For this long-term expat, visiting ‘home’ means some culture shock

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July 30, 2022

Oversized pickup truck in Houston — Oversized pickup truck parked on a Houston, Texas, street. Facebook

As I write this, I’m snuggled up under a thick, navy blue blanket, velvet on one side, wool on the other. My feet are tucked under me to prevent them from turning into ice cubes.

Outside, it’s literally 101 degrees.

Frigid air conditioning! My old nemesis, I’d nearly forgotten about you.

Last week, I wrote about how I arrived in Mexico from Texas a full 20 years ago. So, this week, I’ve decided to write about my impressions of being back in the States after a full two and a half years of not having returned here.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when our plane touched down. After all, it’s been a pandemic-long while since I was here last. The narrative of U.S. political life seems like it’s been extracted from the first few pages of some futuristic dystopian novel.

I’m an avid reader of the news, and every time I’ve had a conversation with a paisano of mine in Mexico over the past couple of years, my main question has been, “What the hell is going on up there?”

So far, though, my experience with people on the ground has been pretty good. Thank goodness!

One of the things I was a little worried about was our masks: in Mexico, everyone is still wearing them … some even wear them outdoors when they’re walking alone along the street!

While I’m a bit flexible depending on the situation, my 8-year-old daughter is at a time in her life when everything is very black-and-white, and she has worn her mask religiously on every trip out of the house.

But here, no one is wearing them — even indoors — except me and my kid. I’d heard stories of the types of people who thought COVID-19 was a hoax mocking people in masks, and I was nervous about encountering them. Even commenters on my articles have been a bit mean about it, the most memorable of them calling masks “face diapers.”

Fortunately, I’ve been reminded several times since arriving here that Texans are mostly just really, really nice despite some pretty crazy voting patterns (though I insist that Texas is easily a purple state at worst, which is more of a voting problem that an ideological one). Several people a day strike up friendly little conversations, and many women especially have complimented me on my tattoos (it’s too hot for sweaters here).

The things that have taken me aback?

Monster trucks. Like, a lot of them. They’re as big as houses, and I don’t get it. I don’t think most people driving them are building contractors that have to haul tons of bricks from one place to another, so what’s the deal?
The air conditioning also really is extreme. I don’t know how to dress for the day. It’s 100 F heat outside, and 65 degrees inside which, to me, is way too cold. Isn’t there anything between a sauna and a refrigerator? Right now, I’m wearing pants and a T-shirt. I brought shorts and dresses with me, but I’m too cold inside houses and buildings to put them on. It’s not the worst problem to have, I suppose, but it seems absurd that our extreme differences in temperatures must mirror our extreme political differences.
There are pro-life billboards everywhere. Dudes, you won. Whom are you trying to convince? I’d be really impressed if the money spent on these billboards went instead to helping families care for all those “saved babies” that they insist should be born instead of just saying to them upon birth: “You’re welcome, now start pulling on those bootstraps, kid.”
Prices. They’re high. On our second day here, some friends invited us to a water park. It was cool and nice, but tickets were about $60 apiece, so how many people can afford that kind of fun around here? Even a local (somehow nonprofit) production of The Wizard of Oz (very cute) was $25 per ticket. As in most places, there’s a correlation between race/ethnicity and economic prosperity, and it was a bit unnerving to see a sea of almost exclusively blonde heads in these places when white people make up less than half of the Texan population. How’s everyone else having fun?

Well, at least really good ice cream is cheap and plentiful (Blue Bell, you will always have my heart), and I’ve got some tightening pants to prove it.

My daughter is also having a good time, though she’s still a bit disoriented language-wise; her “stranger language” is Spanish, so while she speaks English perfectly, she mostly just stares at people, stunned, when they say something to her here.

I don’t blame her: on my first days back in the States, I often say things absentmindedly in Spanish; it’s my “stranger language,” too. I gave some money to someone standing on the sidewalk asking for help on the way home from the airport (there seem to be a lot more of them now) and said, “Tenga, señor.”

My sister thought I’d said it in Spanish to avoid striking up a conversation, but I honestly didn’t realize I’d not used the right language until she pointed it out.

It’s been a few days, so I’ve finally stopped embarrassing myself by wishing people “buen provecho” as I leave restaurants. But the trip is young! I’ve got a week and a half left of adventures here.

Pray that my pants hold out, y’all.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com and her Patreon page.

Believe it or not, residents of Mixtlán put the fun into fungi

By

John Pint

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July 29, 2022

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Mushroom festival in Mixtlan, Jalisco — During it's annual festival, a group of visitors leaves Mixtlán in search of mushrooms, each group accompanied by an expert. Robert Ornelas

Mixtlán is a very small town located about halfway between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco. Its name means “the place of the clouds,” but in recent years it has become better known as the land of mushrooms.

This is thanks to Mixtlán’s Director of Tourism, José de Jesús Preciado de León, founder of the town’s popular Feria del Hongo: the Mixtlán Mushroom Festival, which was held this year over the weekend of July 15 to 17.

“I founded the Feria in 2016,” Preciado told me, “so this is the seventh edition of the event. This festival is educational, with emphasis on science and ecology. For example, we have activities that take place during guided tours in the woods. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, groups leave town at 8 a.m. and they head up into the highest parts of the hills surrounding us.

“Each group is accompanied by an expert mycologist from the University of Guadalajara. The mycologists identify the varieties of mushrooms the group finds and explain how to distinguish them from other mushrooms and also how to pick them and how to transport them.”

mushroom grow in the vicinity of Mixtlán, Jalisco — Over 160 species of mushroom grow in the vicinity of Mixtlán, 40 of which are edible. Jesús Preciado

I was surprised to learn that there is a proper way to pick and transport mushrooms. The correct way to collect a mushroom, Preciado says, is to cut it off at its base with a knife. Grabbing and pulling it is all wrong because that mushroom is just the “fruit” of the fungus, which is actually a network of mycelium fibers hidden from view under the ground and literally connecting together all the trees in the forest.

While we commonly think of mushrooms as plants, it seems they are really more closely related to the animal kingdom.

Once you cut the mushroom, comments Preciado, you should deposit it in a basket: the woven kind, made from wicker or reeds. The reason for this is that the mushroom is constantly liberating spores in order to reproduce itself. So, the construction of a traditional basket allows the spores to fall to the ground.

“Yes,” confirms Preciado. “As we walk about collecting mushrooms, we are also distributing its spores all over the woods.”

A University of Guadalajara mycologist, center, answers questions about mushrooms.

This ecological aspect of the festival takes place out in the hills, and when the mushroom gatherers get back to town, they find an extensive exhibition laid out on tables. Here the mushrooms have been cleaned, classified and tagged by the mycologists and then carefully placed on a decorative bed of moss and other wild plants.

At each table, there are experts to explain or clarify doubts the visitors might have about mushrooms. The public can admire them and photograph them, but they’re not allowed to touch them.

“In Mixtlán, we have over 160 kinds of wild mushrooms,” says Preciado. “With the first rains, they start popping up in the meadows and clearings. Here we call them porras or champiñones silvestres (wild mushrooms).

“As the rains continue and the temperature drops, all kinds of them begin to appear in the high forest, reaching their maximum in July and August. Of the 160 types that grow around here, 40 species are edible: that’s a lot!”

mushrooms in traditional wicker basket — By carrying freshly picked mushrooms in a wicker basket, their very fine spores are spread far and wide. HomEr-MotayAyin

The town of Mixtlán is full of mushroom eaters, he says.

“When the rains are upon us, families head for the woods to collect mushrooms: children, grandparents, everybody goes out together to pick mushrooms! So this festival of ours is a homage to these traditional hongueros (mushroomers) who are passing down from generation to generation the culture of mushroom-gathering.”

Preciado says that Mixtlán is the most “mushroom crazy” of all the communities in Mexico’s Sierra Occidental, “We eat the most and have the greatest respect for them: so that’s why we have a mushroom festival, to commemorate the benefits that Mother Nature provides for us.”

Mushrooms are considered a “complete food,” containing a lot of protein — although not as much as meat or milk. They have all the essential amino acids required by human beings and even a little fat. It is said that if they had to choose between meat and mushrooms, many of Mixtlan’s citizens would opt for the latter. “This,” states Guzmán Ávalos of the University of Guadalajara Mycology Lab, “is definitely not the norm in Jalisco.”

The people of Mixtlán traditionally eat only four kinds of mushrooms. “But,” says Preciado, “in 2015, I began looking at some of the other species. I brought mycologists here, and based on what they told us, we begin to try some of the others … and now we are enjoying 10 edible species … and there are still 30 edible species more that we haven’t even tasted yet, out of an abundance of caution.”

“They are safe to eat, but we don’t know how to prepare them, and we’re afraid to eat them. But little by little, thanks to the Feria, we are slowly exploring this panorama of options — all those other edible mushrooms that are never taken out of the woods.”

Jesús Preciado became Director of Tourism in 2016. “At that time,” he says, “I got the idea for a festival, but I wanted something well-organized, not a pachanga (noisy party). No, we wanted our festival to be ecologically sound, educational, scientific, gastronomical, cultural, musical and a source of income for the townspeople.

“This year, we inaugurated the festival on Friday, July 15. We had walks to the woods on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and in the afternoons, there were workshops and conferences conducted by experts from the University of Guadalajara. Then there was a Best Drawing Competition for kids, followed by the Biggest Mushroom Contest. We had 11 entries for that, and the largest measured 32 centimeters in diameter.

“It was a brown Ganoderma, and the person who picked it received 1,000 pesos. We also had stands offering mushrooms to eat. Mixtlán has a population of 2,000 people, but over this three-day festival, our little town received around 6,000 visitors!”

resident of Mixtlan, Jalisco holding Caesar's mushrooms — Experienced mushroomer Lorenzo Preciado displays his Caesar’s mushrooms (Amanita caesarea).

Besides the Feria del Hongo, what else does Mixtlán have to offer?

Rock art is one option. Mixtlán has four or five sites with petroglyphs. as well as the ruins of pre-Hispanic settlements. There is also a spring with naturally carbonated water. Local people add salt, chile and limòn (lemon-lime) to make a drink called “la rusa” in Mexico. Finally, for the brave-hearted, there is a lovely waterfall and pool called El Charco del Condenado (The Pool of the Damned), into which, a legend says, the irate townsfolk once threw a local man who had been transformed into the Devil.

“This is a great place for a swim, but people still fear that if they jump in, they will grow horns,” Preciado told me.

To appreciate everything that little Mixtlán has to offer, mark your 2023 calendar right now. Next year, the Feria del Hongo will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 14–16 — and don’t forget your wicker basket!

The kiosk of Mixtlán, decorated and ready to receive visitors to the annual Feria del Hongo.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.

Mixtlan, Jalisco, mushroom festival 2022 — Mixtlán’s Director of Tourism, Jesús Preciado, in the sombrero, introduces the press to the area’s local mushrooms.

mushrooms on display at Mixtlan Mushroom Festival in Jalisco — Mushrooms collected in the woods are cleaned, classified and laid out for exhibition by mycologists. Magaly Rayita

Mixtlan, Jalisco — Mixtlán gets its name from the Náhuatl words *mixtli* (cloud) and *tlan*, which means ‘place.’ Jesús Preciado

Petroglyph near Mixtlan, Jalisco — This petroglyph, located not far from Mixtlán, appears to be a *patolli*, a kind of ancient “board game” popular in pre-Hispanic times. Diego Vigo

Dogs go hunting pelicans in Baja California Sur

By

Lydia Carey

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July 29, 2022

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Dogs chase a pelican in Pichilingue Thursday.

Dogs chasing pelicans and Múlege’s elephant seal were topics of interest on social media this week in Baja California Sur.

In the port town of Pichilingue, four dogs were captured on video hunting pelicans on Thursday. Evident from the video is that the pelican was already injured, as it didn’t fly away from its attackers even as they got close and started to circle it in the water.

Whether the dogs were hot in the 30-degree heat, hungry or just bored, they did seem to understand that the pelican was defenseless and that this moment in the video was their best chance to capture it.

The one-and-half minute video shows the four dogs swimming out from the shore toward the pelican as it tries without success to swim away. The dogs finally corral the bird until the four canine hunters surround and attack it.

#Pichilingue #LaPazBCS #Perroscazadoresacuaticos se da a conocer a través de videos un grupo de “perros cazadores de pelícanos” que al parecer se encuentran en las instalaciones del puerto de altura de Pichilingue en La Paz BCS. @forceps21 @NTelevisa @AztecaNoticias @lopezdoriga pic.twitter.com/PqUTdC86fO

— Carlos Alfredo Godinez León (@CarlosA94203364) July 28, 2022

The video ends there and so does the story.

Also back in the news was the elephant seal that has been spotted several times in the last few months along the coast of the Gulf of California on the eastern side of the Baja California peninsula. This time it was a siting of the more than two-meter animal swimming near the river entrance at Múlege that connects to the gulf waters.

The animal seems to have little fear of humans and has been seen sunning itself on the beach next to groups of families and making other appearances to tourists along the coast. It’s believed that the possible effects of climate change, a search for food, or a mishap along its migration route has caused the female to be so far from the U.S. and Canadian shores where northern elephant seals are usually found. It has become a bit of a local celebrity, popping up on El Coyote and other local beaches to the shock and awe of beachgoers.

This latest video, uploaded by the same Twitter user as the pelican-hunting dogs, shows this massive creature content as can be while floating up the Múlege river. While wildlife is a common site in the bio-rich Baja Peninsula, up close and personal encounters are always a particular thrill, especially for first-time visitors to this popular tourist destination.

With reports from El Sud Californiano

2,500-strong Puebla self-defense force has been fighting narcos for 10 years

By

MND Staff

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July 29, 2022

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Slain leader of Fuerza Territorial Poblana Eloy Merino Mendoza — The Fuerza Territorial Poblana's leader Eloy Merino Mendoza died in a clash with the Familia Michoacana cartel on July 20. But his group says it isn't deterred. FTP/Facebook

A Puebla self-defense force’s decade-long fight against narcos intensified last week with an armed confrontation that left six of the self-proclaimed good guys dead.

But with authorities failing to protect residents of the state’s Mixteca region, members of the Fuerza Territorial Poblana (FTP) have not been deterred by the deaths of their comrades, In fact, they are as determined as ever to do what they can to protect themselves and their families – despite the risks they face.

The clash with presumed members of the Familia Michoacana crime group occurred July 20 in Jolalpan, a Mixteca region municipality that borders both Guerrero and Morelos. Among the six dead was FTP leader Eloy Merino Mendoza. Sixteen other people were wounded, one report said.

According to a Milenio newspaper report, the FTP formed 10 years ago when Los Rojos was the dominant criminal gang in the Mixteca region of Puebla, which borders Oaxaca, Guerrero and Morelos and is part of a drug trafficking route. The FTP was successful in weakening Los Rojos, but the Familia Michoacana subsequently moved in and started making threats against residents.

The deadly clash between the self-defense group and cartel members happened in the municipality of Jolalpan, Puebla, which is near Puebla’s border with Guerrero and Morelos. Google Maps

Since then, the self-defense force has been focused on keeping the Familia Michoacana at bay. In 10 years, its membership has grown to almost 2,500 autodefensas, including elderly men and women.

“The group formed to defend ourselves because we were fed up with so many threats and deaths,” Arturo, a 75-year-old campesino-cum-vigilante, told Milenio.

“… What do we have to do? Find the way to defend our own lives and families because nobody wants to die [at the hands of a crime group],” he said.

“When will the government do its job?” questioned another FTP member. “That’s why we pay taxes. … If the government did its job, we wouldn’t have to go around with weapons, we wouldn’t use them anymore,” he said, repeating a refrain uttered countless times by self-defense force members in states such as Michoacán and Chiapas.

The vigilante, who asked not to be identified by name, told Milenio that he and other FTP members didn’t want to be “police” but had no choice.

An elderly female autodefensa also said she felt obliged to take up arms. “At this age, we have no option but to pick up a weapon and defend ourselves,” she said. “To be sincere, I’m scared, taking up arms frightens me … but we all have families.”

Milenio reported that the FTP has taken control of security in 27 Mixteca region municipalities, most of which don’t have certified municipal police. In Jolalpan, where last week’s clash occurred, there have been no certified officers for 10 years, according to a local councilor.

“The truth is there haven’t been any certified police since 2012,” said Bernabé Cortez. “I don’t know [why] because we’re [a] new [municipal government],” he said.

Puebla governor Miguel Barbosa — Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa, seen here five days after the Jolalpan clash at a ceremony to destroy decommissioned military arms to prevent them falling into criminal hands, calls self-defense groups’ efforts ‘unacceptable.’ Miguel Barbosa/Twitter

The state government, which is responsible for certifying police, has condemned the FTP’s efforts to keep the peace, even accusing it of being involved in crime. But it hasn’t guaranteed the Mixteca region’s security itself, vigilantes say.

Yet another FTP member who spoke with Milenio rejected accusations that the self-defense force is in fact a cartel.

“They’ve been accused of being criminals but there’s no proof of that. Not one authority can prove that we’re a cartel or collude with a cartel. No, we’re merely campesinos, sugar cane workers, farmers, stockbreeders, doctors, engineers, there are all kinds of people here [but] there are no narcos, at least as far as we know,” he said.

To keep criminals out of FTP ranks, new members are asked to prove that they don’t have a criminal record and present identification and even personal references, Milenio said. Vigilantes said they would only lay down their arms if a military or state police base was built in the Mixteca region, where Milenio’s reporter saw no federal or state forces during a recent trip.

The group has its own social media presence and a logo. But members say they wouldn’t exist if the government provided security against criminal groups. FTP/Facebook

President López Obrador announced in May that new National Guard barracks would be built in the region, but it was unclear when they would be completed.

Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa, who has described the operation of unofficial self-defense forces as “unacceptable,” said after last week’s confrontation that a “very specific strategy” involving all three levels of government was needed to return peace to the region.

A United States government commission said earlier this year that the federal government’s non-confrontational security strategy – the so-called “hugs, not bullets” approach – was insufficient to combat synthetic drug trafficking.

With reports from Milenio, El Universal and La Jornada

AICM pothole fixed but second runway will be under repair until December

By

MND Staff

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July 29, 2022

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airplanes on runway at Mexico City International Airport — The runway closure will affect flights that take off and land between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. until December.

Just days after fixing a pothole that appeared on one of its runways, the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) has announced a major repair project for the other that will affect overnight flights until December.

A pothole shut down one of the runways from Sunday evening until it was repaired early Monday morning.

Then came another surprise: after the airport tweeted on Tuesday that its other runway (not the one with the pothole) would be closed for routine maintenance between 11 p.m. and 5:50 a.m. from July 26–31, it announced two days later that the runway was undergoing a major repair project that would keep it shut during those overnight hours until December so that a range of improvements can be carried out.

Estimated to cost some 700 million pesos (US $34.4 million), the project includes the laying of new asphalt, the widening of the runway, the replacement of lighting fixtures that have been in use for over 20 years, the painting of new lines, the relocation of drainage systems and even weeding to “inhibit the presence of fauna that could affect operations.”

Workers on Mexico City International Airport runway — The US $34.4 million project includes, among other improvements, laying new asphalt, widening the runway, and painting new lines. AICM

“The rehabilitation of the 05L/23R runway allows the correction of its deterioration due to weather conditions and the load it receives from airplanes that operate at AICM,” the statement said, adding that the project will allow operational safety to be maintained.

“So that the work can be carried out, the runway will be closed between the hours of 23:00 and 05:50, during which landing and takeoff demand is lower,” AICM said.

The airport said that preparations for an “executive project” to repair the 05R-23L runway – the one where the pothole appeared – will begin at the end of the year. It highlighted that each runway is subject to a safety inspection once a week.

“This is carried out in daylight in order to visually check the physical conditions of the runways [and] identify necessary repairs,” AICM said.

Carlos Torres, an aviation sector analyst, said it was concerning that AICM didn’t plan and announce the major runway project in advance and thus give airlines the opportunity to alter their schedules.

“There will be more flight delays and cancellations in the summer vacation season [as a result of the project],” he told the newspaper Reforma.

Fernando Gómez, another analyst, also said that the project will affect flights, despite the work being carried out late at night and early in the morning.

“The landing and take-off of planes will be limited,” he said. “In this case, flights in the early hours of the morning will be affected, they’ll have to be rescheduled,” Gómez said, adding that the runway repair project will have an impact on both passenger and freight aircraft.

In addition to the runway work, the federal government intends to carry out repairs to attend to structural damage in both AICM terminal buildings. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport announced an investment of 46.5 million pesos (US $2.3 million) to carry out a range of projects to strengthen the foundations and superstructures of terminals 1 and 2.

With reports from Reforma

Certification allows Jalisco to become second state to export avocados to US

By

MND Staff

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July 29, 2022

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Avocado processing at a plant in Jalisco. Photos: @EnriqueAlfaroR/Twitter

Jalisco has begun exporting avocados to the United States, becoming Mexico’s second supplier of the fruit to the lucrative market.

A shipment of 201 tonnes of Jalisco-grown Hass avocados departed the municipality of Zapotlán el Grande in 11 trucks on Thursday. Governor Enrique Alfaro said on Twitter that it was a “historic day for Jalisco, its economy and its countryside,” noting that the United States’ certification of avocados grown in the state came after a decade of work.

For the past 25 years, Michoacán has been the only state authorized to ship avocados to the U.S., where demand for the fruit has increased significantly over the past 20 years. However, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture, certified Jalisco-grown avocados as being free of diseases and pests earlier this year.

Federal Agriculture Minister Víctor Villalobos Arámbula said Thursday that the commencement of exports was the result of “the commitment, dedication and passion” of avocado producers at 608 orchards and 10 packaging plants in Jalisco that were certified by authorities in both the U.S. and Mexico.

inauguration of first import of Jalisco avocados to the US — Governor Enrique Alfaro, sixth from left, and other officials gathered Thursday to send off Jalisco’s first shipment of avocados to the United States.

He told attendees at an export inauguration ceremony that it was a privilege for the federal government to work with the Jalisco avocado industry during the certification process. The opening up of the United States as an export market will generate “well-being” for small and medium-sized avocado producers in Jalisco as well as their families and communities, Villalobos said.

In collaboration with federal authorities, several other states – including México state, Puebla, Colima and Morelos – are also aiming to get U.S. certification.

In Jalisco, Villalobos noted, the avocado industry directly employs more than 12,000 people. Before winning U.S. certification, Jalisco-grown avocados were already exported to some 25 countries including Canada, Japan and Spain. The state’s 2021 exports totaled 113,000 tonnes.

Javier Medina Villanueva, president of the Jalisco Avocado Export Association, said the supply of avocados from the state will help bring prices down in the United States, where a single fruit can cost more than US $2.

“When we were talking about very high prices a month ago, it was because the [U.S] market wasn’t getting enough supply,” he said. “So we believe that the entry of Jalisco will close that supply shortage. … I think prices will stabilize.”

Mexico – the world’s largest avocado exporter – is already the dominant foreign supplier of avocados to the U.S. market, but volumes will increase now that Jalisco can send its fruit north. Mexico’s export capacity will increase even further if more states are authorized by the U.S.

Villalobos noted that national production of avocados has tripled over the past 25 years, increasing to 2.4 million tonnes in 2021 from 790,000 tonnes in 1996. He said that exports to a total of 51 countries are worth US $3.1 billion annually, with almost 80% of that revenue coming from the United States.

With reports from Milenio

For God, these young men spend 3 years dancing and doing little else

By

Joseph Sorrentino

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July 28, 2022

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Teotitlán de Valle, Oaxaca traditional dancers — These young men give up much of their lives for three years to learn intricate traditional dances they perform during a six-day annual event in Teotitlán de Valle, Oaxaca. Photos by Joseph Sorrentino

For six days in early July, the atrium of the Iglesia Preciosa Sangre de Cristo in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca is filled with 17 young men dressed in traditional Zapotecan clothing, complete with huge, beautifully crafted headdresses. They, along with two girls, then dance for as long as eight hours, fulfilling a promise to God.

This ceremony is known here as the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo (Precious Blood of Christ).

“We participate to ask for health, for well-being and for work,” said David Santiago Sosa.

The full promise they make—the promesa — is a three-year commitment to participate several ceremonies during the year.

“We also decorate the church and participate in other activities,” said Emanuel Ruíz Ruíz. “It is all done with faith.”

It’s an enormous commitment.

For the young men, it means learning many intricate dances. “It takes eight months to a year to learn the dances because they are very complicated,” said Sosa.

Rehearsals took up seven hours a day, four days a week. “We repeat and repeat until we perfect everything,” Ruíz said.

Girl portraying La Malinche in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca parade — Seven-year-old Silvia Melisa Zaños portrays La Malinche, Hernan Cortes’ indigenous translator, in pre-conquest indigenous clothing.

“For the first year of the promesa, one cannot work or do anything else,” said José Hernandez Ruíz. Although they can resume studies and work the last two years, Sosa decided to take a break from schooling. “I want to commit 100% to the promesa,” he said.

Silvia Melisa Zaños, seven years old, and Youshita Yamilet, eight, both portrayed La Malinche, the indigenous woman who aided conquistador Hernán Cortés. Zaños dressed in indigenous clothing while Yamilet was in more modern clothing, which portrayed La Malinche after her conversion to Catholicism when she was renamed Doña Marina.

These girls, despite their young age, also made a three-year promesa.

The ceremony is divided into three days. The first day, a Monday, is called the candela, or the candle.

“It is a recorrido,” said Ruíz, who portrayed Moctezuma during the event. A recorrido is a walk through a pueblo. This one took about four hours. “It is to tell the pueblo that the fiesta is beginning.”

An orchestra of 32 musicians led the recorrido. Behind them was Marbella Irene Lázaro, carrying a large basket of roses on her head. “I represent all of the single women in the pueblo,” she said.

Then came the 17 young men and the two Malinches. They first stopped at the church atrium, which quickly filled with a couple of hundred young women carrying religious banners. All of the participants then left to continue the recorrido.

The second day is the Baile en la Víspera (Dance of the Evening).

Girl in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca portraying La Malinche — Youshita Yamilet plays the part of La Malinche after the conquest, in more modern dress. She and Zaños also make a 3-year committment to participate in the annual event.

Surprisingly, the music accompanying the dances is classical, mostly waltzes that start slow and then quicken. The young men twirl, jump and kick while balancing penachos, which weigh two kilograms on their heads.

The dance lasted a little over five hours.

The third and final day, for the fiesta of the Precious Blood of Christ, they perform the Danza de la Pluma (Feather Dance).

“On this day, we dance eight hours,” explained Ruíz. “I feel tired, but I have to continue. I can only continue because of my faith. That is what moves me.”

Thursday is a day of rest and then the ceremony is repeated in full beginning on Friday.

When asked what they would do on Thursday, Hernández answered simply, “Sleep.”

Joseph Sorrentino, a writer, photographer and author of the book San Gregorio Atlapulco: Cosmvisiones and of Stinky Island Tales: Some Stories from an Italian-American Childhood, is a regular contributor to Mexico News Daily. More examples of his photographs and links to other articles may be found at www.sorrentinophotography.com He currently lives in Chipilo, Puebla.

Iglesia Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Teotitlán de Valle, Oaxaca — As part of the procession, women exit the Iglesia Preciosa Sangre de Cristo church and parade religious images with handmade frames around the town.

Jalisco mental health facility investigated for torture of 11-year-old patient

By

Rose Egelhoff

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July 28, 2022

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11-year old girl burned by mental health workers in Jalisco — The girl suffered second-degree burns to 13% of her body.

The National Human Rights Commission is investigating accusations of torture of an 11-year-old Jalisco girl who her mother says was tasered by employees at a mental health facility after being doused with alcohol in a bid to control an anxiety attack.

The incident resulted in second-degree burns to 13% of the girl’s body, according to the newspaper Informador.

The girl, who suffered burns on her thorax, left hand and arm and abdomen, remains hospitalized and has received plastic surgery for her injuries and was due to receive another operation Thursday to determine if she will need skin grafts, Informador said.

The attack, which occurred on Friday at the House of Life, Way to Health facility in Tonalá, located in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, caused sparks that set the girl’s clothes on fire, according to the state human rights commission report.

police search Jalisco mental health facility accused of torture — Authorities conducting a search of the House of Life, Way to Strength in Tonalá, Jalisco.

It has also forwarded the case to the National Human Rights Commission’s Division on Torture.

According to the state commission, the girl was held down by multiple employees then doused with alcohol and tasered. It also said that the employees were trying to subdue the girl after they could not control her during some sort of anxiety attack.

The mother, identified by the newspaper Milenio only as Monica, told Informador that the incident was first reported to her by the facility only on Saturday, when they told her it was an accident.

“They wanted to treat it as an accident, but that wasn’t the case. My daughter accused them to their faces. She told me, ‘No, Mama, they threw alcohol on me and tasered me,’ and she showed me her neck,” Monica said. “It was then that I started thinking about how to get her out of there, and I said that I would take her to be examined [medically],” she said.

National Human Rights Commission of Jalisco — The incident, which is being investigated by the state human rights commission, is also being investigated as a case of torture at the national level.

Monica accused the facility of trying to trick her into not reporting the incident to authorities and said that officials offered her financial compensation for her daughter’s medical treatment. She said she reported the incident to authorities on Sunday after the girl was treated at a local emergency center. She was eventually transferred to a Guadalajara hospital for further care.

Monica told Informador that she admitted her daughter to the mental health residential facility less than a month ago because she was at her wits’ end.

“My daughter has anxiety and depression,” she added. “After she threatened to take poison and commit suicide, I was desperate about the situation. And since I knew the owners of the facility, I decided to take her there.”

Neighbors who live around the facility said they often heard shouting, screams and crying coming from the center.

“At dawn, sometimes you’d hear crying, shouts and stuff, but you didn’t know what was going on there. Now that this happened, we’ve been connecting it with what we heard,” said a neighbor.

Jalisco human rights ombusdwoman Erika Córdova said the commission isn’t clear on whether the facility has legal permission to operate and said they are still investigating the case.

“… If [they are not in compliance], Córdova said, “of course they will have to be closed.”

With reports from Informador and Milenio

Church-goers claim miracle in Jalisco; archbishop urges prudence

By

Lydia Carey

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July 28, 2022

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There was movement in the central part of the monstrance that resembled a beating heart.

Did parishioners of a Catholic Church in Jalisco witness a miracle last week? Many seem to think they did although the church itself is urging caution in reaching conclusions about what they saw.

But one church-goer recorded the event on video and it shows the church’s monstrance, a vessel that contained the consecrated Eucharistic host — the wafer used during communion, palpitating like a beating heart.

The video taken at Nuestra Señora del Rosario church in Zapotlanejo has gone viral on the web, and the incident is being described as a miracle by the church’s priest, the Rev. Carlos Spahn. He said a medical doctor has reviewed the tape and concurred that the palpitations mimicked that of a beating heart.

The Rev. Antonio Gutiérrez Montaño, representative of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, has urged Mexico’s faithful to be cautious, saying there’s been no formal request for an investigation by the archbishop and that in general, the office of the archdiocese is hesitant to believe in such miracles.

Milagro en mexico mientras el padre Carlos Spahn exponía el santísimo la hostia empezó a palpitar. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💖💖 pic.twitter.com/DkOjnBzgQi

— Deydea Galindo (@DeydeaGalindo) July 25, 2022

“Through an investigation, an official declaration can be made about whether something naturally inexplicable happened, or something imaginary …. to determine if it is real or not so that people will not be fooled. The best thing to do is to be very cautious, very prudent, and know that the real eucharist, the concrete one, doesn’t require supernatural elements. The celebration of each Mass that we attend as believers is a miracle,” said Gutiérrez.

He also said an investigation would take into account scientific evidence, the testimony of witnesses, and analysis from a doctrinal point of view.

Meanwhile, at the parish of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in the city of Zapopan, also in Jalisco, another possible miracle is awaiting an investigation: parishioners saw a statue of the Virgin Fatima crying blood on May 13.

Reports from Mural and NTV

Route of the Aunts leads to a Yucatán town famous for its poc chuc

By

Lydia Carey

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July 28, 2022

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On the 365 Flavors of the Yucatán section of the official Yucatán Travel website, one mouth-watering dish pops up after another. Margaritas made with henquen liquor, ceviche made with chivitas snails, and Papadzules smothered in salsa and cheese.

It’s all part of a campaign to spread the word about the peninsula’s incredible cuisine, which is a mix of ancient mesoamerican recipes and ingredients with some modern additions and presentation.

One of those 365 flavors and one of the area’s most famous flavors is poc chuc, a preparation generally made with pork but also sometimes with fish. The protein is marinated with bitter oranges, black pepper, and roasted garlic, grilled over a wood fire, then served with beans, tortillas, habanero salsa, grilled onions, and chopped cilantro.

The dish has become especially famous on what some are calling the “Ruta de las Tías” or the Route of the Aunts, in the town of Kaua which sits between the resorts of Cancún and the archaeological site of Chichén Itzá.

In an attempt to convince customers of their authenticity many of the town’s 10 traditional restaurants have named themselves variations on the same theme: La Tía de Kaua (Kaua’s Aunt), La Verdadera Tía de Kaua (Kaua’s Real Aunt), and La Auténtica Tía de Kaua (Kaua’s Authentic Aunt). Many of the “tías” that started these restaurants, local women with a flair for traditional cooking, can still be found behind the comal and in the kitchen. Lineups wind out the door on the weekends, with a wait of up to two hours if you don’t make an advance reservation to eat here.

In 2021, despite COVID restrictions around the world, Chichén Itzá was Mexico’s busiest archaeological site with 1.6 million visitors, giving the surrounding area, including the tiny town of Kaua and the big city Valladolid, a boost at a time when many tourist destinations were still bemoaning a loss of revenue.

Now tourists to the area have yet another reason besides towering ruins and expansive jungle to visit this unique region of Mexico, the area’s one-of-a-kind cuisine found at the restaurants of the many aunts.

With reports from EFE