather accompanied the occasion and very soon, the winter woolies would be ditched as temperatures climbed dizzily from 4 or 5 degrees Celsius to the mid-twenties.

Last night, on the eve of the festival, a constant hum of music and noise filled the background space in my head as thousands of people made their way down Reforma in the dark, ready to arrive at the Basilica on time. Unexpectedly, I was shaken out of my noise-filled dream in the middle of the night by a call. Not surprisingly, there was an even greater cacophony going on in the background of the pilgrim's conversation who had mistakenly dialled my number. Morning light didn't bring the usual melodious birds' chorus but instead a never-ending queue of firecrackers going off all over the city. They are still making holes in the sky every few minutes.

At least the roads were fairly clear this morning when we left for school at 7 am. Tonight will be a different story though as thousands of pilgrims begin their journey home after another year's trip to the Basilica. I'm definitely staying at home this evening.

For more information, see a previous blog post:
http://whereverlifetakesus.travellerspoint.com/87/

It was actually during the last few days in November that I began to notice them. Springing up all over the city, strung along the streets, on buildings, in the parks and markets, colourful piñatas have begun to appear and transform the urban landscape into a giant party scene. Most of them are star-shaped, shimmering reds, golds, greens and purples, their tassels catching the breeze. Suddenly it looks like some kind of cosmic shower of stars has rained down on the city. It occurs without fail every year, round about the beginning of December. Yes, Christmas must be getting close!

Whether piñatas originally arrived from China via Spain and then on to Mexico or whether they were an ancient Mayan and Aztec rite, today they are as Mexican as tortillas, guacamole or tamales. Traditionally a clay plot was filled with sweets or fruit and then decorated using crêpe paper and cardboard and colors. Nowadays. most piñatas are made totally of cardboard and paper-mâché, For safety reasons. Nobody wants their child's head cut open by jagged pieces of pottery.

The piñata is strung up high, and children take turns at hitting it with a stick, their eyes blindfolded. Eventually, after much hitting and even more laughter, the pinyata breaks and spills its contents out onto the kids underneath it. Needless to say, there is usually something akin to a rugby scrum as one and all pounce on the candied treasure.

In past centuries, the Catholic church in Mexico gave the European/Aztec tradition a new meaning. The points of the star represented the seven deadly sins and the clay pot represented the temptations of evil. The faithful would symbolically resist temptation by hitting the pot and breaking it and would be rewarded by a handful of sweets. Today the religious significance has all but been lost and now piñatas are a guaranteed source of entertainment at children's parties and in Las Posadas, a Mexican tradition at Christmas time.

For me, though as soon as I see the dazzling stars appearing all over the city, I start to feel that Christmas is just around the corner... must go and buy my piñata!

Part 5 - Magical waterfalls

It took 1 and a half hours of bone-shaking driving into the mountains to find the waterfalls but they were well worth the effort and damage to our bodies. It's not every day you get one of nature's spectacular spots all to yourself!

• * *

We started off the day with a full-blown Mexican breakfast, knowing that there would be nowhere to eat along the way

We soon found ourselves driving along a very dusty bumpy dirt road heading up to the mountains

A small church we passed along the way

This area was still very dry

A typical house along the way

Watched attentively by the locals - a dog and turkey!

A small wayside stand by the road

Driving deeper into the mountains.. here it was very green

Crossing a stream

Tree draped in lianas

We finally arrive at the waterfalls. It took 1 hr 10 minutes to cover 30 kms of bone-shaking dirt mountainous road

Beautiful lush rainforest all around

The first waterfall we saw

Th Bridal Veil waterfall

Looked so refreshing

Walking to the other waterfalls

Green everywhere!

Squeezing through the rock

Huge tree trunks

A waterfall all to ourselves!

No captions needed for the following photos... this is paradise!

Time to go back down... slow going, following the local "bus"

A satellite dish in the middle of the forest!

Breakfast on the beach at Santa Cruz - our last full day at the Bahias de Huatulco

Delicious sincronizadas

This can only be Mexico!

Souvenirs in Crucecita

Funny sign seen

Fried ice-cream!!!!!

Weaving looms where they make rugs and mats and fabrics

Colour everywhere!

Even the chairs!

Mexican-style prawn cocktail - delicious!!

Sunrise on our last day

We ate breakfast on the empty beach at Playa de Chahue

Huatulco Airport with its palm huts! The end of our holiday and back to Mexico City!

Part 4 - Beaches, surf and relaxation

The second part of the holiday was spent at the Bahias de Huatulco, a series of 9 bays along the Pacific Coast. When you hear the words Pacific Coast, you know that there are going to be waves! We discovered that not all the beaches are suitable for swimming!

This was the hotel we stayed in, a little more "luxurious" than our ecological bungalow.

Although Huatulco is more developed than Mazunte, it's still very quiet.

A hotel at the Playa de Chahue

The Playa de Chahue, beautiful sand... but no-one around!

We soon discovered that it wasn't a place to swim as the currents were dangerous.

So off we went a few minutes down the coast to Santa Cruz

Boats in the port at Santa Cruz

Ready to take people on excursions along the 9 bays of Huatulco

Sign seen at Santa Cruz

There were tables right along the beach where you could sit and order food and drink whenever you wanted

Shady tables along the beachfront

We arrived early and had the beach to ourselves!

People started arriving later on

My first coffee of the holiday... cafe de olla, Mexican-style

It was a sheltered bay and safe to swim... no waves at all!

Two seagulls eyeing us up

The small port at Santa Cruz

An "open-air" church on the beachfront... a roof and pews but no side walls... and incredible views.

fun activities... the banana boat, a water-bicycle and other things

The church at Crucecita, a small town inland

Crucecita is a typical Mexican town, full of colour

A local bus

Enjoying a meal at Crucecita

Ripe mangos on a tree

Looking towards the church from the small kiosko in the town square

La Iglesia de La Crucecita

The inside was covered in paintings

La Virgen de Guadalupe, painted right along the ceiling, is the largest painting of the Virgen in the world!

View over the Bahias de Huatulco

Blue-coloured building

A small place called Bocana de Copalita

The coast is rocky along here...

...and popular with surfers

Riding the waves

Looks a bit dangerous by these rocks!

No lifeguards on duty!

The sand is blackish around here

Locals playing football

We visited a small locally-run iguana centre at Copalita where they breed iguanas and release them in the nearby National Park

Marc holding a young green iguana

Small green iguana

Iguanas are still caught for their meat!

Huatulco still hasn't been discovered by international visitors...we saw very few foreign tourists. Most were from the centre of Mexico and Mexico City. I hope it doesn't turn into a Cancun type of destination!