Ruminations of an Expatriate

The Templo de la Soledad bell tower.

Another Templo sculpture.

And yet another, and there are many more.

The church across the plaza from the Templo has also has some  very impressive sculpturing.

With that I’m off for more exploration of the City.

The side entrance to the Templo is also quite elegant.

Through another entrance may be seen a courtyard centered by a fountain.

And across the plaza is yet another elegant church.

The magnificent Templo de la Soledad (Solitude) lies midway between the Hotel Virginia and the Zocolo. The main entrance of the edifice, constructed of cantera stone, is surrounded by intricately carved figures of religious significance.

The templo is built upon the site of a 1543 apparition of the Virgin Mary, was completed in 1690, and declared a basilica in 1959.

The temple is flanked by sprawling plazas, one of which is framed on two sides by the stone amphitheater type seating seen in the photo below.

I arrived in Oaxaca this morning at 7:30, after an all night bus ride from Xalapa. The ADO GL bus line has very modern, very comfortable buses, complete with bathrooms. The fare to here from Xalapa is $390 pesos (the current exchange rate is $10.88 peso per $1.00 USA), about what it would cost to drive; but buses to here leave Xalapa only on Friday and Sunday nights, though one may first bus to Puebla for more frequent departures to here.

I had purchased a pair of Bluetooth wireless headphones, through which I may listen to the music stored in my phone/mp3, so passed the trip listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Dixie Chicks, and to the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and a variety of other classic music selections. The bus made three or four stops, but I’ll be damed if I can tell you where, as I was fading in and out.

About an hour and a half out of Oaxaca the sun had risen sufficiently for me to see the countryside. It is quite dry here and the rolling hills are sparsely covered with shrubby vegetation. I was told by a taxi driver that most rain falls here in June, July, and August, when it is usually quite humid; and that the hottest months are April and May. There are small cultivated patches along the arroyos amongst the hills where I think corn is grown, though none is currently planted.

Oaxaca, itself, resides in a broad valley amongst the hills, with mountains beyond. At the outskirts of the city are green patches of irrigated agricultural lands, though I was unable to identify the low-growing crops. A taxi driver told me that the surrounding farmers grow a wide variety of vegetables which they sell in the central market here.

Leaving the bus station I crossed the street to one of a number of cocina economicas and enjoyed a breakfast of freshly extracted orange juice, juevos rancheros, a slightly sweet roll, tortillas, and a totally unsatisfying cup of reconstituted Nescafe instant coffee. All for $40. pesos and served by a very pleasant young fellow.

Here, as in Xalapa and Merida, folks entering a restaurant customarily greet those eating with a buenos dias, tardes, or noche, as appropriate, and with a buen provecha.

I took a $40. peso taxi ride from the bus station to the Hotel Virginia, where I had made reservations a couple of days prior. The room is clean and the water is hot, my only two essential requirements for hotel accommodations. The room is $300 pesos per night and the hotel is about a six block walk from the Zocolo, to which the central plazas here in Mexico cities are referred. I recommend the place, which also provides free wireless internet service.

Having checked in, cleaned up and took a bit of rest, I headed for the Zocolo, following a tourist map provided by the Hotel. I looked around a bit and parked myself at a table of a restaurant which afforded a Zocolo side view of the comings and goings. Adan, my waiter, speaks wonderful English, which he says he learned waiting on tourists here; and was a great source of information, being quite patient with my many questions.

There are lots of tourists here, though I am told the numbers are significantly less then before the “problems”, as both the taxi driver and Adan put it, here in 2006.

Those who keep up with news of Mexico will remember that a 2006 teachers’ resulted in the occupation of Centro Oaxaca by the teachers and their supporters. Barricades were erected around, Adan told me, a forty two square block area. Buses and buildings were burned; and, ultimately, President Fox sent in federal troops which shot and killed a number of folks in the process of removing the protesters’ encampments.

Centro Oaxaca, Adan also told me, is called Verde Antequera owning to the fact that very many of the buildings are constructed of green cantera stone. Antequera, he told me, refers to the indigenous folks who once lived in the area. Most of the Centro buildings were defaced with graffiti during the 2006 protests and the pale green paint used to cover the graffiti can be seen on most Centro buildings today, including upon all of the columns of the building housing the restaurant.

The Zocolo here is quite lovely, centered by a striking gazebo constructed of carved, green cantera stone and intricate iron railings. There are large, spreading trees and raised garden beds, also constructed of cantera, planted with blazing red poinsettias.

The vendors of all manner of handicrafts plying the Zocolo, reminds me of the vendors hawking their wares along the beach in Cabo San Lucas.

There was, as I sat enjoying a couple Bohemias, an organ player in the restaurant, accompanied by canned percussions, playing elevator type arrangements of popular North American songs, such as “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” and “It’s Now or Never, Our Love Can’t Wait”. Mid-way down the Zocolo was a duo playing the pan flute and guitar and at the far end a marimba band.

It is all quite festive.

A few days I ago I posted this photo of a caterpillar I encountered on the wall of the apartment building where I live.

A comment posted this morning by moonrock motivated me to take a look through the internet to try to identify the creature.

I found this site with a photo and a bit of a description which identifies it as a Saddleback Caterpillar. And this site with photos of the moth it is to become.

Here’s a photo of an interesting caterpillar I encountered crawling on a wall of the apartment building where I live.

Some may remember I posted a report of My Walk to Rancho Viejo, there weeks or so ago. I had headed out on a walk to explore Colonia San Bruno and ended up, after four kilometers of climbing up and over a couple of hills along a winding road, at Rancho Viejo. Quite sweaty and thinking of a beer, as I entered the pueblo I found myself at the gate of a wonderful restaurant specializing in fresh, locally grown trout. It was one of those serendipitous travel experience that seem to arrive when one sets out with no plan.

Like the space cadet I often am, I failed to remember the name of the restaurant.

This afternoon I drove to Los Paredones, the wonderful restaurant in Rancho Viejo, for another trout lunch and Indio beer. This time taking my pen and pad.

As it turns out there are a number of restaurants in Rancho Viejo serving fresh trout, none that I saw offering the amenities and ambiance of Los Paredones, though with lower prices, I suspect.

Rancho Viejo, as I learned from Maximino Salazar, a trout grower and owner, with his family, of the restaurant, is located in a valley transversed by two small rivers, Rio Pisquiac and Rio Xoco Yolapan, neither of which ask me to pronounce. The rivers names are Nahuatl, the indigenous language of the Aztecs still spoken in areas of Central Mexican. The tranquil and sunny valley consists of a patchwork of pastures and forests containing Oak, Cedar, other tress of which I am unfamiliar, and a fairly open shrubby under story. The area brings to mind the hill farms flanking the “hollers” in the Appalachian mountains. It provides a tranquil relief from the traffic and smog of Xalapa.

Maximino, who indicated I should call him Max as no one knows him as Maximino, informed me that Rancho Viejo resides upon the sight of a former hacienda owned by a Spaniard, of the name Rodriguez, to whom the land was granted by dictator Porfirio Díaz. Rodriguez lost the land during the land reform movement following the revolution that deposed Diaz.

Max indicated that most development in Ranch Viejo has occurred during the last four years. He also invited me back to visit him in his house for coffee and conversation.

I hope locals, and those visiting Xalapa, will pay a visit to Los Paredones. The very reasonably priced ($65. pesos for a trout platter of about 15 varieties) food is as fine as I’ve eaten; the family operating the place is very warm and friendly; the bathrooms are modern and spotless; the service is great; and the ambiance provided by the open air, wood frame structure surrounded by gardens is relaxed and pleasant. The restaurant is open only on Saturdays and Sundays and you should plan to get there by 2:30 or so, as by 4:00 the placed was packed, including the unroofed adjoining patio, upon which tables were set as the guest arrived. To get there take Sayago, pass through San Bruno, and take the left fork at the road to San Andres. Its over just a couple of hills from San Bruno. The restaurant is on the left just as you enter centro Rancho Viejo. You will not be disappointed.

After you meal take a drive through Rancho Viejo, (tkae a left when leaving the restaurant parking area) where you will not encounter a typical centro plaza. There is a gorgeous river stone and mortar church on the right not far from the restaurant and picturesque farms along the road.

I had Trucha (Trout) Rancho Viejo, grilled trout laid open on the plate, complete with head, and covered with a crumble concoction containing Macadamia nuts, a bit of sugar, and I don’t know what else. The fish was accompanied by rice with peas and carrot bits, traditional hereabouts; cucumbers slivers in a mayonnaise sauce; a cup of soup; and chips, salsa, and a somewhat spicy chip sauce of mayonnaise, ketchup, and I don’t know what else.

A few days ago I posted pictures of the work of constructing an addition to the apartment building in which I live.

The workers are now placing the reinforcement bar for the beams that will support the upper floors and placing the form work for the second floor slab itself.

Above is a shot of some of the construction workers after work on Saturday afternooon enjoying a few hands of cards. I have become quite familiar with the fellows, who, I think, consider it a bit odd that a gringo would take such an interest in their work.

The photo at right shows the form work for the second floor slab. The posts are slender tree trunks which support wooden boards laid on edge, over which are placed thinner boards upon which the second floor slab will be poured.

Again, every bit of concrete used in the construction is mixed by hand on a concrete slab, using shovels, and placed into or onto the forms using five gallon buckets.

And here you can see a typical rebar bundle for the beams that will span from column to column and which support the upper floor walls.

The rebar is laid up essentially in the same manner as it is in the USA, but here the bundles are put together on site using only hand tools and manual labor. Often in the USA the rebar bundles are assembled in specialized workshops and shipped to the site for placement.

In the USA workers use special twister type pliers to secure the tie wire that is used to connect the pieces of rebar together. Here the fellows use a piece of rebar that is bent at 90 degrees and sharpened at one end to twist the wires that connect the pieces.

I find it all quite fascinating.

As I mentioned a few days ago that I would , I spent new year eve at the Tavola Trattoria restaurant and stayed out later than I have since my thirtieth high school reunion ten years ago. I had spent my previous two new year eves here at home.

When I arrived at 9:30, no other customers had arrived and didn’t begin to arrive until after ten. Generally speaking folks here begin their partying or music events later and stay at it later, including the children, than that to which I am accustomed. (Many nightclub music performances don’t get underway until 9:30 or 10:00.) By 10:30 two of the three Tavola seating areas were full of celebrating families.

I spent the evening at a table with the restaurant owner, her mother and younger sister, a gringa from Chicago who teaches English here, and a friend of the owner and her ten year old daughter Nelany, a Hawaiian name meaning tranquil sky, as her mother informed me.

The was much dancing, which the young children seem to particularly enjoy; a delicious four course meal of appetizers, ravioli stuffed with four different cheeses and spinach, beef roast and mashed potatoes, and double chocolate cake; champagne; and sparklers for the strike of midnight. We were each also provided a glass with twelve grapes, one for each month. One makes a wish while eating each grape.

During the evening about a third of those present continually had their cell phones open, sending and receiving felicidades to and from their friends and families. At one point, Nelany asked her mother for her phones and her mother pulled three phones out of her purse, two of which were Nelany’s and only one hers, she assured me. She indicated that Nelany is familiar with all of the phone and her home computer functions while she, herself, was capable of only making calls and sending email.

At midnight the sparklers were lit and everyone in the restaurant got up and circulated to wish every other patron a happy new year, a wish accompanied by hugs, kisses, and hand shakes.

It was a wonderful evening.

There is apparently not the fondness for new year fireworks here, as I remember there is in Merida. There the explosions continued through the night. Here I heard only a couple of reports.

I should also note that the Chedraui store where I shop frequently put out racks of red and yellow bra/panty sets a week or so before new year eve.  I have since learned from reading “What I Do All Day” that the underwear is worn for luck, one color for luck in love and the other for money.

The owner of the apartment building where I live is adding more apartments. The construction site is what used to be a parking area where I was able to store my pickup. The work began in the Summer, and every day since there have been from two to more than ten fellows working on the project.

The work began with the demolition of the areas of the parking lot slab where footings would be poured and a small structure that existed on the site. Demolition was completed by a group of fellows with hammers and chisels. No machinery was used.

There is almost ubiquitous here during weekdays and Saturdays the clinking of hammers on chisels and the thump of sledge hammers colliding with masonry, as workers demolish or remodel existing structures.

Keep in mind that labor here is inexpensive so everything is done quite labor intensively. I believe the minimum wage for construction workers here is about 47 pesos per day, roughly the equivalent of $4.35 US.

These photos show typical construction in Mexico, which consists of concrete columns, spanned by concrete beams, and topped with a structural slab floor or roof. The columns you see here will support the load of two additional stories and a roof. You can also see that lumber supports have been placed against the columns, upon which the beam forms will be placed. The spaces between the columns will be filled with either brick or concrete blocks, which will be finished with a layer of stucco.

Every bit of concrete that you can see in the photos, and a substantial quantity which can not be seen, has been mixed by hand and poured into the forms from buckets. The concrete is mixed on the existing concrete slab, where gravel is placed in a bowl shape; sand, cement, and water are added; and workers with scoop type shovels do the mixing. Such is how concrete is typically mixed here. A couple of days ago there was a group of workers mixing concrete in Calle Calijero, one of the main drags through the Centro shopping district, with which to patch a relatively large portion of one side of the street which had been excavated.

Right after celebration of Revolution Day on November 20 Christmas decorations began appearing in Xalapa. Here are a few shots.

Here’s a rather obscure shot of the tree erected in the small plaza across Calle Enriquez from the state government building.

I ran across this great sculpture of an electrical lineworker and groundworker while walking the other day and thought my friends at McCleary Light and Power might enjoy the photo.  By the way guys, that’s a 75 kva transformer hanging on the pole.

The sculpture is  across the street from the main local CFE office and service compound.   As far as I was able to determine, except for the wires above, it is almost totally composed of concrete, even the rope held by the groundworker, who, by the way, is  holding a flashlight directed above.  As you can see at the bottom of the photo, the sculpture sets in the midst of a fountain.

Utility poles here are typically of concrete, thus the workers climb the poles using a couple of  straps into which they insert their feet and alternately slide the ropes up the pole.

CFE, Comision Federal de Electicidad, is the publicly owned utility responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical energy throughout Mexico.

I think CFE is a good example of how a publicly owned enterprise, providing an essential public service can act to advance societal objectives, such as economic development and providing jobs.

Here most everyone uses LPG for cooking and water heating, and there is no space heating needs.  My latest bill, for the period of Sept. 28 through Nov. 29, is $191.78 pesos, about $17.75 USA at today’s exchange rate.  I consumed 244 kWh   during the period, with the first 150 Kwh charged at .637 (about 5.9 cents USA/kWh)  pesos per kWh  and the other 94 kWh at .751 pesos per (about 6.9 cents/kWh).

I have pretty much finished the Tavola trattoria web site, though I am still awaiting the menu items the owner wishes to note.

Here are a couple of images of the cards the owner produces to promote the coming musical offerings.

Last year I posted this photo with a bit of a story of the fellow, Jesus Villalobos Germiniano (what a great name), in Parque Juarez whom I visit periodically for shoeshine and conversation.

This morning I took some sugar cookies to Jesus and had a shine. I periodically take him cookies or banana bread I’ve made.

Jesus always asks where I’ve been since I last visited. I told him of my walk to Rancho Viejo and my drive the previous weekend.

Here’s a shot of a shoeshine lineup in Parque Juarez. Jesus is the fellow at center with the light colored shirt and white belt. You can see the canopies over the chairs contain campaign advertisements, though I don’t get the idea that the shiners necessarily support the candidate advertised on their canopy.

You can see just this side of his stand the lawn chair in which Jesus sits while awaiting customers. When I arrived at his station this morning there was a fellow in the chair and another waiting, while many of Jesus’ competitors were without customers the entire time I was there.

As Jesus was finishing up the shine he pulled this model of his shoeshine station out of a bag and presented it to me. Like the box above, he crafted the station from cedar in his carpinteria at his home in San Bruno.

This Jean-Guy Allard report in Granma includes the following: “Bello Melchor Rodríguez y Carrillo, federal prosecutor in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo [Cancun’s state, for those who don’t know] revealed a few weeks ago that the city of Merida, Yucatan, is the Cuban mafia’s center of financial operations.

“Cuban-Americans killed in recent weeks include Manuel “El Mani” Duarte Díaz, Luis Lázaro Lara Morejón, his friend María Elena Carrillo Sáenz, Jesús Aguilar Aguilar, Edwin Park Gómez and Maximiliano Rey Mota.

“Lara Morejón was the liaison who received funds from the United States for trafficking carried out by Duarte Díaz, who was murdered in the Yucatan capital near the offices of the National Migration Institute. He later ensured payment for the polleros (smugglers) who bring Cubans to Quintana Roo’s coasts.

“According to several sources, one of the gangs involved hired the thugs of Los Zetas, the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel, to execute its rivals.

“The lime-covered, handcuffed bodies of Aguilar, Park and Carrillo Sáenz were found in a ditch near the Cancun-Merida highway, a site known as the ‘Los Zetas cemetery.’”

A week ago Saturday I drove through San Bruno and Luz del Barrio, through San Andres and a couple of other small pueblos, to the end of the road.

I have since been wanting to take a walking look at the San Bruno and Luz del Barrio colonias and what lays beyond. So Saturday morning, in need of exercise on a sunny morning, I headed West on Calle Sayago toward San Bruno. At Calle Avilla Camacho I crossed and continued West on Av. Martires del 28 de Agosto.

I really had no idea that I would end up two and a half hours later in Rancho Viejo, where, as it turned out, serendipity awaited. First, though, my walk.

San Bruno and Luz del Barrio are pleasant neighborhoods which radiate up the hillsides from a narrow creek valley. The area, I would say, is populated by working class folks, as most homes are modest. Being more recently developed, in some areas the neighborhoods lack some of the sidewalk, drainage, and roadway amenities enjoyed in the earlier settled areas of town.

Leaving Luz del Barrio the road climbs through a landscape of small holdings with pastures stretching uphill into the forest. The forest is quite different than that in the Coatepec, Xico, and Teocelo areas, as there is no dense under story of coffee bushes and banana trees. Large trees, oak and cedars amongst others, form a dense canopy which shades the under story, thus limiting the vegetation.

The road narrows as it climbs and is periodically lined with stands of timber bamboo, the really big stuff, that have been planted as sight-obscuring, impenetrable hedges along the occasional developed property. Piles of detritus, prolifically produced by the bamboo, accumulates at the side of the road, impinging the upon the roadway to the point where traffic must pass over it.

The roadway hairpinned down the other side of the hill, periodically passing an imposing masonry arch at a finca entrance; across a small creek; up and over a couple of more hills; and finally dropped down to to the settlement of Rancho Viejo. The pueblo resides within a bowl surrounded by hills. It is quite picturesque and is free of the traffic and haze which generally characterizes Xalapa.

Having walked, I was later told, about six kilometers I was ready to sit down for a bite and a beer. As my luck seems to very often have it, just as I was entering the center of Rancho Viejo I encountered an open air restaurant attached to an imposing brick home surrounded by lush gardens . Being a dunder head, I don’t remember the restaurant’s name, but do remember that it is open only on Saturdays and Sundays.

The restaurant, housed in an attractive wood-framed structure with nice views of the gardens, was staffed by four very pleasant young women, at least some of whom I took to be sisters. I imagined they were a bit surprised to see a sweaty gringo amble in. They were very patient with my many questions.

The specialty of the house is fresh trout, and I do mean fresh, offered in 15 or so different preparations. I thought it appropriate to go for the Trucha Rancho Viejo.

The trout are grown in tanks, aside a river about four kilometers away, by the father of at least two of the women in attendance. There is a photo of the fish tanks on the wall.

The lunch, accompanied by two Indio beers, included a grilled trout, gutted and boned but with head and skin, laid opened on the plate with half covered in a slightly sweet, slightly nutty crumble of cheese and I don’t know what else, with the other half covered in rice with peas and carrot chuncks. Cucumbers in mayonnaise was served on the side and the preceding chips were warm, fresh out of the fryer.

I asked about bus service back to Xalapa; paid the bill; walked out through the garden; and, again as my luck often has it, as soon as my foot hit the pavement a bus appeared. I jumped on and headed home.

It was another of those serendipitous travel experiences into which I often happen.

I have often heard and read gringos asserting that electronic equipment is very much more expensive here Mexico than it is in the USA. A sentiment of which I have been skeptical.

Those asserting such, I think, don’t keep in mind that when comparing the costs of items here to the cost in the USA that the prices here include the 15% VAT. A Value Added Tax, for those who don’t know, is similar to a sales tax; but, as I understand, is imposed upon every transaction involving a particular good.

I have today configured identical Dell XPS M1330 notebooks on the Mexican and USA Dell websites. The cost of the Mexican unit, with the VAT removed and using today’s exchange rate of $10.89, comes to the equivalent of $1,138. USA. The USA unit is $1,149.

Individuals here do not pay income tax, but are taxed through the VAT. So I think to fairly compare prices one should discount the VAT, as those in the USA (if they’re honest and aren’t Boeing and ilk)  have already paid taxes on the money for which they are paying for the Dell.

Admittedly I haven’t done detailed comparisons, just that I did today; but intuitively, with the 15% VAT discount, the prices of electronic things and appliances here and  in the USA seem to be in the ball park.

It is my conclusion, incidentally, that electronic things are cheaper in the mom and pop types stores in Centro than they are in the “big box” mall stores. The best deals on electronic goods, however, may be found through Mercado Libre, I believe.

Vehicles seem to be cheaper here, as well as leather goods, clothing in general, and a whole bunch of other things which don’t presently come to mind. Real estate, however, is expensive.

OK, I’m a bit tardy in posting these photos of the November 20th parade but I’ve been busy furthering my self-education in web site authoring. I’ve learned specifically about add-on domains, as I didn’t want the Tavola site URL to include my domain name.

The parade, as it was last year, was composed mainly of school children parading in their school uniforms, performing various drills. One school group performed a stunning drill with yellow, purple and green umbrellas .

There were also groups of adults representing various government departments.

As you can see there were also quite a number of schools whose students, both girls and boys, were dressed as guerrillas and in traditional clothing. One group riding a train, which evoked thoughts of the famous photos of Pancho Villa and his troops on a train. The young guerrillas on the train would periodically disembark and lie in the street as if shooting at the enemy with their wooden guns.

Students and teachers from one of the sports school represented,as you can see in the photo below, pushed their wheelchair bound comrades along the route.

The parade lasted more than three hours, with spectators lining Calle Avilla Camacho, and wended its way past the reviewing stand in front of the state government palace.

It was all quite festive, though most of the children in the parade looked as though they wished there were elsewhere.

I am putting together a website for Tavola Trattoria, my favorite restaurant.  The colonial home in which Tavola is located is red and green also figures prominently into the decor, thus the colors of the website.  The header photo is of the sign attached to the street side wall of the building.

Tavola features jazz music Friday night’s and a variety of music genres Sunday afternoons.

Tavola serves the best pizza I have ever eaten, honestly.   I posted here about Tavola in October.

Today in Xalapa is the Dia de Musica. There was a mini-parade of a couple trucks with marimba bands parading through Centro.

Last February I posted a video of one of the many marimba bands that play on the streets here.