What a way to go

Luscious pool at the Holiday Inn Boca del Rio

We had a nice party in Veracruz attending the mining convention. Since I had seen most of the sights last time, it was a chance to relax by the pool and do a little shopping in the nearby mall with a friend.

Several of the attendees and/or their spouses were stalled out in the Denver airport due to an unseasonably strong snowstorm. In fact one of our employees, the Wyoming Miner, who was supposed to present a paper at the convention never made it to Veracruz after his flight was delayed for a day in Denver; and then delayed a second time in Houston by a tornado. Meanwhile in Veracruz we had a 5.4 Richter scale earthquake followed two days later by what they call a Northeaster’ (very strong winds and rain). Esperando was sure that if the Wyoming Miner had, in fact, made it to Veracruz we would have had yet a plethora of natural disasters.

The final night of the convention the big dinner was served at 10 pm. After that we were treated to Ninel Conde, a Mexican singer and performer. In that the music was really loud and we were seated in a corner where we could only watch her on the projector screen and see wafts of smoke rising from her staging we decided to exit, stage left when she started her performance at midnight. Those that stayed reported that she lost significant amounts of clothing as the evening progressed.



The convention fell on the first days of Dias de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead). Esperando and I watched some simple altars being constructed for the celebration in Veracruz but it was a rather tame affair, nothing like we would later encounter in Huaquechula near Puebla. In that small village it is traditional for people to construct an altar in their homes, which they do just that one time if someone in their family died during the year. The general public is invited and it has become a tourist event, mostly attended by Mexican families. One walks around the village with a guide who knows where the homes are located. The altars are designed to look like a frothy confection of satin, sort of a non-moving float, with several different levels representing earth and heaven and in between. The altars are decorated with personal items and food for the deceased, as well as a pitcher of water as the soul will have a long walk ahead. There are usually a couple of ceramic figures in the shape of crying children known as “lloroncitos”. These represent the people on earth who’ll cry for them. The second level represents heaven with angels who will guide the deceased’s way, or the figure of The Virgin Mary. The third level represents divinity and normally has the figure of Jesus on the Cross or Baby Jesus in the case of the altars made for children.

Altar for the deceased. These altars can cost as much as $3,000--quite a costly undertaking for a poor family.

Mining dejavu

Once again we are off to go traveling. On Tuesday we will drive to La Paz to catch the plane to Veracruz for the XXVIII International Mining Convention, a technical meeting of Mexico's mining elite and the only trade show covering Mexico's exploration and mining market (held every other year there). I have to start focusing on packing—ugh! Last time we went I took in a lot of the sights with some of the other wives while the men attended the convention. Evenings were spent out to dinner, or at a fun party sponsored by Caterpillar, or the last night a formal dinner with entertainment afterwards by a noted female singer whom the audience loved. I never found out her name but people were lined up all around taking her picture with their cell phones, or pulling flowers out of the the table arrangements to toss up on the stage or hand to her. She was a real honey, I think her clothes were painted on. The men all thought she was a winner. We were told variously by the Mexicans that she had been a stripper who performed at the racetrack, or that she was the up-and-coming new popstar, or that she was this or that. No one seemed to have the same story. Too bad she only sang cumbias, I hate cumbias. They have a pronounced annoying beat and if you've heard one you've heard them all; but probably they are the best music to strip to.

Veracruz has some interesting sights. During the day we drove to Antigua which was actually the original site of Veracruz, it is where Hernan Cortez landed and has a very interesting ruin of massive stone walls overgrown with strangler figs that was his first administration building. It is quite incredible and worthy of a James Bond movie. The pueblito itself is situated at the mouth of a deep river, with a bridge crossing to the other side. An open air market sells foodstuffs and shells. It is also the site of the oldest church in the Americas. The local Mexican families like to rent a boat, and row up the river with a picnic to be enjoyed on the beach.

In Veracruz proper we saw San Juan de Ulúa, the fortress/prison protecting Veracruz harbor established in 1519. You can take a tour; it’s pretty depressing to think of anyone being held prisoner in those horrid dungeons. This is the fortress with the alligators featured in Romancing the Stone with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner (and that was supposedly set in Cartagena). Downtown by the zocalo is a fine old stone church with tiled dome, a nice leafy plaza lined with restaurants and bars for the evening’s entertainment provided by strolling musicians: mariachis, marimba bands, lone guitarists, and other combos all playing different songs simultaneously and creating a riot of music and good spirits. Veracruz was the home of Augustin Lara, the Cole Porter of Mexico, and his house can be toured. They also have a notable aquarium regarded as the finest in Latin America.

After the convention we are going to take a few days to see Puebla (noted for its fine food and mole sauces) and Cuernavaca before returning for a few days stay in La Paz so Esperando can go scuba diving. I wonder how much weight I will gain?