Semana Santa - Part 3

While the kids in the U.S. are hunting for Easter eggs, Mexican children are burning effigies of Judas Iscariot. We took the metro back to Iztapalapa to witness this. The entire town turned out to the event, including the local band.
Turns out, Judas was not the only "guest of honor." They also burned three other effigies:














These included an archeologist, who had done the town proud, Santo, the famous wrestler who brought fame to Mexico, and a pastor of one of the prominent churches in town. They were all blown to smithereens. We were in the top row of bleachers, surrounded by quite a few children. Because there was a strong wind, when the fireworks began, it blew sparks and debris in our direction. The children all began to cry and ran for their lives.

And now for the special attraction: La quema de Judas:
(Warning: The following video may be disturbing to children)



And once again, good triumphs over evil (well kind of)

One note: Because of the potential dangers and pollution the fires can produce, the burning of these figures was banned this year. Don't you love how they follow the law here?

Semana Santa -- Part 2

The best known of the Semana Santa activities is the Passion play, known as Vía Crucis, which is a performance re-enacting the crucifixion of Christ, including the last supper, betrayal, and procession of the 12 stations of the Cross. Although the annual Passion play takes place in many neighborhoods throughout the nation, the most ornately staged is in Iztapalapa, a suburb of Mexico City. The traditional presentation began in 1833 after a major cholera epidemic killed off most of the neighborhood's population. The survivors decided to express their appreciation to "Nuestro Señor" who they believed had spared their lives. We took the metro to Iztapalapa to get a glimpz of the proceedings.

The entire town gets involved in the celebration - utilizing more than 3,000 nonprofessional actors, and it attracts more than crowds of nearly 2 million people. (I believe we were the only two gringos, however)

It was amazing how much time, money and effort are devoted to the entire spectacular, which is a 5-hour procession. (We didn't stay the entire length)

This is a picture of me with a few of the "disciples." There were hundreds of them.
Being a Roman soldier was also a popular part. Most of them were on horseback. (This is before the procession.)
And here's a small part of the procession . . .



Because we didn't have the five hours to watch the completion of this one, we attended an abbreviated version in another borough.




This certainly has been a week of cultural enlightenment and I have to admit, the people here focus very passionately on the religious aspects of Easter. However for me, the general conference address given by Elder Holland last week was far more moving and penetrating than anything I have seen in the past few days. Go here to view his talk. Audio and video archives
or Easter Message—None Were with Him,"

Semana Santa in Mexico City - 1st in a series of three

Since Surf hasn't made his appearance, we decided to spend Easter in Mexico City, exploring the culture. Easter, or "Semana Santa" is quite an event here that actually trumps Christmas. All schools are out for two weeks, and EVERYONE has at least three days vacation. Don't bother looking for jelly beans, chocolate easter eggs or easter bunnies. You won't find them here. (Believe me, I've tried!) What you will find is a plethora of Easter-related events, albeit each quite different from those in the U.S.

The first event we are highlighting is a tour of "las siete casas - arte y simbolismo en Samana Santa". This tour is hosted by the "gobierno federal," or federal government. We immediately noticed a quite obvious lack of "separation of church and state." As we boarded the bus, we were given a small tin enclosed with rosary beads, and a Catholic prayer book.

The two-hour tour of seven magnificent churches in the Centro Historico was guided by a very exhuberant Catholic host.

Our first stop was at San Francisco Grande, a Catholic church built in the 1600's. Note the flat surfaces on the face of the facade, which once displayed saints and apostles, but were stolen or removed by the "gobierno federal."



Next we visited San Felipe de Jesus, another Catholic Church. Interestingly, many of these churches were founded by Jesuits trying to save the "Church" from reform.


Just around the corner was San Felipe de Neri, yet another magnificent Catholic church.
Services were in process when we arrived, but that didn't stop our guide from taking us on a tour explaining all of the interesting architecture while the pastor and congregation were worshiping.


We next visited the Templo de San Bernardo. Note the beautiful engravings, all in pure gold. This one represents the "sacred heart."


Next, the tour took us to a beautiful church, the inside adorned with mural mosaics. We found this one the most interesting. It reads: "Maria Salvadora del Genero Humano" (Mary, Savior of the human race)


Another church - Nuestra Senora De Valvanera - boasted similar sentiments. There they displayed this image, which they call the Sacred Heart. Our guide was quite distraught about this, because he said it was incorrect. The heart displayed actually is of the "Siete Dolores de Maria" (seven pains of Mary.) He didn't seem to be bothered about the description of Mary being the "Savior of the human race," however.
Our final stop - at Concepcion Convenio - one of the city's first churches - actually a convent. At that time there were 40 others, all but this one were destroyed. It also contained the first hospital in Mexico. Cortez had the church built, and was buried here. Ironically, we couldn't go in because they were cleaning. (Apparently it 's OK to interrupt a mass, but interrupting cleaning is a no go.)

Very interesting tour - we visited seven churches - all within a few blocks of the Zocolo. I almost felt like I was in Utah, except with a Catholic flare.

Hey Harpdogs!

How do you like the color you picked out?
Comments, anyone?

San Miguel de Allende

Since we had a weekend off from church duties, we decided to take advantage and take a day trip to San Miguel, a quaint little town 3-4 hours north of Mexico City.

This is the entrance to the city.
Visiting San Miguel is like taking a trip back in time.
The town owes its founding to a few hot dogs. These hounds were dearly loved by a courageous barefooted Franciscan friar, who started a mission in 1542 near an often-dry river 5km from town. One day the dogs wandered off from the mission and were later found reclining at the spring called El Chorro, south of town. The mission was subsequently moved to the site. This picture is looking down from El Chorro.

One of the most famous landmarks in town is Parroquia de san miguel arcángel. The parish church's pink wedding cake' towers dominate the landscape. These were designed by indigenous stonemason Zeferino Gutiérrez in the late 19th century. He reputably based the design on a postcard of a Belgian church, and instructed builders by scratching plans in the sand with a stick.
Less famous is Templo de la Concepcíon, a splendid church with magnificent old oil paintings.

San Miguel is internationally recognized for its magnificent light, colonial architecture and enchanting cobblestone streets.

The people are pretty laid-back . . .
and quite creative. Here's a tip: If you want to sell your house - buy a can of spray paint and advertise on your garage door. Much cheaper than a realtor!
All in all, it was a great day. Unfortunately, the town was swarming with federal police and national guard. There were big trucks full of police armed with machine guns on almost every street. By the time we left, they had blocked off the entrance to the city and we had to exit via an alternate route. We were glad we hadn't made reservations to spend the night.

Dear Fernash,

Please post another blog entry so that the last one people see is not the "Dirty Pants" story. I would be happy to provide a plethora of embarassing stories of you, (such as the incident in McAllister Park) if you're at a loss.

Love,
MOMYOURFAVORITEBOMB

our lovely neighbors . . .

Regarding the aforementioned police activity of my previous post, I found out today that they were capturing Vicente Carrillo Leyva #2 in command of the Juarez drug cartel. He was exercising in a park - the park which DTB and I have frequented on our sunday walks, approximately 1/2 kilometer from our home. His father, dubbed "Lord of the Skies" for sending entire planes filled with cocaine to the US, was considered the #1 drug trafficker in Mexico until he died in 1997 during plastic surgery trying to change his appearance. If you want to read the article, go to my gmail inbox or ask me to send it to you. (the link won't work from blogger) And you guys thought I was going to be bored here!

This makes me even more uncomfortable

Many people ask if we have been affected by the "drug war" here that has gained world-wide attention. I usually admit that I have only seen it on TV. Today, however, I was taking my usual route to the hospital through our lovely, peaceful neighborhood when I encountered a massive blockade of police cars with a crew of men dressed in black guarding the blockade pointing machine guns at me (and other drivers) to persuade us to turn down another street. I was persuaded. I would have taken a picture, but didn't have my camera, and I've heard it's not a great idea to take pictures of the police (or anyone else pointing a gun at you.)

This makes me a little uncomfortable

So last night DTB and I were relaxing when the guards called that we had a visitor. Since I don't known anybody DTB went to see our uninvited guest. He was a young man we had met briefly a week ago (once) who had traveled by bus for three hours to ask us if we would pay his rent for the month, because he'd lost his job. I don't even know his name. Is it me, or is that weird?

Free to Choose

A few years ago Dad-the-bad gave me the book Free to Choose by Milton Freedman for Mother's Day. Since then I have become an advocate of the free market. Ashley Fernashley sent me this great video, which sums up his philosophies on economics. Milton, where are you?

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1115/Milton-Friedman-and-Phil-Donahue--1979

Go to this site if you want to view the video. Apparently, nobody in Washington has seen it.

Happy Birthday Bexie!!

Here are some of the reasons I love Bex:

1. She's a great mom.
2. She copes with stress quite well. I don't know how she survived Caroline's first year.
3. Can anyone find better coupon deals? I don't think so.
4. Bexar is the queen of baking.

5. Although she was somewhat of a couch potato when young, she turned out to be quite athletic.
6. She gets excited about little things - like going to Target.
7. She loves to sew! (amazing to me)
8. She stays home all day with two kids and then can manage a room full of toddlers in nursery every week.
9. She is amazingly mature and doesn't even stomp anymore.
10. She is a great daughter and a wonderful person.

Happy Birthday Bex. I love you!

Benito Juárez

Thanks to Benito Juárez, we had a day off today. Dad-the-bad and I painted the living room and it looks great! Since we're obliged to him for the holiday, I thought I´d enlighten you a little.

Benito Pablo Juárez García (March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872) was a Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms as president of Mexico. For resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as for his efforts to modernize the country, Juárez is often regarded as Mexico's greatest and most beloved leader. Juárez was recognized by the United States as a ruler in exile during the French-controlled Second Mexican Empire, and got their support in reclaiming Mexico under the Monroe Doctrine after the United States Civil War ended. Benito Juárez was the first Mexican leader who did not have a military background, and also the first full-blooded indigenous national to serve as President of Mexico and to lead a country in the Western Hemisphere in over 300 years.

Today Benito Juárez is remembered as being a progressive reformer dedicated to democracy, equal rights for his nation's indigenous peoples, lessening the great power that the Roman Catholic Church then held over Mexican politics, and the defence of national sovereignty. The period of his leadership is known in Mexican history as La Reforma (the reform), and constituted a liberal political and social revolution with major institutional consequences: the expropriation of church lands, bringing the army under civilian control, liquidation of peasant communal land holdings, the separation of church and state in public affairs, and also led to the almost-complete disenfranchisement of bishops, priests, nuns and lay brothers.

"La Reforma" represented the triumph of Mexico's liberal, federalist, anti-clerical, and pro-capitalist forces over the conservative, centralist, corporatist, and theocratic elements that sought to reconstitute a locally-run version of the old colonial system. It replaced a semi-feudal social system with a more market-driven one, but following Juárez's death, the lack of adequate democratic and institutional stability soon led to a return to levels of centralized autocracy and economic exploitation under the regime of Porfirio Díaz :( that surpassed anything from the colonial or conservative eras; a conservative government under liberal gowns. The Porfiriato (Porfirist era), in turn, collapsed at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

His most famous quote: Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz, meaning "Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace."

Fun in Houston

We went to Houston last weekend to attend Surf's baby shower. We're always looking for excuses to go visit kids. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any good pictures at the baby shower. My camera wasn't cooperating. Fortunately, dad-the-bad wanted a new camera for his birthday, so we were able to get some pics of the rest of the weekend.

We had fun playing with the kids . . .













swinging. . .












riding bikes . . .
It was a great weekend. Ryan cooked a brisket for dad's birthday, which was the best I've ever had (including restaurants.) Sorry I didn't get pics. Bethany bought him a cake from Ooh La La! with which we each gained 5 lbs. (oops!) Thanks Bethany and Brandon for letting us stay at your house. Thanks Ryan and Brianna for hosting the party - again. And thanks Carrie and Shawn for making the trip out to Katy - twice!

Feliz Cumpleaños!!!

mi amor!!!

I love dad-the-bad because he

• is proud of his gray hair
• can get a stain out of anything. - he's actually better at laundry than me . . . actually more than just laundry.
• never complains (hardly)
• es muy guapo!!
• always thinks outside the box.
• has great legs!
• loves the latinos
• calls me guerita
• doesn't care if I have dinner ready
• stops at Target for my "necessities" every time he's in the US
• put together my elliptical
• let's me think I'm the boss
• is the best husband ever!

Happy Birthday! I love you!!

Baby and Zion's

The two best things about last weekend - I spent the day with Shady, and we went to Zion's National Park, which I'd never seen. Awesome! The best thing about the previous three days was that they were spent with dadthebad in Las Vegas -aka Sin City. We had a great time!

Here are some of the pictures Lindsey didn't post. (too bad I didn't have my camara in Las Vegas, there we some fabulous displays at the Billagio Hotel)

the Harpdogs . . .

the fam . . . (the reason for coming)





a "waterfall" which was more of a "snowfall









and another beautiful picture of Zion's - taken by the Harpdogs

Dear patients of the clinica movil,

Next time you need cash, please ask. I would be happy to share with you whatever I have. Just don't take my purse - along with my credit cards, cash card, driver's license, temple recommend, ID cards, and blackberry - with important phone numbers and information I can't replace. I had no money to buy groceries because we had to cancel our credit cards and cash card, and spent an entire afternoon getting a Mexican driver's license so I can drive. And that's just the beginning . . .
Thank you,
Dr. Reed

Soy Chilanga!

Yes, I'm officially Mexican - and to prove it I have a Mexican driver's license. They require no test, no questions, background check or vision exam - just a telephone bill. They wouldn't accept one with my name and address on it - but would accept one with someone else's. Go figure. I guess it's part of being Chilango.

Valentines

Chocolate + dining out + flowers + homemade sugar cookies = Best Valentines Ever!
Way to go, dad-the-bad, now I can change my reminder blog background.

Veracruz

I was invited by a friend this weekend to go to Veracruz. It's probably not what you're thinking - beaches, surfing, relaxation. We went with a group from his church - The 7th Day Adventists - to Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz.
Points of interest:




We started here. Angel (our driver) drove me to the address I was given and was surprised that it turned out to be his church.








This is Xalapa - the capital of Veracruz. Beautiful city.






Our destination - a small town of Perote - a 2 hr drive up the mountain (actually a volcano)








Unloading the bus in Perote



Waiting patiently for us to get set up.









a friend I made - she wanted to help and brought me a chili lollipop







their school,







other workers from the church



and a beautiful view of their little town


other interesting points:

• I saw as many interesting cases in one day as I did in one month of residency - and TONS of Giardia. (I told them my daughter had it twice and turned out just fine, which made them smile)
• Although the people are very poor, they are very happy.
• The state of Veracruz looks alot like Costa Rica - beautiful!
• The optometrists get the award for the most efficient. They saw 1,500 people and fitted them all for glasses.
• The 7th Day Adventists are Super Nice! They even sing a song very similar to our church's "Called to Serve" Needless to say, I was VERY popular. And in the end they were VERY disappointed.

sweet, savvy Mabel

I had a great weekend visiting kids in Houston. We took the grandkids to the zoo, where we had a great time. Toward the end of our visit we passed a cotton candy stand. Being a fan, I asked if it would be OK if I bought the grandkids (Mabel, Caroline, Devin and Annie) some cotton candy. I purchased a bag with two layers, blue and pink. Being the girlie girl she is, Mabel requested only pink cotton candy. After eating what I thought was enough, I told the girls they could have a little more, and then we were wrapping it up to take home. Caroline would get to take home the blue, and Mabel the pink. Mabel looked at me and immediately dove into the bag, grabbing fist-fuls of blue cotton candy and devouring them. Pretty savvy! Although I always thought Mabel was Peterson through and through, I now realize she did get something from me - my sweet tooth. But I'll still have to give the Petersons credit for the smarts.