Maniacal Rock Climbing a.k.a. Another Long Post

Well, I have just returned from another fabulous weekend. Let me share it with you...

Rogelio, Fernanda, Booz, Chino (Rogelio and Fernanda’s nephew), and I traveled to Ixtlan, Mexico this weekend to visit Rogelio’s family and attend church on Sunday. Friday night we had decided to leave at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, which of course ended up being 7:00 a.m. (really... who leaves at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning? We were thinking crazy...).

So, we got on the road and it was truly a beautiful morning. The sun was just starting to rise as we headed out of Morelia and we passed a couple lakes and rivers that were silver and purple with drifting tendrils of fog creeping across their still surfaces, reflecting the darker shapes of the mountains looming in the background. It truly belonged on a postcard or a postage stamp... but since I am fresh out of postage stamps and postcards you’ll just have to imagine it for the moment... =)

We arrived in Ixtlan around 9:30 a.m., met Rogelio’s mother, Carmen (a Grandma Mildred look-alike, talk-alike, dress-alike... well, let’s just say that if you were a Mexican grandma, Grandma Mildred... you would have been this woman... =P), his two sisters, their twelve birds, one rooster (which I wanted to kick... more later), one bunny, and ten million fruit trees in the backyard (I kid you not...). We all immediately sat down to desayuna (breakfast), and then headed on a short walk to the town plazza, which was a beautiful little square decorated (of course) with banners and garlands of green, red, and white for Mexico’s month of Independence. We walked around for a little bit, then headed to the mercado (essentially an open-air market for produce, meat, bread, etc.) to pick up some tortillas, fruits, and veggies. While we were talking with one of the men at his vegetable stand, another supplier walked in with a huge box of aguacate (avocados), and Rogelio and Fernanda ended up buying twelve kilos of avocados... that’s right... TWELVE kilos (probably... let’s see... forty or fifty avocados). We eat a lot of guacamole... lol... definitely a staple of the Mexican diet...!

As soon as we got back we packed up and got ready to go on our picnic and walk in the country. Forty years ago Carmen and her husband moved into town, but before that they lived in el campo (the country) outside Ixtlan, and her husband still works out on the farm every day... so we headed that direction. Before we left the house, though, Carmen insisted that I put on a sombrilla (a hat to protect my oh-so-fair skin from the blazing midday sun). Now, this was not just any sombrilla... oh no... this was a fantastic hot pink creation in the late gardening variety style with a huge front flap, and (I was so lucky) even a cute little pink bow in the back – want a better idea of the color? Think of Barbie dolls... now think of the traditional hot pink... okay, you’ve got it. I put it on amidst gales of laughter from everyone else and wore my Barbie-hat proudly out into the Mexican sunlight. The hat, for your enjoyment, is pictured above amidst the lesser colors of brown, light pink, and purple at the top of one of the hills on our walk...

We drove for about thirty minutes (encountering the herd of goats pictured above) and ended up stopping by a mining crew... they were tearing down the Mexican hills (which are essentially red rock), beating them into small stones, and hauling them to town for constructing buildings, roads, etc. Ana, one of Rogelio’s sisters, told me about one of the implements that had fallen from the top of the mountain down into the ravine when its gear accidentally shifted... fortunately the man running the machine had jumped off to take a water break... yikes.

So... there are huge piles of rocks everywhere, no one looking, and we’re wearing old clothes... that’s right, we climbed them. Now, I shouldn’t say we... I held off for the first two times, watching Booz and Ana clamber up to the top, scrape themselves to pieces, and come tumbling back to the bottom in a shower of red dirt and small pebbles. But I couldn’t resist when Rogelio started up the side throwing a challenge over his shoulder... so I handed my camera, my umbrella, and my jacket to Fernanda, and (literally) dove into the rocky hillside. I say “literally” because I have the scrapes and bruises to show for it. Ana and Booz made it look a lot easier than either Rogelio or I did (which might have something to do with weight and propensity-to-sink-into-rocks ratios... but I’m only guessing...). So, pictured above you see the success of reaching the top without the sliding descent which was a lot quicker, and a little more graceful. I’m not going to show the pictures of the way up because they are... ahem... less than flattering to put it delicately...

Ana asked me if I preferred that my name be “Stephanie” or “Estephany” while I was here. I told her it didn’t really matter to me, that I was fine with both. She then proceeded to tell me that “estephany” means “funny”... I don’t know what kind of funny she meant, though... since it’s possible that her revelation was prompted by my ignominious slide down the hill of rocks... lol.

So... we were covered in dirt, scraped to pieces, with huge smiles plastered across our faces... and we decided to head to our picnic. We went back along the road by which we had come and stopped to talk to a man along the side of the road who I soon found out was Rogelio’s father, Carmen’s husband. He opened a gate for us and we headed into a back pasture toward the old homestead. However, we stopped after about a hundred feet because Carmen wanted to steal some corn. Now, I say “steal” but it wasn’t really since the entire field and most of the surrounding fields belong to their family. No, what I mean by “steal” is that they didn’t want the grandfather to see us taking them for our “snack-break” and made Rogelio run alongside the Jeep, dashing into the field now and then to break off a particularly juicy head of corn while the women screeched, pointed, and directed him to the most choice morsels, all amidst laughter and shouting that could have been heard 500 feet away, much less 100 feet... oh, well... I don’t think they were too worried about the abuelo finding out... lol...

After picking fourteen ears of corn – two for each person – we stopped at a little cottage that the workers use for their midday breaks which is very, very old. We built a fire in a little make-shift pit that the workers use, and proceeded to heap our fourteen ears of corn onto the flames, letting them roast while we tried to avoid the eye-watering smoke. After they were done we rubbed lime juice and chile-pepper salsa on them... oh my... fabulous. Above is pictured our little rest-stop with our heaped piles of corn in the middle... Carmen is the grandmother on the left. Notice the pink sombrilla in the right-hand corner... lol...

When we were done eating and the abuelo had shown up (surprising Booz taking a huge bite from his corncob...), we all headed back to town to have Mexican tacos (with anything and almost everything on them) for comida. Now, I did mention that the Mexican culture is built around food, right? Food and family... and usually both together... it’s wonderful... lol...

After comida we got ready for iglesia (church) in the evening. I say got ready which means I took a shower, fell asleep on my bed, was awakened out of a sound sleep by Fernanda informing me that we were late, and rushing into a last-minute toilette that left much to be desired... but hey... who’s looking, right? =P

This isn’t really a service, but more of a Bible study for the kids and young adults of the church. We showed up (not too late) and listened as Mateo (Matt Gerber) gave the lesson, which was very nice. Afterward I was getting ready to go play volleyball outside on the court with the young kids when Claudia (one of the young women who lives and works in Ixtlan) came up to me, said they were planning a little surprise, and would I like to help? Of course... I love surprises (usually)... and headed to the women’s bathroom to find that five young women were crowded inside blowing up balloons, taping signs, and getting ready to decorate for an impromptu surprise birthday-party for all those individuals who have birthdays in September. We continued to blow up balloons, puffing and gasping with laughter as we narrowly avoided members of the church who needed to use the restroom, until we were ready to sneak out into the main room and decorate. Several cakes had been brought, and though the custom of smashing a person’s face into their birthday cake wasn’t observed, the birthday boys and girls seemed to have a good time anyway...! I did realize, however, that I do not know the words to the second verse of Happy Birthday in Spanish... lol.

We went back to Carmen’s house, and everyone sat in the living room and watched the live version of 101 Dalmations with actress Glenn Close... however, we were all falling asleep in our chairs and decided to head to bed... it was 9:15 p.m.

I am getting old...

Sunday morning I woke up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. and ended up lying in bed for a couple hours, contemplating the meaning of life which caused me to decide never to contemplate the meaning of life again since I realized it all comes back to an analogy with Cheerios. It’s okay... nothing is wrong... just ponder it for a bit and you will see the inherent truth within...

We ate a quick breakfast of tamales, sour cream, chili peppers, sweet potatoes, and yogurt (slightly different from Sunday morning blueberry muffins, huh family!?!), then got ready to go to church. I went early with Ana since she is a Sunday school teacher, and on the way she asked if I would mind playing the piano for the kids in the morning. I said, “Sure... I can do that...” (well, sort of... in Spanish... wink), and we walked in, straight to the sanctuary, up to the front... to the keyboard in front of the entire church. Apparently the kids sing songs in front of the congregation before the morning service... I didn’t know this... and became very, very nervous. Remember the whole “needing to practice” thing? Well... I haven’t. But... it went okay, and it was fun to play accompaniments to Sunday school songs that I haven’t heard in years, and have never heard in Spanish...! Mateo gave the morning service, and Marshall Heinold gave the second with Mateo translating to Spanish... I really enjoyed the messages and getting to meet the people in the church, which has about seventy attending individuals, and fifty or so active members.

After iglesia we headed back to Carmen’s house and prepared for comida since Marshall, Mateo, and Rudy (one of Matt’s friends from the States, and a nephew to Marshall who is staying for eight months in Ixtlan) were coming. Janice, Marshall’s wife, is still in the U.S. because of some complications with a medical problem and the women of Rogelio’s house took pity on the three temporary bachelors... lol. I set the table, watching with envy as Rogelio handled the slicing of the veggies, and making of the guacamole like a pro with his ten-inch knife.

I went outside to watch Rogelio’s sister frying the meat on a wood-burning grill, and for some reason the rooster (in a cage right beside where we were frying) took offense at my standing within ten feet of him and decided to crow continually every thirty seconds for five minutes. I finally looked him in his beady little eye, and said, “We are going to eat you if you don’t shut up right now, Bird-brain.” Okay... no I didn’t (mostly because I don’t know that I could have said it all in Spanish), but it would have been funnier if I had since I simply glared at him and mentally wondered how many chickens one can kick in a thirty-second time period...

Comida was finally ready and after the men had arrived we sat down to eat, enjoying a pleasant meal, good conversation, and great company. Fernanda was laughing at Rudy and I at one point, though, because we were talking in Spanish to one another (doing a fabulous job of it, of course...), not understanding a bit of what each other said, and yet not resorting to English while we doggedly kept trying to figure out what was going on. I know, ridiculous... ah well...

Later, after we had finished eating and the bachelors had left, Fernanda, Booz, one of Rogelio's sisters, and I headed to the geyser in Ixtlan which is supposedly famous for its healing powers. We paid ten pesos (approx. $1.00) to enter the geyser water-park, watched Booz splash around in the water, waded in a bit (the water in some parts was – amazingly enough – scorching... go figure...), and then sat on the side exchanging woman-talk. I don’t know exactly what qualifies it as woman-talk except that it was three women talking, so that’s what I am going to call it... lol.

At one point after looking down into the well that houses the geyser, my glasses fogged up pretty badly and I look around trying to get to cooler air and saw an older man in a Speedo... I looked the other way and saw two seventy-year-old men in Speedos... and then realized that for the most part all the people were wearing their ropa interior (underwear) to swim in... ummm... bad idea... for me to look... lol.

We finally left to head back to Morelia... exhausted, happy, still very full... and ready to tackle the homework I didn’t do all weekend... lol... procrastination, I am sorry to say, does indeed have its limits... =)

Adios, y’all...!