Pescando, Baja California Sur, Mexico

It turns out Linda had never actually caught a fish! Who knew? Growing up in Oklahoma, Mark thought everyone had taken a cane pole and some worms or shiners to a local pond and yanked a few perch or crappie from their watery home. But you know what they say about assuming….

More successful trip. Note change of cast!

An unfortunate catfish...and a cane pole!

So for a quick pre-holiday visit, we flew over to San Jose del Cabo, a 1.5 hour flight from GDL, to visit Mark's brother Dan, who has invented yet another version of his fishing self, Dan 4.0, this time as a deep sea fisherman and maker of those wacky-looking lures you may have seen on American Sportsman. Oh wait, that has not been on since maybe 1969, on a black and white TV in an Oklahoma barber shop called Murray’s. 

[See lures at http://bfdbiggamelures.com/]

Anyway, Dan has been a fish guy since he was knee high to a grasshopper. This has taken many forms, aforementioned cane pole on pond bank, to fishing from a large truck tire inner tube covered with canvas for bass in Oklahoma farm ponds, to trips to Alaska, catching kings and taking a .45 to the outhouse in case bears arrived, to becoming a certified drift boat guide in Idaho. And about 10 years or so ago, chasing marlin in the Sea of Cortez and the Mexican Pacific. Where he caught a giant blue about 2009, officially 800 lbs, though it turns out that was the limit of the scale on the dock at the time.

To be very clear, he only brought this one in, as it died during the fight. He is a dedicated catch & release guy, and at one point had info on his website (for the lures) that said, “eating marlin causes impotence.” Just to be clear. 

Famous Los Arcos, pulling out of the Marina

Sunrise!

OK, so we were in good hands as we left the marina in Cabo just before dawn. We had mentioned that some dorado to eat would be good (as they are sustainable!). It didn’t take long for "Fish On!," and Linda was in the chair. She brought in, after a short fight, a good-sized dorado, and we were fixed for ceviche. Her first fish! Mark says his first was a perch about 3” long.

  
 

The live bait not looking too happy in the tank (underwater photo)

The day went on, we caught several more, and then caught a few small yellowfin tuna. Now we were also fixed for sashimi and poke! We packed the limu seaweed and Hawaiian salt in our bag muled to Mexico by friends earlier. (shhhhh)

Didn't know tuna had that color/pattern

We rounded out the day by spending some time amongst a large school of dolphins (If we could only swim like they do!), and watching a few water spouts form!

And of course, Dan caught the biggest one!

The next day, we picked up the fish, fileted, vacuum-sealed, and frozen – all for about $1 a pound – and headed back to the ranch, where tequila and ceviche were had by all.

Great way to spend our first Christmas in Mexico!

Thank you, Dan and Jana, (BFD lures business partner,) -- good to go fishing with you again!

 

 [See lures at 

http://bfdbiggamelures.com/]

Had lots of flags to show off on our way back in!

Pancho, looking for the no-longer-live bait on our return

 (Diciembre, 2018)

Christmas in 9+ days -- La Posada, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

Another novena! This time for the 9 days leading up to Noche Buena, aka Christmas Eve. Noche Buena is also what they call the poinsettia here; the flower (which is actually a multi-flowered shrub) is native to Mexico, and was brought to “poinsettia” fame by a U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in 1822 – named…Poinsett. Noche Buena is much easier to day, and much easier on the ear.

Decorations of balloons and moss

The fiesta is called La Posada (The Inn) and is another re-enactment, this time of Maria y Jose looking for a place to stay in Bethlehem. For 9 evenings, each night in a different neighborhood -- groups of kids, parents and abuelas/abuelos march to a designated home. The people of the house sponsor the evening’s events.

Maria rides on a burro, lead by Jose. They are preceded by a few kids dressed as angels, and followed by a small vignette of the pair, with burro, on poles on the shoulders of some of the older kids. And then they are followed by the aforementioned children and families. The one we observed had at least 200 kids in the street.

As the procession reaches the sponsoring home / gate / door, the puerta is closed, and the assembled crowd in the street begin to sing a traditional song, first the kids outside, then a response by the people inside. The gist of the song is simple – we are poor pilgrims from Nazareth, please let us in / no, we have no room / but please, this is Mary, the mother of God. And so on. It is a lovely little song, and has many verses, including one which translates roughly as “go away, you may be a rascal and thief and I will have to beat you.” Awesome.

Eventually the problem resolves when the innkeeper recognizes that this is THAT Mary and Joseph, and welcomes them in (to the inn). Come in! And have gifts! And candy!

 A lot of gifts!

The formalities taken care of, the kids crowd in for the real incentive (we think) for this event – candy and piñatas. Each child gets a small bag of candy and treats (one wonders if dentists sponsor all of these evenings!). 

Then 3-4 piñatas come out, and one by one are demolished by the kids, while they sing “Da le! Da le! Da le!” (rhymes with last name of Salvador), the traditional piñata-bashing song. The ones we saw included an elf (take that, Keebler!), Santa (ouch!) and an angel (really?). Mark speculated that a nun with a ruler would be a more appropriate target for these kids than an angel, but hey -- we’re new here.

These Posadas go on for 9 days, and on 24 de Diciembre, an actual baby joins as part of the creche in Ajijic, the zocalo. Here, and in some other areas of Mexico, is it thought the baby Jesus brings the gifts and they are opened on Christmas Eve. In areas closer to the U.S., it is Santa Claus and December 25. Oh, and wait, the whole Christmas thing isn’t over yet…Some say the 3 Kings bring gifts on January 6, and if you get the baby in the King Cake, you bring the tamales on Candlemas Day, February 2! That seems a fair trade.

All in all, another look at a different way to celebrate Christmas, here on the fun side of the ($18 billion) wall.

(Diciembre, 2017)

Fiesta de San Andres, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

We learned recently that most (if not all) towns in this area have the name of a saint preceding the Indio name. We live, for instance, in San Antonio Tlayacapan, which is called San Antonio. Sometimes the Spanish is nicer to hear, sometimes the Indio word is better. Good example – hummingbird. En Espanol, el colibri, in the indigenous (Nahuatl) tongue, huitzitzlin. In the indigenous language, Nahuatl, version as it is very…onomatopoeaic? Say it out loud.

But this is all about San Andres, the saint attached to Ajijic (ergo San Andres Ajijic, which is called Ajijic). If you were paying attention in Sunday School, you will recall that Andrew was known for being first a fisherman, then a Fisher of Men, so he is a good fit for a town on the shores of a lake. The feast day of Saint Andrew is November 30, and of course there is a novena (9-day fiesta) leading up to that day. And on each of these 9 days the cohetes, pop bottle rockets on steroids, start near dawn, lit in the hand and released to the sky, carrying the prayers of the faithful that much closer to God, with a loud explosion to get His attention!

St Andres church steeple against the hills

Today's fiesta brought to you by professionals, domestic employees, teachers, beauty workers, the businesspeople of the Port of the Lake, hair cutters, and JOE's.

The parade through town included vignettes from the life of the Saint, as well as miracles (like the loaves and fishes), re-enacted on the back of small flatbed trucks, and each float was sponsored by local groups, including Joes Barber Shop. One had San Andres, with nets, catching sinners. 

And the loaves and fishes – with real loaves and real fishes!

There were also Indio dancers, in feather regalia, and cool seed pods (need to figure out what they are) on their legs that make a great rattling sound as they dance.

That's a real dove! yikes!

But the highlight of this celebration are the castillos, one each of the 9 nights, erected in the plaza in front of the church. A castillo is a large structure, maybe 50-ish feet tall (though they can be much bigger), laden with various Catherine wheels (another saintly reference), each holding fireworks galore. The rockets on the edge of the wheel make it spin. Each night one is sponsored by some local group, the teachers, the municipal employees, etc. We chose to go to the one on the last evening, sponsored by the Hijos Ausentes, the “sons” who went to the US to work and send back money to their families. It is the grandest of the displays, since they have the biggest budget for fireworks, and music.

We were not disappointed! Each of the 7-8 spinning contraptions is lit one at a time, each with a theme or design. This one started with the face of Donald Duck (whistling rockets, and a spinning face), then Mickey, then a large chalice with two hands holding it. The grand finale were the words Hijos Ausentes, sparkling and raining sparks everywhere.

In the midst of these towers, several young men climb up inside, to ensure proper operation, (??) and maybe to be sure each wheel gets lit. They were so close to the rain of sparks that we were sure they had on some kind of fireproof clothing. Silly us! When we saw these fellows after the event they were just in jeans and hoodies. We heard somewhere that the daring component with fireworks is proof of their faith. If so, they had a lot more than a mustard seed’s worth! (sorry, haven't figured out how to rotate the video. But you'll get the point.)

Between each “castillo wheel” being lit, there were more fireworks sent skyward, launching from the ground maybe 40 feet from where we stood. The thundering launches were impressive, and kept startling us into jumping a little. Safe to say we have never been that close to fireworks of this magnitude, and more than once felt a sting on exposed skin where the remnants drifted down on us. We patted our hair each time just to be sure!

The main town has most of the streets shut down for booths, rides, games of chance, and music!

Mark suggested they should sell t-shirts for this saint's day that say "It's not my fault!" (A joke for you Californians and geology fans out there,) and like many such suggestions, it got no traction here, alas.

And so ends yet another fascinating cultural snapshot from Mexico -- the fun side of the wall!

(Diciembre 2017) (Sorry for the tardy publishing, I'll blame it on the shoddy internet!)