More St. Michael's fiesta!

The day started off with a couple hundred vaqueros riding their horses into town.

The cowboys

Incredible sight! Mucho horse poop! They all rode through the arches made of flowers, cane, and yucca right up to the cathedral.


These guys really looked like they rode in from the campo (country).


In front of the church they stayed on their horses while a priest came out and conducted a mass in Spanish on the front steps for them. In all it lasted nearly an hour.



Then they all rode out.



The white part of the arches is made from the base of a plant.


Below is a mojigange which is a large "puppet" with a person inside.


They can be seen often down in the plaza. This picture is not in San Miguel but it gives you an idea of the size!



Later on this guy was hanging out in the plaza too. I think he let's you sit on his donkey for pictures in exchange for a few pesos.


Yet another exciting event during the fiesta was the exploding dolls made of paper mâché and stuffed with gunpowder or firecrackers. It was really loud!

Exploding dolls

The whole fiesta kicks off with a fireworks battle in the town square which started at 3am and went until 4 am. I did not attend since I was told it is a crazy and hazardous affair during which young men run all over shooting Fireworks at each other to reenact the battle to throw Lucifer out of heaven.
Here is a link to this years "battle" taken from the church's side. It's kinda long but just try to imagine this going on for a least an hour.

Fireworks battle between the angels and the devil

I woke up due to all the extremely loud fireworks and watched it all on the live webcam that streams from the plaza. Here's the link if you want to see what's going on there right now!

Live webcam in San Miguel de Allende

Saint Michael the Archangel gets a parade

One of the biggest celebrations of the year takes place during the last few days of September each year. The patron saint of San Miguel is, of course, Saint Michael the archangel who is renown for driving the devil out of heaven. In his honor there was a huge parade featuring more than sixty groups performing indigenous dances in colorful costumes. They have a float featuring a young woman as Michael because apparently, according to what I was told, Michael was lacking certain "manly" body parts and so appeared effeminate.








Also in the parade were "devils" cracking real whips which I found pretty scary!

http://youtu.be/Gg4-kcvfI2M

I somehow failed to get a video of the guys sword fighting with real machetes! Here's their picture, though. No, I'm really not sure why one guy has a banjo. Ya gotta love Mexico!


















Even little boys were carrying real machetes.

Lots of colorful costumes!












































Kids








Candy apples








Beauty queens








All the dancers danced up a steep hill probably at least a mile long in the afternoon sun. There were old and young, even moms with babes in arms. Their dedication was impressive.









People had constructed wooden objects which were decorated with flowers and yucca leaves. These were carried up to the church at the top of the hill and leaned against the fence around the church as a kind of tribute.

http://youtu.be/q7PK7hzlxgQ

The whole spectacle was really amazing!

The Mexican guy I fell in love with

I know this will be shocking to all of you, but on my recent trip to Mexico City I fell in love with a Mexican man. He's not very attractive, overweight and wears glasses. He has somewhat unruly hair and he smokes. They tell me he is a terrible womanizer, oh and brace yourself, he's a communist. His name is Deigo, Deigo Rivera. And I love him.



You may have heard of him and his wife, Frida Kahlo. I love her too.
We went to Frida's home Casa Azul. Learning the details of her life made me so wish I could have met her.



What an exceptional person. I'm still trying to understand why she and Diego held such extreme political beliefs. They seemed like intelligent people. I need to do quite a bit more research, clearly. Also, why did Frida not pluck her unabrow? And how does she feel about having her face plastered on every other shopping bag and drink coaster set in the tiendas?


I would be willing to bet she is turning over in her grave except I happen to know first hand she was cremated and stored in a pot shaped like a pre-columbian frog. It was her request because frogs reminded her of Diego, in a good way, apparently. In spite of these burning questions, I could not have enjoyed touring her home and studio more.






As for my man Deigo, well, we came across a few of his most remarkable murals in the national palace and I was hooked. The passion! The satire! The beautiful colors, not to mention the gigantic scale of his work, grabs you and pulls you in.



Needing another fix, we went to the Belles Artes theater and climbed three, or maybe four, unbelievably arduous flights of marble staircases, cuz you know the good stuff is on the tip-top floor and the elevator was "not working today". Anyway we earned the exquisite pleasure of seeing several of his most famous murals.



Still not satisfied, the next day we made a trek to the building where the national education offices are housed. That in itself was interesting, peeking in the doors to see what the secretary of elementary education in Mexico was doing today. But the real treat was the motherlode of Deigo's murals all around the three floors of courtyards. It was amazing and wonderful and if Deigo had not already passed into the great beyond over fifty years ago I would be stalking him at his hacienda today.