11:43 hora mx
12.24.02
los reyes, michoacán méxico
los reyes (the kings) michoacán is a beautiful pueblo. beautiful. a too frequently used word. but that's how the town is. beautiful. small. we went up a cerro (mountain), not too high up, and we could see the whole town from beginning to end and all around. the cerros are covered green. there's a river. too sad it's polluted and it smells funny. but the great thing about los reyes is the plaza. wow.
the plaza is kind of like a park in the center of the town where people go chat, stroll, flirt, buy, eat and chill. next to it is the town's church. the front has some kind of material to prevent pigeons from shitting on the wall's decorations. there's also a nacimiento (a birth), obviously, its a small reenactment of the birth of jesus christ made up with porcelain statues. we went inside. i was about to go inside a small room with a statue of jesus and a saint, but alejandra told me that it was not allowed.
i bought queztalli two small maracas. as soon as she saw them, she pointed at them with her customary "ira" and huge smile. i bought them, only to find another type much more beautiful and cheaper. that's how it is in a mercado, one has to shop around.
oh, the taquitos. literally, this tacos are tiny. you can eat the whole thing with just one bite. but they are really good. the meat is real fresh and suavecita. la salsa is not so hot, but good. i notice that we in mexicali use a much more spicy salsa. or maybe is just my family. me comí tres de birria, uno de tripas (pig's tripe) y uno al pastor.
so, today is the first christmas i spend outside of mexicali. i'm away from my mother, my sister, my grandma, and all my maternal and paternal relatives. (un pendejo acaba de tronar una pistola, don't people know that whatever bullet goes up comes down, alejandra se anda vomitando en el baņo. i keep writing cuz quetzalli doesn't wake up.) oh, it's 12 pm now. (the bastard keeps shooting to the air, about twenty now. i known of people that have died from lost bullets, including children.)
as i was saying, this is the first time i'm not in mexicali on christmas. i already called the family, people seemed happy. (the guy is at it again, women don't do that around here.) they had buyelos, posole, calientito/ponche y tamales.
alejandra was feeling bad and went to sleep early. i threaten to go to the plaza by myself, and since no body cared, i went on my own. i bought ale a big paleta in the shape of a heart, but the big dumb that i am, i dropped it on my way back.
i did not gived nor received any presents.
los reyes is surrounded by indigenous communities. people come to this town to sell wood and artesanias (artesanias is a complicated word, since it can be taken to mean something that is not as good as "art." although its just as beautiful, with the only difference, that an artesania has everyday use, like an olla or a comal, or a cantaro). i heard some women and children speaking in their own language. the situation here is like anywhere else, the indigenous people are poor and discriminated. i can't help but notice the colonized mentality of most people and denial of their indigenous roots. us, the mestizo, forget where we come from. all the talk i hear is about, well... about things not worth mentioning. it's easy for me to criticize, but i'm not much different than anyone else.
cuetes. cuetes. balazos. balazos. trucks going full blast with narco corridos. people who come from the united states want to show that they did good and accumulated lots of wealth. although most of it is show, they come back to the u.s. and live in poor conditions. people dream of retiring in mexico. for some it happens, but for many, its always just a dream.
la noche es larga. quiero otro tequilita.
paz y chingazos. (????)
i feel: canzado, but good
i want: coffee and quiet
tomorrow i will:wake up with a big cruda then go eat carnitas con salsa verde
p.s. i really want to teah in méxico for a couple of year. los reyes it's a perfect place. i have plans of going to the cerros and teach people and old ladies to read and write. i hope i'm not intrusive. like i learned in danza, humildes pero fuertes. anyone who wants to teach in another country should not try to indoctrinate anyone on religion or tradition. i will always be the outsider, who at any time can just pick his stuff and leave. that's not something most people can do, specially when their ancestors have been there for hundreds of years. bueno. de ésto después.