The Taco Traveler

It's been a week since this happened, but I owe a post to the craziness of El Dia de San Patricio as practiced in Melaque. There are several towns in Mexico that have St Patrick as their patron saint, but Melaque's celebration is one of the biggest, so I've read. I was anchored off Melaque for four nights, Saturday the 15th through Wednesday the 19th, and I went into town on Sunday and Monday night (the 17th and actually St Patrick's Day).

The most interesting thing about my Sunday night was walking around the carnival. Of all things, I regret most not paying 10 pesos ($1) to see Rubi ("la Mujer con 3 bubis"). I took a lot of pictures, and those are up at my Picasa share. Note that there were actually two tents full of foosball games. I only took pictures of one. Foosball rules in Mexico. I think I've only seen one pool table.

At about 9pm these guys brought in a huge burning-man-esque wooden figure with fireworks strapped to it. This was lit about 11pm and was pretty cool, but it took so long in between lightings that it was sort of boring, too. It was lit up with the background music of the 10-person mariachi I've previously mentioned, so there was definitely some dramatic flavor to it.

Monday night - the actual night - was even cooler and crazier. The fireworks lasted longer, as the the burning-man thing was going off I took lots of video and was amazed to see little kids running around in the sparks holding cardboard over their heads. As the fireworks on this thing are going off, the wind was blowing and sparks and hot ash was going everywhere, including in my eyes as I was pretty close. I started thinking... how soon would some government agency shut this thing down in the States? We're so damn over-protective in the US it's pathetic. Probably because we're so litigous. It's pretty sad, really, that we can't have this sort of crazy and stupid fun and put ourselves at risk if we want.

At the very end it got even odder. The band kept playing well past midnight, and shortly after the tall thing was done shooting its fireworks off, guys started running through the square carrying a basket-like thing that was packed full of fireworks. They're running all over the place holding this thing and swinging it around, and bottle rockets and roman candles are shooting out of it in all directions.

The danger / liability thing isn't the only thing that sets this sort of celebration apart from one that would happen in the States. The most amazing thing is this: the two nights I was there, for 5-6 hours each time, I don't recall one single mean look or agressive stance. No fights, no insults, no sneers, no name-calling. And not a single police officer outside the couple of unarmed officers helping direct traffic.

Feel free to check out more of my pics from these two nights. You may need to sign up for a google account to view Picasa images if you don't have one already.

TT

 

- Anchoring in Melaque is my first-ever bow / stern anchor setup. You usually put out a stern anchor to limit your swing in a tight anchorage, but there are only two boats in this whole bay, counting Chemistry. In this case, I have a stern anchor out to keep my bow pointed into the swells. I’m pretty comfortable.

- I’ve done stern-ties before in the San Juans, where you anchor and then tie to a tree ashore. But this is harder, though you don’t have to row the dinghy to a tree.

- Melaque is home to the biggest St Patrick’s Day celebration in Jalisco. It goes on for two weeks, and tonight is its 3rd to the last night. Lots of restaurants have signs that say “Closed Tuesday.” They need a break before the Easter celebrations start.

- I’ve never liked St Patrick’s Day. It always seems like I ended up standing around a very crowded bar with friends, drinking beer and watching other people drink beer because you can’t hear your friends talk anyway. Sometimes the beer was green; sometimes it was Guiness. My issue with the holiday, I think, is that I don’t like the pressure to have fun. Like, jeez, it’s a holiday, you’d better be having fun.

- Tonight I drank a margarita, two Tecates, and a 20-oz can of Sol in the plaza.

- I’m paranoid enough about petty theft to lock my boat and hide important things when I go out, but I’m probably too comfortable walking around town through dark alleys and stuff. Maybe it’s the safety of two or three taco stands on each corner.

- The scariest part of my night was when I stepped in a puddle wearing my flip-flops. Wonder what was in that puddle? Has it rained?

- I always hated the idea of “The Cruiser’s Uniform” of shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops. But then I learned… beach landings. You can’t wear pants and land a dinghy on the beach, especially if there are waves breaking.

- I saw a tall Mexican tonight. He was walking along with his wife and new baby, and I did a double-take because he was taller than me. He nodded, like, “Hey, second tallest guy in the plaza.”

- Okay, really I was about the 14th tallest person in the plaza (out of 2,000). There are more tall Mexicans than you think.

- Tonight I saw my first ever 10-piece (4 violins!) mariachi. The Mariachi Regional de Telaquepaque. Fun to watch for 2 songs, anyway. For the festival they have a Guerra de los Mariachis (guerra means war). But mariachis don’t dance, or make people want to dance, or even try. They just stand there and play. They should walk around, not be on a stage because they don’t really bring it like Cotton Candy did in the Battle of the Bands against that one-trick-pony rock band who only played “I Shot the Sheriff.” That may be the first movie I remember seeing. Or “E.T.” at a drive-in. Or “Blazing Saddles” when HBO was born.

- The most exciting sounds coming from town tonight are, once again, the same circus that was in San Blas a couple months ago. Very catchy rhythms and a guy who sings so fast I can’t even catch a word. He might not even be singing real words. Ocha ocha ocha ocha ocha oacha yo, ma hicha yo, ma hicha yo, pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata yo….

- It’s Saturday night, but I returned to the boat after only a little while in the plaza. On the way back to my dinghy on the beach, I bought a new kind of habenero hot sauce, 10 eggs, and more chips (tostadas) for my guac, if I make more guac tomorrow. I’m feeling a little burned out on guac, which is good. I don’t think it’s good for bellies. I had a roommate in college and his parents had a couple of avocado trees. He’d return from visiting them with a whole 5-gallon bucket full, and he’d throw a bunch of bananas in to ripen them up. Bananas get sprayed with a ripening chemical that helps ripen avocados, too. Then he’d sit there and just eat ‘em. He was a tub.

- If you travel long-term in Mexico, keep an egg carton for storing your eggs. Eggs here come only in flats of 36, like the package you’d get from Costco if you’re having 10 friends over for breakfast. But here they’re only sold by the kilo. The eggs here are tough, though – I’ve yet to break one while transporting them back to the boat.

- Someday, again, I’ll have a big house and I’ll have 10 friends over to party all night. Then I’ll make breakfast for those 10 friends. We’ll have Pants Potatos and Huevos Rancheros.