Clowning Around In the Main Square

Carlos suggested several good places to eat in Morelia for dinner. He especially liked one restaurant that was close to my hotel. I walked through Morelia's main square and happened upon some clowns doing loud skits of physical comedy. They had drawn a large crowd so I stopped to watch and videotape their act.

Well, once again I stuck out like a sore thumb. The tall, pale, white guy with no hair was a perfect target for some clowning. They called out to me and brought me over to where they were performing in the middle of the crowd. They spoke a little English and asked me where I was from. I said "Chicago". Almost immediately they both shouted out "Chicago si! – bang, bang Italiano!". I said "no, no". Then they guessed "Francias?, Germano? (as the other clown put his finger under his nose and goose stepped around ala' Heil Hitler). I said "no, no, I'm Irish". "Oh Irish!" one clown shouted. "So you like the cerveza". "Si mucho" I stated loudly with a big smile much to the crowd's delight.

His next question was "You like Mexican women?". I said, "No I am married" and pointed to my wedding ring. Both clowns shrugged as if to say "so what" and asked again "So…you like Mexican women?" One clown asked if he could videotape me. I gave him my camera and he started laughing and running away. I played along since this was actually pretty fun. He came back and his partner started playing a few more games with the camera. They finally let me off the hook and shook my hand to big applause from the crowd. When I reviewed the tape later I found out to my dismay that I only got the part where the clown grabbed my camera and ran. They must have accidentally pressed the "stop" button when they were doing the rest of their gags. Oh well, it was still a riot …and a good memory.

World Neighbor Home

As the day wore on Carlos, my guide/interpreter, and I were becoming fast friends. We laughed about a few stories. We showed each other pictures of our kids. We shared some lunch together. Then Carlos told me a Mexican Joke:


There was a Mexican man catching crabs on the border of Mexico and America. He had two large steel pots, one with a lid and a rock on it and one without a lid. An American man from across the river was watching as the Mexican man caught crabs and put them in one pot or the other. Finally, the American's curiosity was piqued. He called out to the Mexican man, "Why are you putting some crabs in one pot with a lid and some in the other pot without the lid?." The Mexican man explained that the pot with the lid was for American crabs and the pot with no lid was for Mexican crabs. He explained further that the American crabs would climb on top of one another until one crab could grab the rim of the pot and all of them could escape by forming a "crab ladder". The Mexican crabs, on the other hand, would pull down any crab silly enough to try and climb up – so no lid was necessary.

















He said this joke was a good anecdote to describe Mexican society in general….painted by many years of war and strife. The Mexican was more individualistic and would pull someone else down so as not to have them be more successful that they were.







World Neighbor's Fun Stop

World Neighbor, Carlos and the Crafts

Carlos was a very knowledgeable guide. He told me about the local flora and fauna as well as the local politics. He was happy to have a chance to practice his English. He spoke English very well but it was about a month since he last had some practice. The Monarch butterfly mating season is a popular tourist attraction in the area and the season was now over. This meant there were less English speaking tourists to practice with.








Carlos my Guide, Interpreter and Good Guy...

Carlos told me that while international tourism was generally picking up, this area was still largely a place for national visitors. In Morelia, I did find myself being the only pale skinned gringo walking around most of the time. This made me somewhat of a novelty but everyone was very nice. Unlike Cancun, which is almost nothing but tourists in the resort areas, Morelia is populated with mostly native Mexicans. It is a very relaxed place with no vendors yelling out "Hey Honeymooners!" trying to sell you their imported Chinese crap. On the contrary, Morelia and the surrounding areas are all about century old crafts, artisans and their traditions. As with most big city areas these cultural treasures are becoming scarcer. But the outlying P'urhépecha Indian areas are still managing to keep the traditions alive.









World Neighbor's Wonderful, Award Winning World*












* OK....so I gave myself an award and a pat on the back...

World Neighbor Hangs with the Artisans

I am waiting for my guide Carlos. He is going to take me out to the small villages outside of Morelia and Patzcuaro. I took a nice morning stroll after a hearty Mexican breakfast that was heavy on the cheese and light on the heart health. I took some time to admire the religious art that is pervasive throughout the hotel.

World Neighbor's Funtastic Emporium

Carlos showed up right on time and we sped off to the artisan towns. Our first stop was a small town that specialized in woodcarving and furniture. We met with several shop owners as I searched for the perfect pieces to import back for my World Neighbor friends. I bought quite a bit at two stores. The shop owners were very nice and packed up my goods thoroughly with bubble wrap, newspaper, toilet paper and whatever else was available. Carlos took our pictures and we were on to the next town. Our next stop was to Santa Anna del Cobre, the home of the master copper smiths.

World Neighbor in Magnificent Morelia

After my long journey, I arrived in Morelia and settled in to my hotel the Posada de la Soledad. I ate a very tasty dinner at my hotel and relaxed in the perfect atmosphere created by the lush courtyard. After dinner I walked down to the center of town towards the grand Morelia cathedral. The downtown area was just coming to life. There were couples of all ages taking strolls hand in hand. Many young couples were busy showing their love publicly as they locked lips while sitting on the benches in the main square.

A mariachi band was just starting to assemble. There was also a pack of clowns getting ready to entertain (terrorize) the many kids running amok. I just sat by one of the fountains smoking a fine Cohiba, people watching and drinking it all in. Life is good!

World Neighbor Giggle Happy Fun Land

World Neighbor and the Autobus

I made it to the bus station, grabbed myself some agua and hit the Baño. The bus to Morelia is very comfortable and they even gave me a little carry on dinner box with water. I took my guidebooks recommendation and took the ETN bus line "directo". I'm glad that I did. Aside from a few quizzical looks as I butchered my minimal Espanol with my best American accent, everyone was very helpful and nice.

World Neighbor's Edu-tainment Extravaganza

World Neighbor Speaks Spanish…¡Mierda!

Although I know very little Spanish, I am muddling my way through the day in Mexico fairly well. I have to train my ear to "hear" Spanish. You can really pick up quite a bit through context and similarity of words with a common Latin base. You just have to listen and pay attention. Something that could benefit us all…

The driving lanes through Mexico city seem very slim. Just enough room for one car and a sliverof air between you and the car next to you. I am eternally grateful that I opted NOT to drive. I would have been run off the road. I could see me completely lost with my white knuckled death grip on the wheel…¡Mierda!

World Neighbor Makes it to Mexico

I just landed in Mexico City. I had to pull out my best pidgin Spanish to get myself from the international terminal over to terminal one and then out to an authorized taxi. The taxi is taking me to the bus stop and the bus will take me on a 4-hour ride to Morelia. Who says I don’t suffer for my art!

So far, so good except for the fact that my taxi driver got his license from the Dale Earnhardt school of traffic management. We are in the process of zipping in and out of lanes with road signs and pavement markings only utilized as a mere suggestion. I called up my wife Demetria via my $1.50 per minute Sprint cell phone roaming service (Get me to an Internet café and some cheaper prices!! I let her know I was safe and sound…although I did not mention that my taxi driver was doing his best to trade paint with a classic Volkswagen bug driving next to us.

Visit the World Neighbor Edu-tainment Site!

World Neighbor Visits Our Neighbor to the South

I will be leaving on a buying trip to Mexico April 9th. I am looking forward to this trip outside of Mexico City. I will be going Northwest of Mexico City out into the countryside. I plan on bringing back some treasures including pottery, tile, copper works, straw crafts, woven garments, and ceramics. The one thing that I have learned is that even the most wonderful, unique paintings and prints are difficult to sell unless you have a gallery for folks to get up close and personal with the piece. Since I run a web-based business I haven’t had much luck with the paintings and prints. Therefore, I will focus on the substantial cultural crafts and ethnographic arts that have been very successful. As always I will work with the indigenous community and practice fair trade to ensure that we share the prosperity around the globe.

Tibet and the Monks

The Chinese government has really cracked down on Tibet to try and regain some semblance of "order". The Tibetan monks recently poured their feelings out to the foreign journalists behind closed doors. The journalists were provided with a Chinese sanctioned and guarded tour of the Tibetan region. The vision that the Chinese government was peddling to the foreign media was one of order and calm. The monks on the other hand paint a picture of violence, being jailed in their own temples, and many of the protesters being injured or killed.

The last thing the Chinese government wants is for the Olympics to be marred by these protests. This is a major chance for China to show their stuff on the world stage. Unfortunately, by continuing down the path of authoritarian rule and persecution, they are further staining their reputation. We can only hope that the Chinese government will see fit to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama to bring peace to the region…and establish a longer diplomatic relationship to ultimately allow for some freedom.