A Year in Cuernavaca: May in Cuernavaca (or Heat Waves, Narcos, and Cinco de Mayo)

Day 260 in Mexico

I begin this May installment of my blog with a common theme: an apology and explanation why this is coming so late. I actually did plan on writing this several weeks ago, but I had a bit of technological misfortune. After five long years of sticking by my side and holding all my documents, pictures, music, and other treasures, my computer’s hard drive suddenly and violently bit the dust. Consequently, I lost all of aforementioned information aside from a few select things I did have on a flash drive (word to the wise: back up your computers!), my lap top spent almost two weeks in the Laptop Hospital (literally the computer repair shop’s name), and since I got it back I’ve been working on getting it back into some semblance of the operating shape it was in. So, long story short, I got a little distracted from my blog-writing. It was an unfortunate and unexpected hassle, but so it goes.

So, what are the latest goings-on in Cuernavaca? For starters, it’s hot. People kept warning me about the hot season here, which hits between April and June, but I brushed those statements aside. I thought that after living though Arizona summers for four years, I was pretty much immune to extreme weather; besides, how hot could it really get in the City of Eternal Spring? Really hot. And unlike Arizona, where every building is air conditioned and every house has a pool, the heat isn’t so escapable here. It’s interesting that that’s what the starting point of most of my conversations is now; all we can talk about is how hot it is. I live and die by the pedestal fan in my room.

Aside from the weather, things in Cuernavaca are going pretty well. In mid-April, however, things started to look a little ugly in our city. I have been hesitant to mention this in my blogs or any communications back home, because I don’t want people to worry about me being here or my general safety, but as a part of my life and an important issue in my community, I think it deserves to be brought up. When I arrived, Cuernavaca wasn’t disputed by the drug cartels; pretty much the entire interior of the country surrounding Mexico City was relatively free from drug-related violence, unlike the border and coastal regions. However, with the assassination of a major drug lord here in December, which I mentioned in an earlier post, the city suddenly became up for grabs, and rival drug cartels began encroaching upon it. It seemed rather sudden, but right after Holy Week some disturbing drug-related events began occurring in the city: gruesome murders, bodies found along highways, killings that occurred in more public areas than ever before. All of this was contained completely within the drug-trafficking associations themselves; civilians and tourists were not and are not targets. But it was unsettling nevertheless. It all came to a head one Friday afternoon, when an email started circling like wildfire among Cuernavaca residents that allegedly was sent from the members of a drug cartel. The email explained that the cartel was essentially imposing a curfew on the city, as there was to be major violence between them and their rival cartel. They advised all civilians to be in their homes by 8 p.m. Obviously, this brought about panic; our volunteer group was rounded up and spent the night together at the retreat center in town. Though we passed a tense night waiting to hear what happened, absolutely nothing came of it. Nothing the email said was going to happen happened, but the headline of the next morning newspaper pretty much said it all: Fear Wins. People are scared; I’ve had a lot of conversations with the people I live and work with about the matter. I don’t feel particularly frightened or threatened; I know I’m not a target, and that if the situation became very unstable I would be put on a flight back home. But it’s different for the people who actually live here. They’re afraid to be out after dark, to let their kids walk to school by themselves, and the soldiers that now patrol the streets make them nervous (Mexico’s answer to everything is militarization). Things have thankfully quieted down since then, but in the discussions I’ve had, it’s obvious that it’s still on people’s minds. In addition, even though this hasn’t made headline news in the U.S., this has major implications for Cuernavaca’s economy. The big businesses here are tourism and language schools; already people are deciding not to come for fear of drug violence. Every cab driver I have asks me about it; they all seem nervous that there won’t be any tourist business for them anymore. It’s not a good situation, and unfortunately, the government doesn’t seem to give a decent response to the issue. I’m hoping I’ll have better news to report on the situation by the time I leave here, but this may not be an issue that resolves itself quickly.

On a much, much lighter note, I got a little more vacation at the beginning of this last month ( it’s funny, I went on vacation right after the last major drug episode in December. You take the good with the bad, I guess). As most of you know, Cinco de Mayo was just last week, but as many people don’t know (I didn’t) it’s really not that big of a deal in Mexico. It commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, where the Mexican army defeated the powerful French army, who were essentially trying to take over the country. The only city in Mexico that truly celebrates the day is Puebla, so that’s where Katie, Sara, Peter and I decided to go; thanks to the Mexican school calendar and its generous amount of vacation days, I didn’t even miss any school. It’s really a lovely city, bigger than Cuernavaca although it retains a small-town feel in the historic center. And unlike Cuernavaca, which seems a giant mass of winding, convoluted streets with sidewalks that disappear into nowhere (part of its charm), Puebla is designed on a grid, with numbered streets and wide sidewalks. As someone who gets around via walking and public transportation, I can’t even describe to you how much I appreciated this. It’s also famous for Baroque architecture; Talavera pottery, a special type of ceramic pottery; and for being the birthplace mole poblano, a classic Mexican sauce made out of chocolate and spices. We spent most of our time wandering the streets, visiting churches and sites, including a tour Talavera factory and the widest pyramid in the world in nearby Cholula, and of course eating delicious food. We also caught the tail end of a Baroque festival that was happening for several weeks in April and May, and as a result got to see a number of different musical events, ranging from symphony orchestra to Baaba Maal, a Senegalese singer. My friend and fellow volunteer Katie actually used to live in Senegal, so she was especially excited to see that particular concert, and Peter, being an avid music lover, was very happy about all the music events as well. Cinco de Mayo itself, however, was not even that huge of a celebration in Puebla. There was a big parade in the morning along one of the cities main avenues, which also happens to be named Avenida Cinco de Mayo. I found the parade to be somewhat of a disappointment. The streets were lined with chairs, but you had to pay to sit in them, and everybody there was carrying an umbrella, which made visibility issues a bit difficult. We ended up watching from some bushes surrounding a nearby statue. The parade itself was comprised of a large amount of military and police forces, complete with heavy artillery, tanks and all. First there came the marching military, then the military in their trucks with their guns, then the military tanks, then a group carrying bayonets… it was a bit much for my taste. Towards the end there were more traditional parade features, high school marching bands and floats, but by that time we were tired and decided to move along. I didn’t see a lot of other celebration going on; many people had the day off and were strolling around downtown, but it was nothing like the margarita-drinking fest that happens in the US. All in all, however, it was a very pleasant trip; a former professor who lived for awhile in Puebla told me I absolutely had to go, that it was the colonial jewel of central Mexico, and his statement was pretty accurate. It was a very good time.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m back at work, battling the heat, and looking forward to enjoying the souvenirs I bought in Puebla: planting a flower in my new Talavera flower pot and cooking mole poblano with the mix I bought (prepare yourselves, family). Until soon!

.Here are some photographic highlights from Puebla:

Taking a tour of Talavera Uriarte, a certified Talavera factory that’s been in operation since the 1800’s.

You don’t get much more Baroque than the Capilla del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary). It was so ornate and so gold that it was almost impossible to look directly at it.