Day Of The Dead - Family Visiting Videos and Pictures

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

We were fortunate to have visitors from the U.S.  My oldest niece and her husband came this last week.  They left yesterday completely exhausted.  We took them everywhere we could think of sans the thermal waters and the pyramids.  They would have needed a professional translator but the cost was $80 USD per person.

The main purpose of their visit was to see and understand the Dia de los Muertos, which we did.  Each day we had an activity.  

Dia de los Muertos in San Miguel de Allende

Trick or Treat in the Jardin.  Childen and adults of all ages participate in this event.  People come to see the costumes and hand out candy to the kids.  Someone said we shouldn't do that but pass out toothbrushes.  😅

The next day was a visit to the cemetary and the big parade.  It was huge.  Thousands participated as well as thousands of onlookers.  Truly an event to remember.  I know we dragged our niece around for six days but we wanted them to take in as much as possible.

Parade Videos

This gives you an idea of the dimensions of the parade.  

Day trip to Atotonilco, starting off with breakfast.

We took a day trip to the Charco del Ingenio Botanical Gardens.  My niece is a hiking guide and naturalist.  She takes groups in Ohio on backpacking trips and hikes that include meditation and natural healing.  She truy enjoyed the botanical gardens.

An exhibit of the investigation, research, and life of Helia Bravo Hollis.  The first female biologist who founded the first university degree program with a basis in native plants and cactus.  Very interesting and informative.

Barrel cactus.  It takes decades to reach its maximum size.  The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked.  The seeds are ground and used as flour.

Calendula is used for softening the skin and for superficial burns.

Who's this guy in the greeenhouse?
 

Morning Glory, used for scorpion bites and a tea for indigestion.

The presa or lake at a pretty full capacity thanks to recent heavy rains.  

Saying goodbye as they take their bags to the van.  BajioGo is a good shuttle service.  Roughly 1200 pesos for the 1 hour and 40 minute drive to the airport. 

I'm so glad they found each other.  They make a perfect couple!

The militarization of Mexico continues.  With all the financial and personnel support, nothing is being done to combat the cartels.  Abrazos no balazos, looking at ways to find the and attack the root causes 😊

12 Billion USD for military defense

Increase of 59% in military personnel.  425,000 soldiers

The military now controls the following:

Guardia National

AIFA (Felipe Angeles Airport)

Mexicana Airlines (the complete airline is run by the military, pilots, flight attendants, maintenance)

Tren Maya

Interoceanic Corridor (train that runs from coast to coast in the Isthmus)

All new hotels related to the Tren Maya

All new railines that are being built or refurbished for passenger use.  (throwback to the days of the great Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz):

Sad News - End Of An Era

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I practically threw myself in front of it as we signed the papers.  The Funfinder is no more.  A couple came yesterday to look at it, and even though the price was lower than we had asked, it was a good deal and time to move on.  He'll pick it up the first week of November.

I can't believe it's 17 years old.  It was a cheap model.  Some might remember the story.  We had sold our 18ft Funfinder, but I needed something on wheels.  We searched for months and found this unit on RvTrader.  I sent an email, and it turned out it was the factory.  They had done a trial with consignments to dealers.  It failed, and they returned the units.  This one had been on the lot for some time, tied up in the bankruptcy.   Brand new, everything in the box for $8500, no warranty or dealer repairs.  We took it.  I wanted to drive to Indiana, but the snows was coming.  I put it on a site where movers bid for it.  Prices were all over the place and over $2500.  One bid came in at $850.  What!  I asked the guy if it was a mistake, and he said that he used biodiesel.  He delivered it to San Antonio.  As he pulled up, we could smell the French fries.   I sold it today for $8100!   That was a deal of a lifetime.

So here I sit broken broken-hearted.  We have trips planned for San Miguel and San Cristobal de Las Casas this year.  Spring will take us to the United Kingdom, we're hoping.  Then, we will start again.  A van?  A very small travel trailer to keep in Texas?  We won't use a standard RV in Mexico anymore, but a van would do the trick.

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Back to the headlines in Mexico.  People really talk up the president.  Yes, she's a woman, but you vote for the best candidate, not gender.  Her approval rating is soooo high, and it's all we hear about.  Of course, for those it's high.  Everybody receives a check now.  

65 and over, you receive 3000 pesos a month 

60 and 64 women receive 1500 pesos a month

30 to 64 men with a disability receive 1600 pesos a month

Birth to 29 indigenous and Afro-Mexicans with a disability receive 1600 pesos a month.

Farmers with less than 5 acres of cleared land receive 6250 pesos a month.

Hell yes, people are happy and happy to vote too!

As Hugo Chávez from Venezuela said, "cuando los pobres dejan de ser pobres y tienen [propiedades], entonces se vuelven de derecha y viene el problema".  "When the poor stop being poor and have properties, they will return to the 'right' and then become a problem.  Promise them hope, give them enough to just barely get by, and they will continue to be on your side.  

At the same time, the perception of insecurity has risen and continues to rise.  Statistically, homicides are down, and at the same time, disappearances have replaced that higher number.  One has been traded for the other.  If you have disappeared and mothers are digging holes all over the country looking for their children, isn't that a pretty good sign that they are no longer living?

A Couple of Projects Finished - The Plot Only Thickens

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September was a long month in terms of getting things done here at the ranch.  We had the cover put on the patio a few years back, but we never finished the job.  It was supposed to be sheet rocked and painted but like everything else, always put off until tomorrow what you could have done today. It was worth the wait, and we are very happy with the work.

We also had some interior work done.  It may look the same to those that know our house, but it was pretty much a refresh.  The electrician did his thing and moved the outlets in the bedroom and also put one behind the television.  No more ugly cables.  Not sure why we are living with cables anyway.  It must be big business.  Everything should be wifi.  The cracks in the walls were fixed and the bedrooms painted.  Looks the same but fresh and new!  

The stackable washer/dryer finally gave out.  It was 25 years old, and we had it repaired a couple of times for minor issues.  We didn't spend much on repairs, but it kept it going.  Old reliable.  A guy here in our town buys, sells and repairs appliances.  I pass his place everyday on my morning walk.  He had a nice used unit that comes with a lifetime warranty (his lifetime).  He should be around for a few more years.  New units were running 23,000 to 35,000 pesos.  He let us have this one for 11,000.  Works great and we should get another 10 years or more out of it.  Looks new.

I saw this guy when I went for the Sunday paper this morning.  What a cool Vocho.  Many moons ago I had a 1972 navy blue with white interior.  

The weather has changed and now we have cool evenings and mornings.  We can enjoy our new patio and spend more time outside.  It has been great the last two weeks on my morning walks.

The Mexican oil scandal continues taking more people with it.  We are now at 11 murders and two suicides.  A naval officer on the most wanted list was picked up in Paraguay.  The other is still on the loose and not sure where he could be hiding.  The total estimate of stolen oil and money is at 11 billion U.S.  Amazing how it is dragging in Mexican port authorities, aduana personnel, and admin employees who faked documents.  This is now considered the largest corruption scandal in Mexican history.  In 2019, just after his election, the then president AMLO said that if there were corruption the president would have to know about it.  Well, I guess he dug his own grave.   We don't know where he is hiding.  I just think of all the poverty and where all that money has gone.  Out of the pockets of tax-paying Mexicans and permanent residents.  In the chart below are senators and state governors who are still in office and trying to climb out of this scandal.  Good luck fellas.

My new look for fall!

Another Day Trip In San Antonio - The Riverwalk and La Villita

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

During our stay in San Antonio the weather was typical.  High 90Fs or 30Cs.  It was muggy and humid the whole trip, but that is to be expected for this part of the country.  Our Airbnb had great central air conditional although a new style of thermostat we have seen more frequently.  

I'm sure most of you have been to San Antonio before.  It's a city rich in history, a very large lower middle class economically, and mostly hispanic.  San Antonians are proud of their city and everybody knows how to get just about anywhere you want to go.  The city has expanded quite a bit over the last few decades.  It has five military bases. I may have mentioned that, and that affects salaries as many military retire early and still have another 20 years of work life left taking many of the higher salary jobs.  

It's history dates back thousands of years and Native American tribes such as the Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Comanche and Apache inhabited the area.   The Spaniards built a series of five missions in the area and several are state monuments today and include the famous Alamo.  We have been to the Alamo a few times, mostly when we lived there and had visitors.  It's an interesting place with a lot of controversial history.  About that time, Mexicans began moving north as well.  

Because of the heat, we held off doing too much afternoon activity and decided to lie low at home.  On the Sunday of our visit, we decided to head downtown.  Again, being well located, we were about 15 minutes by car, and we could have actually walked.  Being a Sunday, parking was easy.  Tourists are a huge draw in SAT and parking lots abound and so do the prices.   On Sunday, however, street parking is free after 6 p.m.  We parked next to the bus station and off we went.  

Jefferson United Methodist Church 

Methodist Youth Building, my photo versus a professional photographers.

Our first interesting encounter was the Methodist Youth Building around the corner from the church.  The highlight is the tallest stained-glass window in the shape of a cross in the U.S.  It was donated by the Porter Loring family, a San Antonio tradition in the funeral home business. It was pieced together and installed in 1950.  It is 51 feet tall and made of 4700 pieces of stained-glass from Belgium, England, and France.  

By the mid 1960s, the downtown area was run down, full of bars, a drug haven and prostitution.  The 1968 World Hemisphere came to town and gave the city a complete facelift.  It was the city's 250th anniverary and a reason to celebrate.   The fair lasted for six months and included cultural and technological events.   The Riverwalk was developed and became a national attraction.

We enjoyed our stroll along the river.  Quite a bit to see if you enjoy people watching.  The restaurants have pretty reasonable prices and we had a chance to see what people were ordering.  Tex Mex was the most popular and everything smothered in cheese.  The weather was perfect for sitting there and enjoying a glass of wine.

The boat rides are very popular just as they are in Monterrey.  Tickets are a bit expensive but several boats passed us and they were full.   

• Adults: Approximately $14.50
• Children (ages 1-5): Approximately $8.50
• Local Residents of Bexar County: Around $12.50
• Seniors (65 & older): About $11.50

We made our way down to La Villita where in the 1800s squatters built their homes.  The Presidio military base was nearby and provided protection against indian attacks.  Some had small plots of farm land as well.   

During the Texas war of independence, La Villita became the site of revolutionary activity.  Rumor has it that this is the site where Santa Ana's brother-in-law surrendered to Texas forces.  In 1835 after a five day siege, the war had ended and Texas gained its independence.

The buildings you see are actually from the 1800s.  This house in particular, is now a wine shop that offers Mexican wines.  The owners are from Saltillo and have a wine tasting room.  She gave us a tour of the house including what was the kitchen and bedroom.  When she realized we weren't buying anything she politely ushered us out the back door.  

As time passed, people began to settle La Villita again and Mexicans, Germans, and Americans dominated the site and Irish, English and slaves lived nearby.  By the 1870s, La Villita was a thriving part of San Antonio.  Small businesses and shops opened providing stone masons, shoemakers, cabinetmakers and all the skills required for building a city that was growing fast.

As time went on and the city expanded, La Villita fell out of favor.   Here is a picture from the 1970s along with a comment from one of the architects who was responsible for the restoration of the area:

"When I first saw it, it was like 1926, and it was just the worst slum you ever saw. You wouldn't believe there'd be a slum in the middle of town like that--there were 26 families living in there and they had as many wrecked cars as you ever saw in your life, just piles of them." 

"When I first saw it, it was like 1926, and it was just the worst slum you ever saw. You wouldn't believe there'd be a slum in the middle of town like that--there were 26 families living in there and they had as many wrecked cars as you ever saw in your life, just piles of them"

As we walked back to the car the sun was setting and it was time to call it quits for the day.  It was a fun and we both reminisced over the years we lived and have visited San Antonio.  I'm sure we'll go back next year sometime.