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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 16, 2014 20:52:43 GMT
A jarocho is a person, item or style of music from Veracruz, Mexico. sourceSo here I go, along with a friend, off to the neighboring but very different state of Veracruz :: Many hours of going up & over the mountains ~ Bored. Taken after a trip to the potty. The bus was almost empty leaving Oaxaca. We were in the very first seats behind & to the right of the driver. This is a first class bus, which is quite nice, although there are two classes above it which are rather luxurious. I eventually fell asleep, after many miles of sere hills and mountains, and repetitive vistas of tall cactus. When I awoke, it was to the dramatic difference of moisture! greenery! the tropics! Coming in to Orizaba ~ Continuing on, my eyes greedily drank in the site of lawns, lushness, palms, and streams ~ The bus station at Cordoba, our last stop before the port of Veracruz. Note the sugar cane field ~ Yaaay, here we are in Veracruz, in our lovely hotel room overlooking the zócalo and the port as darkness falls ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 16, 2014 21:47:36 GMT
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Post by lola on Dec 16, 2014 23:02:02 GMT
Just beautiful, Bixa.
Those darling young and gorgeous dancers.
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Post by htmb on Dec 16, 2014 23:30:03 GMT
Looks like this thread is off to a wonderful start, Bixa. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and seeing more wonderful pictures.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 17, 2014 0:34:50 GMT
Looking forward to another fantastic experience! Is this your first excursion to this region? I love how elaborate the costumes are.
What made you choose the region you live in Bixa?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 17, 2014 5:01:36 GMT
Thank you, dear Lola! I appreciate that so much, Htmb, and hope this proves interesting. Thanks, Mich! Actually, Veracruz was the first place I ever visited in Mexico, back in the early 70s, & I've been back briefly a couple of times since then. However, I never particularly liked it until this visit, when I fell completely under its spell! As for how I chose where to live ~~ I was visiting Oaxaca as a tourist when I made my decision to move to Mexico. Oaxaca is a small city, so seemed a good place to start. Despite thinking at various times that I'd like to move, I wound up staying in Oaxaca. So many pictures left to show & so much to tell, and my adventures have barely begun. However, I'm off to the town of the witches tomorrow, so must go to bed.
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Post by bjd on Dec 17, 2014 6:40:20 GMT
What a good idea to put a map at the beginning, Bixa. I have heard many of those Mexican names over the years but wouldn't have been able to locate them on a blank map.
Looking forward to seeing more.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 17, 2014 13:57:11 GMT
Thank you, Bjd! I'll have to include another map further along in this thread. We were only in Veracruz that evening & a few hours the following day. After that we moved south for a week in adorable Tlacotalpan, where we are right now in real time. For now, let's get back to the port of Veracruz, which was fertile picture-taking ground (& water) :: These huge bronze heads by Javier Marín (here and here just off the main square were mesmerizing ~ Ceiling decor where we had supper. Veracruz = seafood, seafood, seafood Time to view the water ~ The malecón -- the pier and promenade next to the water. It is huge and very crowded this Saturday night ~ Much more (& much better ) stuff to show, but I have to go right now.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 15:16:32 GMT
I can see why you were attracted to Veracruz. It is after all a Port city. I was wondering after seeing the beginning of this report and so many other fabulous ones that you have done if you ever get an overdose of all of the folkloric costumes and music. If there were as many costumed events in France, I would be snapping away like crazy, too, but it is something that I can only take in small doses, so I'm kind of relieved that a lot of it has faded away over the years. However, I must make a point of going to an event some day in one of the places where they wear the most outrageous costumes like Brittany or Alsace. In any case, I want the name of the detergent that they use on all of those white costumes in Veracruz!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 18, 2014 15:34:57 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 18, 2014 15:49:46 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 18, 2014 16:27:53 GMT
I wonder whether Mormons with their tithes, no coffee, no chocolate, no alcohol can convert any Mexicans with their food and colourful festivals?
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Post by htmb on Dec 18, 2014 21:14:21 GMT
I am a sucker for colored light reflections on the water!
Enjoying this, Bixa!
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Post by mossie on Dec 18, 2014 22:06:15 GMT
Yes, very colourful, and another new place. Thanks Bixa
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 19, 2014 1:32:41 GMT
Thanks to all of you! Htmb, I had to stop myself from taking pictures of every single boat & ripple of water. It's been so long since I've been around that! Thank you for all your great photos of water and its surrounding land -- they have been an inspiration & goal for me since arriving in this area. Mossie, it's not just a new place to me, the people, the climate, the culture, the food -- everything -- is so different from where I live that I feel as though I'm visiting a foreign country. Veracruz is often compared to Cuba, & I thought it was wonderful to be here when I heard the encouraging news about Cuba/US relations last night. Bjd, you'll be most surprised at the strength of the Mormon church in Mexico. It's very common to see their missionaries & there is a large temple in Oaxaca. I've even seen a quite large complex of church and school way up in an isolated village in the mountains. Sorry about going so slowly with this report, but I've been out and about. We had a few hours in Veracruz the following day. Here are some morning scenes, quite a contrast from the night before ~
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Post by fumobici on Dec 19, 2014 1:39:10 GMT
Outstanding photos so far, I particularly love the morning light. It's hard to appreciate though honestly while dying of envy here in the murk.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 19, 2014 1:48:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 6:40:43 GMT
I really like all of the arcades, which always provide excellent protection from both sun and rain in such places.
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Post by bjd on Dec 19, 2014 8:08:00 GMT
The little Jesus statue is odd -- looks like he is just hanging around waiting for a bus or something, with his legs crossed like that. I find the anti-abortion (I presume) display rather unsettling though. I understand the church's point of view, but those little foetuses??
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 19, 2014 21:03:41 GMT
Fumobici, thank you. And also ............... ix-nay on the envy -- just get yourself down here! Kerouac, I have noticed since I've been in this hot area that the galleries also do a great job of funneling a cool breeze through. Bjd, what creeped me out about the little statue was the casual "ha ha little boy, guess what's gonna happen to you" aspect of it. And you can thank me for not showing the closer-up, even ickier view of the fetuses I took. Anyway, moving along :: We are now at Sunday, December 14 in thread time & we're going to stroll away from the groomed areas to the market. Passing the large painting in the foyer of the hotel :: The yellow building on the left is the Port Authority & surely the white building is something Port-related as well ~ Once away from the very center of town, there is less grooming & more picturesque tropical decay & scruffiness ~ There is also this fabulous homage to a local entrepreneur, pictured being received with open arms by Veracruz ~ You have to feel sorry for the poor demoralized business rival! Around the corner from our hero ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 19, 2014 21:23:32 GMT
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Post by htmb on Dec 19, 2014 21:27:40 GMT
The market photos are especially interesting!
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Post by htmb on Dec 20, 2014 3:22:31 GMT
The bronze heads are fascinating, almost looking like old wood in some of your photos. I had wondered if they were a permanent installation, but it seems they will be moved to another location in just a few weeks.
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Post by lola on Dec 20, 2014 4:23:27 GMT
Wonderful report, bixa. Wonderful. You capture a place.
I LOVE the Marin heads.
Do people drink the cane juice straight, fresh squeezed?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 20, 2014 4:45:51 GMT
Thanks, ladies! Htmb, I have a soft spot for that fish market. I remember going there in the early seventies & the vendors walking us around & tellling us the Spanish names of all the fish -- our Gulf fish with fancy foreign names. I am so glad you all like the heads, which I found extremely compelling. Lola, yes -- juice straight from the cane.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 5:54:00 GMT
The market is fantastic!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 20, 2014 19:35:42 GMT
Yes, a great market! Well, let's wrap up the city of Veracruz so we can press onward to Tlacotalpan. Leaving the market, we strolled through a park & came out in this area featuring older buildings, but some obviously from the 30s & others built or renovated through the 30s. Veracruzano Streamline Moderne! Fire house ~ This little fortress is the Baluarte. It houses a collection of gorgeous gold pre-hispanic jewelry which was discovered by a fisherman in the 1970s. No photos were allowed of the collection, though.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 20, 2014 19:59:24 GMT
A quick zip through part of the malecón to see it in the daylight ~ Young men and boys who dive for coins thrown by tourists. They were here the previous night, as well ~ Again, the monument to the Spanish immigrants ~ A last look through the hotel window as we gather our things to go ~ And on down the coast for a couple of hours ride to Tlacotalpan ~ Miles of flat land, then a zone of outcroppings and long hills, as this is an area of extinct volcanoes ~ Rolling into town ~ We're here!
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Post by lagatta on Dec 21, 2014 14:51:20 GMT
That last Spaniard has a boina but no jamón.
My Argentine friend, who was first a refugee in Barcelona and spent several years in Catalonia before arriving in our frozen waste, was back there last year and unwisely decided to bring back one of those wonderful hams. It was, of course, confiscated by Canada Customs and their sniffer dogs...
Lots of beautiful things to see, but Renzo and I would both like some of that fish!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 22, 2014 3:37:03 GMT
That reminds me, LaGatta ~~ I was walking my dogs a couple of weeks ago (in Oaxaca) & an older couple stopped me to ask about them & exchange pleasantries. I simultaneously realized the man had a Madrileño accent and was wearing a boina -- carrying it off, too! Yes, I believe the statue, with his skimpy suitcase, is meant to show the struggle of the immigrant, whereas the gentleman returning in triumph could proudly brandish his pata negra. You & Renzo would have been soooo happy in my next stop, a town full of cats & of seafood.
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