Remember the Alamos!

We have hit Alamos as hard core turistas! The FAOT is in full swing so we have decided to soak up as much of the local culture as possible. It is interesting to watch the locals ogle as we, a group of bicycle-borne gringos, wheel past them in the cobbled streets of this colonial town.

Our first destination is the Mercado Artesanias on the west edge of town. This is where normally the local handicrafters sell their wares, but for the duration of the festival it is the home of indigenous cultural performances. We timed it perfectly to catch the dancing by the Yaqui indians, who are a remarkably handsome and robust people. No wonder the Spanish decided not to bother trying to conquer them militarily and waited instead for the Jesuits and the Franciscans to do the trick and just embarrass  them out of their own culture. The music and the costume is quite different to what we are used to and fairly hypnotic. The deer figures quite prominently in their myth cycle, mixed in with a very Catholic projection of the devil, for a compelling performance.

We fed and watered ourselves on the Alameda (the commercial market area in Alamos) and made the acquaintance of "Gus", a California-born Latino who spends a lot of time in the area apparently trading with the Yaqui. He was able to explain some of what we had seen to us. Like many people that we have already met, Gus had some difficulty explaining exactly what it is that he does to get by, which raises Remy's police hackles somewhat, but he was quite charming and nothing that he said or did ever turned into any sort of hustle.

As is our wont, we timed it so that the most physically demanding part of our travels coincided with the hottest part of the afternoon. We cycled up tho El Mirador. which is the highest point in town. The majority of the way was on harshly cobbled streets and the final pitch was quite steep. The view over the city and surrounding area was worth it, though, as was the ice cream treat (for the boys). The ride back down was a test of both man and machine. A few nuts were shaken loose, and not just on the bikes!

A trip across the arroyo to the Barrio del Monasterio led to the La Moderna bakery. We missed the timing on that, though, as only a few sweet buns and some molasses cookies were still available on the shelves. We enjoyed these in the front yard, which is one of the few grassy areas in town, before grabbing some groceries from el mercado and heading back to the campground. The afternoon was spent with Liz doing work on the computer, the boys swatting each other with their Airsoft guns and Remy freaking out the locals by conducting a workout with a small boulder beside the old pool area. After a delicious dinner of jumbo prawns, delivered to our campsite by an itinerant seafood salesman (!) we suited up and headed into town on our bikes again to partake of the festival. You can tell it is a Friday night, as the energy has gone up a couple of notches and the amount of Tecate beer being consumed in the streets has increased geometrically. Frenetic music being played by bandas at each street corner has men in cowboy attire and women with big busts and bums dancing energetically beside taco stands and merchants. This is in contrast to the performances at the city hall, which usually consist of of some variation or combination of opera and classical music, which are attended by well-heeled Mexicans and gringos sitting in serious contemplation both inside (paid seats) and outside (where the performance is projected onto the facing wall, for free). Two other main stages host free performances of widely varying types, from show tunes to jazz to alternative rock. The hubbub is quite audible from the campground, which is located away on the east edge of town, but still cannot compete with the cacophony of animal noises (barking dogs, cat fights, lowing cows and, oddly enough, crowing roosters) that continue through the night.

Life is good here. We are able to feed the family at a taco stand for $15 or less, and that includes a beer each for mommy and daddy. The price isn't much different at a cenaduria (family restaurant) but we prefer the energy of a taco stand on the plaza. Another $20 gets us accommodations at the campground, where we are able to avail ourselves of the facilities around the pool, just like a hotel guest. The weather seems perfect too as it is warm enough to eat breakfast in a tee shirt outside, warms to about 25 - 30 C during the day then cools enough at night to require a long sleeve shirt or light jacket. Sleep comes easy.

 It is odd to think that for many Mexicans, our current way of life is out of touch.

-Remy