My First Mexican Beach, an Anniversary, a Dead Snake

     Why hello, readers, whoever you are, wherever you are, and welcome to the latest edition of Poco a Poco. I went quiet last week, I know, and the week before, I know. Do you want to hear an excuse or shall we just get on with it? Yeah, just get on with it. Two weekends ago I visited my first Mexican shore, Chachalacas, a small beach town in the state of Veracruz. I went with my friend Arturo and his family. We left their home in Mendoza City, Veracruz at 5:30 AM and were in the ocean by 8. The water was warm and the weather was hot, even for eight in the morning.
     From Chachalacas we travelled south to the Port of Veracruz, where it grew extremely hotter. We went for lunch at the Fisherman's Market where we ate delicious seafood. To start, I had a cocktail with so many good things--shrimp, oysters, amazing salsa, cilantro and onion, avocado, octopus, and crackers. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After the cocktails we ate fish that Arturo bought next door. The fish was also delicious and served in creamy white sauce. We washed it all down with Modelo Negras.
     After lunch we explored the Port of Veracruz some more. We had nieve from the famous chain called "Gueros." "Nieve" literally means "snow" in English, and it's some awesome combination of ice cream and snow cones. I felt like I belonged in Gueros because of my skin color and affinity for nieve. It felt like the employees were calling to me specifically as the invited tourists to cool down with a frosty treat. Their calls included only one word, repeated in rapid succession, "guero guero guero guero." I responded like a dog being called with a treat.
   The coast wasn't the only highlight of my weekend in Veracruz. Close to Mendoza City is Orizaba, where there's a zoo that runs along the river that flows through town. We rode the Teleférico (aerial lift) to the top of the mountain and took in the beautiful scenery on the way. Lunch in the market was delicious, a quesadilla with chorizo mmmm and we saw a reclusive old man that's said to have millions of dollars though he appears poor. Arturo took me to a lagoon with the most beautiful clear blue, freezing water and we visited the former home of Maximilian I of Mexico.

     Back in Tepexi classes were cancelled for all but one day this past week. We celebrated the 23rd Anniversary of the university with A LOT of dancing, a pageant for Miss Tepexi, a contest to see which major could make the best ofrenda , a 5k race race around town, and much more. It was nice to take a break from everyday teaching and learning, but I'm ready to get back at it tomorrow--even if some of the students aren't.

     And the big event this weekend was Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the closest holiday Mexico has to Halloween, though their similarities are few. If you've seen Coco you have an idea of what this holiday is about. It's basically about honoring and remembering your dead relatives. Yesterday morning, Saturday, ten of us crammed into a Tracker and drove up to town. The cemetery was full of people visiting their relatives. Altars were covered in flower petals, candles, crosses, and other adornments. We brought a container of water and used a flower to sprinkle it on the altar. I would have loved to see the cemetery all lit up at night, but the ceremony in Tepexi takes place during the day.
     After visiting the relatives we went across the street to a parking lot that is usually vacant but this day was shaded by two giant tents. Under the tents were hundreds of people eating tacos, quesadillas, gorditas, chicharron, cemitas, things fried. Music played from radios and from musicians live in the wonderful shade. Enchanting scents of food filled the place. Vendors circulated selling cheese, chips, peanuts, toys, and more. It was a marvelous sight.
     My family and I bought some groceries and headed up to the cabin that overlooks town. On the way, I spotted a snake in the road. My cousin Jesus and I got out of the car. I wasn't sure what we were going to do, but I should have been. At first we thought it was a rattler, but it turned out not to be, just a python about five feet long and angry with our interrupting her harmless slither across the rocky road. Chucho got a stick from the bush while she just stayed there curled up in defense. He told me to distract her because she was paying too much attention to him, but my efforts failed; she knew who the threat was. He trapped her neck and maybe told me to grab her, but I wasn't sure what he said so I just stayed put. Uncle Benja was filming from the tracker behind us. He carefully got her by the neck and squeezed. Her body was wrapped around his solid arm in no time. As we walked up to the cabin Jesus didn't allow her to breath by tightly pinching her airway. I unwrapped her failing yet strong body from his arm. She felt cold and smooth. Even in her dying moments she tried to defend herself by wrapping around his arm again. I unwrapped her a second time, and she hadn't the strength to try again. Once we got to the cabin, we locked her up in a bag and put her aside. They told me she'd yield 500 pesos (about 25 bucks) at the market.
     Up the cabin Chucho and I gathered wood to fuel that fire that cooked pig skin and pork in a giant clay vat filled with oil. We added salt, jabaneros, orange juice, a few splashes of mezcal, and some leaves I couldn't identify. The meat cooked for what seemed like hours, and we drank Victoria and mezcal and chatted in the meantime. By the time it was ready, and I a little tipsy, the rest of the partygoers had arrived and we ate ourselves to death in honor of the day.

     Ok now for the Random Wrap-Up. After handling the snake, we washed our hands with dirt because we had no soap, at yesterday's party I held hands with a 101 year-old woman who couldn't hear and could only see you if you stood just so in the line of her deteriorated sight, a few people have told me my Spanish accent is European which is cool to me but I don't know why, another person told me I was a good drinker which means a lot coming from a Mexican, students here ask permission before entering the room, a custom so engrained even the adult learners I teach do it, my three year-old niece doesn't yet have the r sound down yet so she calls me Coney hahaha, my favorite dog of the house, Longara, is pregnant again, que mas?, I found a place that I should be moving into in a few weeks 1,300 pesos a month (about $65) and it includes hot water, internet, and furniture--no kitchen, though, and I only have about a month of instruction until my first semester as an English teacher in Mexico is over. Wow.

     Thanks for reading, and I hope you drop by next time. Hasta luego.