Our first week here, we stayed close to home, but went on daily walks. The sights, sounds and tastes of Puebla are always interesting. One evening we saw a guy selling rusas, a type of drink being sold on the streets now, new since last time we were here. We bought one out of curiosity.
The inside of the glass is lined with a mixture of chili and salt (it looks very professional), then they add a mixture of Squirt soda and mineral water, more salt and freshly squeezed lemon. And that’s a rusa. I like those mixes of sweet, salty and spicy; my compañero, not so much. We shared it, but every time he took a drink, he made a face.
Another thing that’s new here since last year—bicycle lanes! They are not being used much yet, but still a sign of progress. I surely would not want to ride a bike here without a bike lane—these people drive crazy.
One day we walked over to check on Maribel, our dentist friend. You know you’re in Mexico when you can stop by unannounced to say hello to your dentist, who’s in her office alone almost as if expecting you, and 20 minutes later you find yourself in the chair getting your teeth cleaned—for $25. I always enjoy going to Maribel’s office. For one, she has a nice view of the active volcano, Popocatépetl. But also, and this cracks me up every time, she has the most extensive collection of Coca-Cola cans and paraphernalia I have ever seen. Well, of course! If it wasn’t for Coca-Cola, think how much less business might she have? Anyway, I’m very happy with my nice, clean teeth.
We did go out with the car once, to Cholula, our favorite nearby town. On the way, I asked why there were stop signs at all the corners, even where there are also stoplights. I can’t get used to it, because when the light is green, you just cruise on through and ignore the stop sign, which kinda freaks me out. The answer was, “¡Qué gringa eres! Only a gringa would ask such a question. You assume the stoplights always work, but we are in Mexico, remember? So when the lights don’t work, then you use stop signs.” Get it? Got it.
Anyway, we arrived in Cholula, went out for lunch (three-course meal for two, about $10—I love Mexico), did a little shopping, walked up the old pyramid to my favorite Mexican church with the awesome views. All that was nice, but the coolest thing that happened that day was we got to see the voladores.
Three years ago our road trip was to the mountain town of Quetzálan, and I quote from that trip:
“What we really wanted to see were the voladores, the flying guys who do this amazing thing here. This is an old, old ritual with indigenous religious roots. In the middle of the plaza, there is a tall, tall post made from a big old tree, with a little ladder thingy going up it. And on some Sundays (don’t ask which ones, it’s unpredictable), there is an event after church where five guys dress up in traditional attire, say some prayers, dance around the pole, and then climb up to the top of it, and then one of them stays on the top, balancing on a tiny platform, and dances and plays the flute and drum, and the other four tie themselves to ropes and the ropes get spun around and the guys jump off and ‘fly’ outward, spiraling slowly down to the ground, upside down, some of them playing the flute or banging drums or both on their way down, then at the bottom they flip right side up and land on their feet. …We were hoping to see that. But no luck, it just didn’t happen this weekend.”
Ever since then, I’ve wanted to see the voladores and thought we would have to go back to Quetzálan sometime, but apparently this is now often done as a tourist attraction rather than as the religious ceremony it used to be, and you can see it in various other towns. The day we were in Cholula there was a group there, with a much smaller pole, made of metal, not wood, and not in the plaza of a big church. Still, I was stoked to see them do their crazy thing.
And then it was Christmas, but that’s another story. Coming soon!