You gotta love small town life. Mazamitla is cute as a button sometimes...
Case in point #1: The local crime wave? The cows have gotten out, again. There's these two cows who apparently think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, literally. They're mad for grazing, and they'll stop at nothing. These cows are actually pretty enterprising, as well as athletic. I understand that they open a gate, then one distracts the horses while the other makes a dash to the creek, then they both jump the creek to get to the promised land: my front yard, where the really good grass is.
And boy, can they process. First time this happened, the lawn in front of my house was landmined with dozens of these super-sized Hershey's Kiss mounds the next morning. Steaming piles of cowshit as far as the eye could see, as far as the nose can smell...
Case in point #2: I went to the post office this week, to send a letter to the States. The post officer seemed unnaturally happy to see me. Since I was a foreigner, I must be Daniel Fortner, for whom she's been holding a package for god knows how long. I did my best to convince her that I was not Daniel Fortner, lining up our names side by side and pointing out the differences. Then she tried another tack - since we were both not from Mexico, possibly we knew each other? After all, how many people could there be who are not from Mexico? I tried to let her down gently, as she seemed so genuinely disappointed. She told me that if I met any other foreigners, to send them her way...
And lastly: Today was the Spring Festival, which means every truck in town gets decorated with pine cones and branches, and crepe paper flowers. Children dressed as butterflies and deer and mountain lions (I think) stand in the back of the trucks, hold on to the side with one hand and wave with the other as the procession crawls down the street. The younger ones sit, and you can only see the tips of their wings. Then about one child per truck starts crying, and the procession has to stop while mommy is found and a butterfly rescued. Since there's only about five streets, and road construction has closed two of them, pretty much all traffic stops for most of the day.
The parade is in honor of Spring Day, and it's a three-day holiday. I have discerned that Spring Day was Friday, but it's celebrated Monday, because no one wants to take Friday off, because Friday is the most relaxing workday. Anyway, an excuse to dress the children as butterflies and then keep the music going until 4 a.m.
Of the many things I've learned in my time here in Mexico, here are two important ones:
1. No amount of noise is bothersome if it's a weekend.
2. You are guaranteed to step in cowshit if you're coming home at 4 a.m.
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