HAPPY EARTH DAY, EVERYONE: A Message From My Grandchildren

Lets stop fighting and start living; there is only ONE EARTH we can live on.

Lets live and lead by teaching kindness, not greed and power.

Lets share the road of life with others. 

Lets keep their

and our homes

undisturbed and clean.

We can all try,

a bit by bit.

By wanting less

we will get so much more.

 HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE.

Mexico: ALVARADO - Ode To The (Brown) Pelican

A funny old bird is a pelican.

His beak can hold more than his belican.

Food for a week

He can hold in his beak,

But I don't know how the helican.

Limerick by Dixon Lanier Merritt

I am NOT cleaning! YOU got the food, YOU do it!

Yo, Bro! They say that we are living fossils! Talking about 30 million years ago or something.
Would you take a guess where they got an idea like that?

As far as I am concerned I was born a year ago.

Hear me?

... Guess not.

By the way ....how's that fish?

Come on buddy, start chopping - I am not above the handouts!

On the contrary.

A juvenile and an adult brown pelican. The adult has a white head, often with a yellowish tinge as the bird gets older.

There are 8 species of pelicans, most of them white and only two are brown; one is the Peruvian pelican and the other, the brown pelican of Mexico. It seems to be numerous nowadays but not so long ago it had been almost wiped out by pesticides, chiefly by the notorious DDT.

Their North American cousin is the white pelican and the two species hardly ever mix. There are sporadic times during  El Nino  times when the fish and other oceanic animals are moving up the Pacific coast of NA. In order not to face starvation, the brown pelicans must follow. 

(Perhaps if we built a wall they would stay in Mexico.....sorry, could not help it.)

With the exception of polar regions the pelicans of different species can be found on every continent. 
And while the brown pelicans dive straight down to catch their sushi, the other species have developed different fishing techniques. 

As we found out in the fish market of Alvarado (and elsewhere) the browns are quite fond of their free meals. 

Fisherman accommodate them well and if you ask, respectfully, they will accommodate you, and your camera as well. 

In Alvarado,Veracruz, Mexico everyone can along just fine.

The Coast Guard Squad!!! Sunrise on the coast of Veracruz

At attention and ready to take off. Fish beware!

Mexico: XICO

I promised to say something about Xico. Not that I am an expert of any kind but we were lucky enough to spend some time in this "Pueblo Magico", the old colonial town set in the lush mountains of Veracruz.






It truly is a beautiful place with cobbled streets, old terracotta roofs and an ancient feel. 

The name "Xico" might sound strange to most, but here is what I found on the following  website!
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1525-xico-a-village-of-enchantment-in-veracruz  :

"Founded in the year 1313, Xico’s original name was Xico-Chimalco in the Náhuatl (Aztec) language meaning "where there are bee hives of yellow wax...."

And if you checked out my previous blog you may have noticed that that too is about the bees.
Now I am really proud!

As Carlos Baresh described it in his book, Xico has 4 main streets running up the hill (or down if you please). On the upper end there is a  beautiful church dedicated to Mary Magdalene, a chapel (Capilla de Cristo Rey) that is beautifully decorated with blue tiles and Xico Velho (Old Xico) which is a gateway to the hills of Cofre de Perote.  The low end of Xico sports an arched gate with a hearty "Welcome to Xico".

The streets are mostly one-way traffic - two and two, but if you are as good as we were, you will get lost anyway.

About 8 km away from a larger city, Coatepec, and 25 km from Xalapa (capital city of the state), Xico is surrounded by coffee plantations and cattle ranches.

This flower shop must be doing really well, for there are always reasons to celebrate and offer flowers. As far as we understood the main holidays holidays and festivities include:

The Mary Magdalene Celebrations 

(July 17th to 23rd).and
The Xiqueñada on July 22nd featuring running of the bulls. Something like Spain's encierro in Pomplona but, I imagine, on a much smaller scale.

Maria Magdalena parish Church, Xico

Then there is Day of the Dead, Christmas, Easter and many others. 

It is not up to me to describe many local holidays and celebrations that take place in Xico throughout the year. We spent too little time there to be able to talk about that. But even in our short month it became clear that there is something happening there all the time.

When we got there it was after the Day of the dead "Dia de Muertos". 
Although the pre-Spanish cultures observed this holiday of the dead at the beginning of the summer, it, like many other holidays of the Christian era, shifted to more suitable dates.
This one to October 31 to November 2nd, thus coinciding with All Saints Day. 

We arrived to Xico at the end of November therefore the only reminder of Dia de Muertos (or Dia de Los Muertes) to us, were the decorations on the upper floor of the local cafe.


We grew up with the All Saint's Day and/or All Soul's Day - to us a somber and  serious day to honor those who left us behind. For us it meant a trip to a cemetery, decorating the graves with flowers, lighting candles, sharing the memories and shedding tears. November first was usually cloudy, foggy or rainy and cold to the bone.  Yet, the old cemeteries, all aglow in flickering candle light were quite soul touching and mysterious. 
Death was a serious matter.

Then, in North America, we learned to participate in Halloween. I must admit that though Halloween is fun, it never managed to replace the remembrances of the All Soul's Day. Perhaps, growing up with that and arriving to North America well into our adult years, it was too late for us to learn to truly embrace Halloween. 
Ask our kids about this topic and their answer will be entirely different.

And now - the Mexican Dia de Muertos! 
While Halloween is spooky and playing on fear, the Day Of the Dead is the heart touching time with, still another, twist. 
It seemed to us that, instead of installing sadness and fear, it managed to embrace death as an essential part of life.

Interesting how many thoughts can run through ones mind in a small cafe of an ancient town of Xico.

A painting on the wall served as a reminder of yet another holiday and a local tradition, the Xiqueñada, the running of the bulls. That too, we have been told, is a big deal in this town.

"Dia de Muertos" was just past and the bull fights would happen in July. 
But it was the beginning of December and everything in town was already gearing up for Christmas.



With Christmas was still some three weeks ahead. Yet, one day  a large crowd of people gathered on the steps of the Capilla de Cristo Rey. 

Capilla de Cristo Rey

"What's going on?"

"Ah, they are going to decorate the chapel."

Surely enough, two days after, the chapel was handsomely decorated with palm ornaments and flowers.

Marigolds, as our hosts told us, are the flowers of the dead.

But people bring many other flowers as well, namely the orchids that grow up in the mountains of Cofre de Perote.

And that could become a problem.

Along with deforestation the places of the amazing orchids of Veracruz are shrinking.

There are about 3 000 orchid species found in this part of the world. Lets hope that it will remain this way.

And, gearing for Christmas they were!
Perhaps it was another celebration of a kind we do not understand. For the celebrations in so many conquered countries always involve a mix of old and new. A mix of ancient customs, traditions and beliefs and Christian religion.



People from the surrounding hills
descended on Xico just about 10 days before Christmas.
They brought down - not always by a motorized vehicles but often carried on foot - these large structures. 



The sticks are fireworks and the inner middle part fits on a person's back. 

In an evening celebration men carry them while the fireworks are lit.
We learned from Carlos, that the dancer-carriers often suffer serious burns.




A couple days after the event we happened to drive from Xico up to the slopes of Cofre de Perote. We were passing groups of young men who were hauling the heavy structures back to their villages.
That, we thought, is dedication!

The volcanic foothills of Cofre de Perote are steep but, out of necessity, many villagers think nothing of hiking down to Xico and back. It was somewhere here, 10 - 15 kilometers from Xico where we stopped for a group of young men and their heavy firework display construction. They were all but happy to get a several kilometer ride in Carlos's Nissan truck. 
Kudos to the truck!!!

Xico has several restaurants and cafes, and their hospitality and quality is well expressed by the chef (or the depiction of) of this establishment.

It is also well known for its home-made moles (sauces) and above all for its local, fragrant and great tasting organic coffee. 
There is a large number of coffee plantations all around Xico.
But a trip to a coffee plantation would be another story.

There is a nice video to watch - click on the link and at the top right corner is a short presentation that is worth while watching.