Zacatecas 2

This should have been posted on Feb 10, but the Blogger servers have been acting up again. And the wysiwyg editor isn't exactly wysiwyg, and it is a little cumbersome to place photos correctly. Please excuse.

I looked over what I have written so far and realized that my posts are pretty long. I try to keep them short and to the point, but in the process I have to leave out so many things. I will add some links to the Kodak site so those of you who would rather just look at pictures can just skip to them.

Last night we went to the only French restaurant in Zacatecas. The owner was a young guy who had come to Guanajuato a few years ago to visit his sister who was studying Spanish. He met a Mexican girl and got married, and has had the restaurant for the last couple of years. The head of the Alliance Francaise and he are the only French folks in town. He makes a pretty good fondue and crepes. His sister ended up marrying a Mexican too. He says it’s something in the air.

We had a good conversation with a businessman from Leon at dinner. Things got around to politics at one point. It turns out that ½ the population of Zacatecas lives in the U.S. from a total population of 1.5 million. The impact of these immigrants, probably illegal mostly, is vast in Zacatecas. Nearly every family has someone in the U.S. A few years ago the governor of the state got together with these folks and the immigrants contributed $1 million, the state government another million, and local businesses another million. The money was used for infrastructure projects, and because the immigrants knew how government can actually work for them, from their experience in the U.S., they made sure the money did not just disappear into some politician’s pockets. Pretty cool.

Meanwhile the front pages of the papers were full of Tancredo’s statements about being at war with Mexico over the border, the vigilantes along the border who want to shoot first and ask questions later, and Bush’s waffling on the immigrant issue. Makes one proud to be a gringo.

After dinner we went to the nearby La Goitia square near the market and were entertained by the state brass band. The son of the conductor played the triangle in his little red coat, and generally entertained the crowd.
La Goitia Square and the Zacatecas State Band

Today, Feb 10, we visited some museums. The mask museum was very interesting and had over 5,000 masks. The range and level of creativity was incredible. Unfortunately, there was little information on where they came from and when, and only general indications on what they were used for. Most were used in various religious festivals, particularly the Moors vs the Christians and the Easter passion plays. Their collection of prehispanic ceramics was one of the best I have seen for Tzintzuntzan and Chupicuaro; and were obviously from burials with no provenience, meaning they were from robbed burials. Too bad.


Two of the "Three Kings"?


A Were-jaguar and a Jaguar

Assorted Devils

Assorted Christians.

African-American masks mean different things depending on where they are made and used. In Veracruz on the coast they represent the ravages of slavery. In Oaxaca they are comic relief and have no reference to slavery.

Before lunch we happened on a high school band competition in the Plaza de Armas next to the cathedral. They had a flag escort contest, mostly with the girls, and a bugle and drum corps contest, mostly the guys. We just sat on the steps watching with the parents and other bystanders, moaning when they made a mistake and cheering when they did a good job. In the background, workmen continued to carry in sacks of concrete to the office building next door.

Band Competition next door to the Cathedral

Flag Escort Team

Tonight we are going to La Tambora, a uniquely Zacatecas tradition of a band with a big drum that plays music on Friday and Saturday nights. They sometimes walk through the streets, cheered on by people following them and from the balconies of houses along the way. Don’t know what will happen tonight. (Missed the Tambora, must only be Saturdays this time of year. Will try again tonight.)