On Saturday, my friends Joan, Cheryl and I were going to an
organ recital in Yanhiutlan. Joan
came close to cancelling.
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| The scene through the archway |
She lives in Huayapam and there were festivities going on
last week. The thing is, there's always festivities going on everywhere and
somewhere in the state of Oaxaca. Granted,
most Mexican like to party, but I suspect it is particularly true here because
this is "the face of the nation."
Anyway, a drunken Mariachi band held an impromptu concert at
3 a.m., and decided to hold the concert right outside the property where Joan
and Doug live.
Around 6 a.m. the concert ended,
but all was not quiet because fireworks began.
"I forgot to write about
the fireworks," I said, referring to my recent blog on the sounds of
Mexico.
"How could you forget the
fireworks?" my companions asked in unison.
"I don't know."
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| the organ we came to hear, and didn't |
The organ recital was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. We arrived on time. The church in Yanhiutlan is a grand
beauty, and I was particularly impressed with the view displayed through the
archway. We waited an hour,
eventually giving up on the organ concert.
The people of Mexico enjoy their beer, mescal and tequila,
and enjoy their music. What they
refuse to be, outside of work situations, are people who pay attention to time.
When my friend Gandhi was married we were to be where the
wedding was taking place at 2:30 in the afternoon, the ceremony would be at
3:00 p.m. Well, even the bride and
groom showed up some time long after 3 p.m.
Friday night Joan and Doug suffered the sounds of
Mexico. Saturday night it was my
turn. About 7 p.m. the party
next door began, and continued until 6 a.m. the next morning. I'm not sure, but I think university
students occupy the apartment.
When I lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, across the street there
lived some frat boys. Now my old neighborhood
wasn't the kind of place where frat boys would be tolerated, and when they had
a drunken bash the police were called to break things up.
My Oaxacan neighborhood is as up scale in a Mexican way, as
my Winnipeg neighborhood was, but here noise is accepted. In many ways the people of Mexico are
very easygoing, or at least not confrontational. And so, if a person lives here, there's really no choice but
to adapt.
2 comments:
I worked in an orphanage in San Luis Potosi for about 5 months. The local borrachos would have borracheras a couple of times a week and then settle in for the night in the gateway of the orphanage, singing rancheras off-key for a couple of hours before falling asleep or unconscious or whatever. We found it sad, humorous and annoying all at the same time. Mexico is a much less controlled environment, I think. In some ways that's one of the best things about living there. And sometimes it's just plain irritating.
Hi Debbie, I couldn't have said it better. So true.
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