Jan
16
¡Hola de Guanajuato, Mexico!
Filed under Mexico 2004
Buenos Dias!
I’m sitting in an internet cafe here in the city of Guanajuato. Although the keyboards are different, they are at least less confusing than those I encountered in Japan two Interims ago. The keyboard has upside down ¿ ¡, as well as a key for ñ Ñ.
In our studies during the first 1.5 weeks back at St. Olaf, we learned a saying “Algo sucedio” meaning “Something came up!” We were warned to be ready to just go with the flow of whatever would happen to us. Good thing! From the beginning…..
On Wednesday the 14th, the 79 bandies, plus the Mahr family (band conductor), and Rich (our manager) and his wife loaded the buses at 6am. Upon arrival at MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul airport), everything went smoothly as far as security and baggage check (yes, I remembered to take my reed knife out of my clarinet case and stow it away in my checked baggage!).
Finally came time for us to board the plane. It took awhile for people to get their instruments and backpacks stored in the overhead bins, but finally we were situated to go. But then algo sucedio. The pilot announced that a severe problem was found with part that lifts and lowers the plane’s wings. Rather than wait on the plane for over an hour to have it fixed, we got off of the plane and transferred to another one. This time, we were all much faster in boarding! At 11am, 1.5 hrs later than our original take-off, we finally left.
After a short layover in Houston, we boarded our second plane en route to Cuidad de México. I sat next to a Mexican businessman who I really wanted to talk to but was just too nervous to do so. About 20 min. before landing, he finally spoke up. We had a good conversation, talking about Mexico and the U.S. including Bush’s recent proposal for worker visas. From above, México (Mexico City is referred to as México in this country) is huge, sprawling endlessly, as far as the mountains will let it.
In the airport, customs went quickly and we met our two buses outside. The smell of smog was apparent, and cars (lots of VW bugs, Nissans, and other familiar cars) were buzzing around. So thus began our 5-hr drive to Guanajuato. We did a lot of sleeping along the way! We arrived in the city just before midnight. We had to transfer to smaller buses because some of the streets go underground where a riverbed used to be and our buses wouldn’t have fit! On our walk to the hotel, the streets and some of the buildings were lit up and it was so beautiful! Many colors. We all sat down to a midnight dinner and then hit the sack.
On Thursday, we learned that our truck of chairs, stands, risers, large instruments, donated instruments for a Mexican village, etc. etc. was not able to make it thru customs in Laredo. Rich, our manager, has speculated that because the U.S. makes it so difficult for Mexican trucks to pass, Mexico has kind of retaliated back. We have all been very upset that we would not be able to give the donated instruments away or get our stuff. But thankfully Rich and Terra, our itinerary planner, and our truck drivers were able to get thru today by transferring our stuff to smaller trucks. They plan to arrive at 4am tomorrow morning before we leave for Mexico City.
Thursday morning we took a walking tour of the city. How beautiful the houses are with pastels and brights of blue, orange, red, yellow, green, etc! We visited the mercado where they sell everything from fresh fruits and meats (and I really mean FRESH) to small statues of the Virgin de Guadalupe and t-shirts. We have all realized that Guanajuato is a very quaint and inviting city. People are always bustling about, even late at night. We have all been enjoying the food here: guacamole, refried beans, carne, flautas, enchiladas. NO quiero Taco Bell!! All the foods are very layered in flavors, even their hot chocolate. I personally have enjoyed using my Spanish here and there, even though I don’t know too much.
This Friday evening, we just finished our first concert. Because we didn’t have our truck of stuff, we were so fortunate to scrounge all over for instruments and chairs, etc. We played in the Teatro Juarez which is so magnificent, with tiers and balcony boxes. We had a really good crowd, filling two of the upper tiers. We are all very excited that we were able to pull this off!
Tomorrow we have breakfast at 7am and leave for Mexico City soon thereafter. Pardon the extremely long email. Hopefully I can summarize next time!
Buenas noches,
Kat (el gato)
p.s. the billboards for “The Cat in the Hat” say “El Gato”!
