Pozadas and Parties
As mentioned in a previous blog, we are currently undergoing "The Marathon" here in Mexico which involves numerous Christmas parties and Pozadas (special Mexican Xmas parties). This has been better accomodated by the IH Christmas holiday. To round off the school year there was an IH Xmas dinner. This was a lot of fun although the British teachers at the school quickly revealed themselves when it came to attacking the open bar (as shown by the slightly pink faces in the photo). Raffle prizes were also won and I am now the proud owner of an IH T-shirt, although I would have prefered the printer/scanner which Zoe won (grrr...)
The IH party was of course only a "pre" for the Pozada that night. At Pozadas one usually ends up in a firend of a friend's house in some part of the City you will never remember, in the front garden, bashing pinatas, attempting to Salsa, lighting candles and singing painfully long Mexican Christmas songs. Veracruz
A couple of days before Christmas I finally took my friend Vanessa up on her offer of staying with her family in Veracruz. Bus tickets were bought and we arrived in Poza Rica where her Mother had made us some delicious Pozole (Mexican bean/meat stew) before we took ourselves out to visit the town. Vanessa's family is lovely and her Grandmother is a particular riot, keen to tell me how much I look like "la novia de Principe Guillermo" (Kate Middleton) and share her views on our Royal Family. After explaining that the courts had in fact proved Princess Di was not murdered I decided it was best to give up agree that yes, it was an assasination all arranged by Al Fayed. The next day Vannessa's mum took us to see nearby Tajin, a pre-hispanic city, initially constructed in the first Century. It reminded me of the Romans, in the sense that these early Pre-hispanic communities built specific buildings for religion, health and other Roman like purposes in a rather Roman like way and that, as Tajin was abandoned by the Spaniards, all that remains are these impressive ruins.
After this we watched Voladores (flyers), once a tradditional form of Totonac Indian worship. The flyers climb up to the top of a very high pole while one plays a wooden flute, attach themselves to a rope (attached to top of pole, obviously) which they twist around the top of the pole and fly down upside down:
Navidad en DF
While I could have gladly stayed with Vanessa in Veracruz for longer (and I intend to return), I had to get back to DF for Christmas. The 24th being the main event for Christmas in Mexico, we had a Mexican/Ameican/British Christmas dinner at Luis and Jenne's depa. We ate/drank, among other things; mole, guacamole, tequilla, turkey, pasta salad, mould wine, bread and butter pudding (the last two being my offerings).
On the 25th we had another meal at an American flat and hence a rather American Christmas day but merry all the same. However, gracias a youtube, everyone got to see the Queen's Christmas Message (many having never known it existed). Once again Queeny did not let us down and the British presence was felt. Another plus was leaving the party with half a ham (they were going away and unable to finish it)!
So far it's been a great holiday and, while very sappy, Christmas makes me feel very grateful for all the wonderful friends I have managed to make here and miss my fabulous friends and family back in Blighty.
While today has been a much needed recovery (I took myself off to the Fine Arts Gallery and read in the park) and water has never tasted so good I know this is only a pause as I shall be off again for New Years and tomorrow is Saturday...
As with Dia de los Muertos, this may be yet another example of the Catholic conquistadores trying to incorporate yet another Mayan image into the Catholic church in order to convert the indigenous Mexicans. However la Virgen is still, to this day a strong cultural symbol of Mexico and la Basilica in Mexico City is an extrmely popular pilgrimage destination.
The weekend before last we visited both la Basilica and the Capilla de Cerrito, a beautiful little chapel overlooking D.F. 
While it would have been great to visit the Basilica on the 12th, el Dia de la Virgen marks the begining of what is known as the Guadalupe-Reyes Marathon in Mexico. This means 25 days of squeezing in as many parties as is humanly possible from the 12th right through till the 6th January. Hence duty called and most of this past weekend was spent attempting to salsa, drinking wine and eating tamales at Mexican friends' or "friend of a friend's" houses all over D.F.
This last weekend was a bank holiday and, unlike Independence Day this time we all had Monday off. This meant that after a quick class in the South of the city on Saturday morning, I was picked up and taken (by friends, not kidnappers) to Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City and known as the 'land of eternal spring'. Although not 'land of eternal British spring' as each day the sun was strong and the nights were warm.
We stayed in a campsite by the River (shown in photos above) which we actually swam across a few times. The campsite itself had warm springs, which it used for water and to supply the pools we spent many hours sunbathing around (and rope-swinging into).
In the evenings we had BBQs and made bonfires to sit around. Unfortunately Pat and I had to sleep in the "palace" which we had bought for 200 pesos from the supermarket ealier that day:
In spite of all his enthusiasm for such a 'classic' tent it turned out Pat had no idea how to put it up (happily I have no issue with being bossy and so she was up in no time) and seemed surprised that the hard ground can be so "unforgiving". .
Either way, it was great to have a break from the city and enjoy the sunshine on my first trip outside of Mexico City and it has given me a new found appreciation of my matress in Mineria.
Sunday 2nd November is the main celebration of the lives of the dead, a trdditional Mexican Festival where it is believed the souls of the dead are able to visit most easily. Families usually make offerings to their dead in their homes. These usually incude food and drink which that person particularly liked during their lifetime. There are different days to celebrate the lives of those who died young and the disabled and I imagine these are quite sad, yet Dia de los Muertos was very cheerful.
While the festival is most keenly celebrated in the more indigenous parts of Mexico, there was still no lack of enthusiasm in D.F. We went to the historical centre (the Zocalo, above) to watch tradditonal dances (see below) and view the many public offerings made in the plaza.
Below is a photo of one of the many offerings. The orange flowers are tradditional for this festival as are the chocolate skulls.
In the gardens we saw some tradditional Mexican dances from all the different regions of Mexico. 
After the musuem we went to the market to buy blue corn quesadillas and mamey (my new favourite fruit) to eat on the boats.
As for Edgar, I have now moved out and live with another teacher from the school. However there will be no photos up here untill I have found a vacum.
On Saturday nights, Coyoacan is full of people and has a real atmosphere and so it was great to come back. Fortunately, my Spanish teacher had told me this week all about a coffee shop, El Jarocho famous for selling the best coffee in Mexico City (my Spanish teacher has the most amazing ability to go completely off topic at the mention of either food or British music - it really couldn't be easier for me). The coffee comes from Veracruz and the queue for the coffee goes all the way down the street. The coffee is pretty strong stuff, comes with a loads of foam and sprinkled with cinnamon - it's also half the price of Starbucks and twice as nice.
