October 23rd

Before I get to the significance of October 23rd, I wanted to quickly recap a few events that took place.  It has been a busy few weeks here in México.  In September, all the volunteers in my group, PCM-16, traveled back to Querétaro for a week long training.  In Peace Corps lingo this particular training is called, Early In-Service Training or EIST.  EIST comes after your first 3 months in site and serves as a time for the group to get back together and share stories and experiences from our sites.  A large part of EIST focuses on how to develop and manage projects.  Now that we all have 3+ months in site and we know our ways around our offices and cities a little better there it is about time for us to plan and implement projects.  This training helps prepare us for this undertaking... (I realized recently I haven't really posted a blog about what I do here, so that post will be coming up shortly...my bad).

After our EIST finished, all of the Peace Corps volunteers in México joined us later in the week in Querétaro for two events. The first was for a technical forum on Climate Change our counterparts attended as well.  We had a keynote speaker, roundtable discussions, and then a variety of afternoon sessions you could choose to attend. Personally, I chose a session on classroom management skills as I have been working in schools and thought this would be useful...and what do you know, it was! This was a well thought out and professional event organized by Peace Corps. I think everyone who attended learned something new that day which is what I would call a success!

Picture of all the México volunteers and their counterparts during the technical forum

The second event all the volunteers participated in was the All-volunteer conference.  A much more casual affair :).  This was volunteer led and organized and consisted of a variety of sessions we could choose to attend.  Everything from project development to Mexican cooking to a storytelling workshop were session topics.  The sessions were all facilitated by volunteers and provided a chance for us to learn from each other's experiences.  This was very useful as there are only a few people who can relate to the experiences and challenges you go through as a volunteer in Peace Corps México and those people are your fellow volunteers.  This type of conference usually happens every 2 years so I may or may not be around to attend another one, but it was a great experience to meet ALL of the volunteers (I had not met a good chunk of them before this event).

Enjoying late night tacos at the hotel, I love everyone's faces in this picture!  It was awesome to see everyone from PCM-16 (and all the other volunteers) during our week in Querétaro.  

More recently, and in terms of recent, I mean yesterday, Ciudad Guzmán celebrated their Patron Saint, San José (Joseph).  I think just about every city in México has a patron saint and each year there is a celebration in honor of their Patron Saint.  For Guzmán, this day is the 23rd of October.  Leading up to the 23rd, we have had the Feria in town (think of a small scale state fair type event, with a ferris wheel, pirate ship rides, games where you win stuffed animals, carnival food, arts and crafts, and LOTS of fireworks/castillos).  The culmination of these celebrations come on the 23rd in the form of a parade that ends on the steps of the Catedral de San José.

Top: Empty streets in the Centro lined with chairs people set out the night before to save a spot

Bottom Left: Cassie looking like a tourist and passing the time before the parade by writing postcards.

Bottom Right: Catedral de San José

We were warned that you need to get to the parade route early to claim a seat. Cassie and I took that to heart and arrived at 9am...the parade didn't start until 12pm.  However, we did end up with good seats. A lot of people had set out chairs the night before so in the end it was probably a good idea we got there early, but it meant we were in for a long day of waiting and sitting.  Not only did we wait a long time for the parade to begin, but the parade itself was 4 hours long.  It didn't help that it was a swelteringly hot day as the sun baked us in our seats, but we were true Guzmanites this day as we stayed until the end of the parade. In total we spent 7 hours at the parade, including waiting for it and then watching.  It was good there were two of us as we were able to take breaks and walk around as the other guarded our spot...teamwork!

Horses made up the first part of the parade.  I think we watched horses walk be for about an hour.

Top Left: This was maybe my favorite part of the parade, a man standing on his horse, swinging his lasso around the horse...impressive

Top Right:  If you look closely you will notice the rider holding a beer, this was not an uncommon sight, something I found quite amusing as the riders drank their way through the parade.

Bottom Left: Least favorite part of the parade- for whatever reason boys are allowed to whip these 'toy' whips at every possible moment.  When they whip them they make a loud noise which isn't fun, but they whip their whips in crowded areas, making innocent bystanders have to dodge these dangerous toys.

Bottom Right: Not really sure the story behind these guys, but their costumes are fascinating

Top Left: Looks like the heat has gotten to this boy

Top Right & Bottom Left: The Sonajeros.  The majority of the parade consisted of the various groups of Sonajeros that exist in the area (there are a LOT).  I'm not entirely sure of their significance, but they have fun costumes and rattles they shake as they do a simple dance step as they pass by.  

Bottom Right: There were 11 of these 'floats' that passed by depicting various religious scenes honoring San José

Besides the Sonajeros and the horses, these Aztec inspired dance groups were the other main feature of the parade.  Their dances were a bit more complicated than those of the Sonajeros and the costumes even more elaborate.  As you can see in the bottom left photo they start them young! 

Those pictures pretty much sum up the parade.  There was not a huge amount of variety in the parade despite its 4 hour duration. We saw horses, a lot of Aztec dancers, and even more Sonajeros, but it was still fun to experience.  After witnessing this event that people mention all year, I feel like I am one step closer to being a full-fledged resident of Ciudad Guzmán!