Maddy's Travels
MEXICO 2012
A JOURNEY IN THREE PARTS: Puebla, Las Posas, and San Miguel
I returned for the 15th time to my beloved Mexico. I get so mad with all the garbage on American TV about the dangers of Mexico. Except for the border with the US and a couple of other well defined places, IT’S NOT DANGEROUS. May I repeat, IT’S NOT DANGEROUS.
The tortillas are made in front of your eyes. Mangos, jicama, melon, papaya sprinkled with chili, lime and salt and sold on street corners exceed the word “yummy”. The weather in the interior, heartland is always springtime - sunny and seventies, the people more sincerely friendly than anywhere else in my travels. The Canadians don’t get the the same garbage we get on TV and continue to visit Mexico in their usual numbers.
Part 1: Puebla
Puebla is a colonial city. Like all cities and towns of Mexico there is a Zocalo (town square) with constant parades, music, street food and kids playing. I visited friends I had met in Cuba in 2003. They had managed to immigrate to Mexico. Cuba has shortages of food. There is truly nothing on the shelves. A family is lucky to have meat once a month. My friend Lisis said “the first time I entered a supermarket, I cried. We spent four and a half hours, it was like a movie”.
There were no Americans in Puebla and my Spanish got a good workout. I might even deserve a pat on the back.
Street Food Lunch at the Park:
For less than a sandwich at Panera 4 of us had: 2 picaditas, 4 tacos, and 1 helote (grilled corn on the cob sprinkled with cheese, chili and lime).
Part 2: “Las Posas” Surreal Sculpture Garden
Cast of Characters: Claire (friend and travel buddy I met in Mexico 14 years ago), her brother, sis-in-law and driver.
We visited an area called “Las Misiones de la Sierra Gorda de Queretaro” (mission churches built in the 1700s and all 5 now “World Heritage Sites” AND “Las Posas”, town of Xilitla, State of San Luis Potosi. The journey included hours of curvy mountain roads and dozens of roadside shrines for those that had died on it.
“Las Posas” began in the 1940s by Edward James, a rich, eccentric Englishman as an orchid sanctuary. He had a blood relationship with King Edward VIII of England. His mother was either a mistress of the king, or a daughter by a mistress, depending on who you asked. After a freeze killed the orchids in the 1960s, it became a surreal sculpture garden of unfinished dreams, built in and around nature including a house for Queen Sophia of Spain in case she came to visit. There was a concrete boat set under a waterfall, more waterfalls and a concrete bathtub set into a deep fish pool. The servants would feed the fish so they would come to the surface as Edward James bathed.
I had been told that it was cold in this mountainous jungle area, and since I had only packed the most minimal amount for a 3 day side trip, I was forced to skinny dip. It’s hard for me to resist a clear swimming hole beneath a waterfall. I asked the guide to turn around - well I guess I should have just charged him for the show. We stayed in an equally surreal castle with tunnels and stairs to nowhere, the house of Edward James’ Mexican lover (so it is alleged), currently run as a hotel by the children of said lover.
PART 3: SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE
Many Americans live here or spend the winters. Claire had rented a beautiful house for a month with roof deck, interior courtyards and a housekeeper. She squeezed us fresh orange juice every morning. I even came home with clean laundry.
The only flaw for me in San Miguel is the lack of dancing. One night there was a live band and dance at the “Arthur Murray Studio”. The male/female ratio was not in my favor. Fortunately, I can lead many partner dances. I was able to rescue many of the gals from their clumsy husbands and fill in for those without.
Spontaneously, I found a Zumba Class in the park on one of my early morning walks. It was one of the few places in this town where Mexicans and Americans mix as equals. I was was wearing sandals with socks. Please forgive me the fashion faux pas - I would have never done that last year in Paris. The two teachers were fabulous, the environment great, and price only 30 pesos - (about US$2). I hope I zumba’d off all the tortillas I ate.