Dia de la Santa Cruz Mexican Holiday

As I lay dreaming in bed, I was awoken by the sound of very loud cohetes (sky rockets, fireworks, the loud kind with no pretty colors in the sky) very close to my neighborhood at about 5:30 a.m. . I had heard them the night before, so I figured the holiday began the eve of. Music piped from the little brick house on the top of the hill began, always some lovely music. It was still pitch black out, no sign of the sun yet. I put in my ear plugs, and managed to fall back asleep until 7:30 when the roosters were crowing, the music still playing up on the hill. I arose because my cats were bugging me. Or one was, Sheila, by trying to creep under the sheet and managed to, down by my legs. Impossible to fall back asleep at this point. A man's voice over a loudspeaker was heard also, and I was curious about that. Aware of today being Dia de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross) or Dia del Albaniles (Day of Masons or Construction Workers), I knew there would be activity.

I put on the tea kettle for my French press coffee, and ventured out on the patio to get a sense of this morning. The first thing I saw was a crowd of 40 people gathered around the giant white cross at the top of the hill where the huge white abandoned house stands next to the big red and white microwave tower. The cross was decorated with pink, yellow, and blue streamers to the ground. I hurriedly fetched my binoculars to learn more. A pot of flowers sat at the base of the cross, and a white plastic table to the right and the priest in red. By now it was ending, and the man leading the service shook hands with people. I counted 40 people on the hill, mostly older and middle aged folk. An elderly woman with a yellow scarf draped over her head walked with a cane, and was helped down the steep hill back to the car. Some lingered at the sight of the big and little white cross next to it. An area of burned ground was close by and a man with a large water jug put the last burning embers out as smoke rose into the air. A dog was walking with them as everyone carefully walked down the hill. Who knows how long they had been up there, probably at sunrise. This gigantic house is uninhabitable due to being built too close to electric lines and the microwave tower, but who knows which came first. The house is so big and tall, one notices it immediately upon driving into the town of La Penita. It kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, for no one lives in it. It must have been originally the most spectacular house in town. Who could live so close to that energy emanating from that tower, and the electricity lines so close. All that wasted time, concrete, money poured into building it. What will it look like 50 or 100 years from now?

May is full of Mexican holidays (also, April 30 was Dia del los Ninos or Children). 1st of May was Dia del Trabajo (Work, or Labor Day). That day Victor drove to Las Varas to get new tires for the car, only to find the store closed for the holiday. THe traffic was horrendous on the highway due to the long weekend (Monday is Cinco del Mayo), so this is a week filled with holidays and the follk from Guadalajara and Mexico City and all points inland are flocking to La Playa (the beach) for vacation. My life up on the hill now is tranquil compared to life down in tourist town Guayabitos when we lived a few blocks from the beach among all the bungalows, restaurants and gift shops.

I continue to hear music in the distance, occasional booms of fireworks, and probably some bands will be heard today. Cinco de Mayo is not such a big deal here as it is in the U.S., maybe more so in big cities in Mexico, but not small towns. In our area, Virgen de Talpa festival is coming up, which lasts 10 days. The site of the Virgin is up in the mountains in the town of Talpa a couple hours from Puerto Vallarta. In March a pilgrimage is done by people who walk from long distances to reach the site of the virgin. In May here the Virgin is honored for she is said to be a protector for the states of Nayarit and Jalisco.

Now it is mid morning and I have spent a few hours sitting here on the patio listening to and watching the construction workers next door build an addition to the house. Maybe later they will celebrate their holiday with a feast, but there are only two workers so I wonder if the homeowners will provide them with a nice meal today in their honor.

I loved the early morning hours after daybreak, with that special quality of light cast on every square inch, creating a magical spell over all. Now the wind is blowing the tall palms and tree branches surrounding me with the noise of rustling, the vendors with their loudspeakers drive up and down every street in town blasting their sales pitch for whatever it is they have for sale, usually food (tamales, camarones (shrimp), verduras y frutas (vegetables and fruit), loud trucks and the tourbuses on the highway as they make there way to their final destination, the beach, and the lovely tingling of the musical chimes. Time to go downstairs and do some bookbinding on Emily's book "Letters From a Trip".