fishwax goes to Mexico; fishwax brings back pictures (dial-up warning)

[fishwax]

In late July we went down to the state of Michoacan, Mexico for a wedding. We flew into Morelia, the capitol city, and drove to Apatzingan, where the wedding took place. Saw a lot of cool things along the way ...

The first two pictures are of the Isla de Junitzia in Lake Pitzcuaro and the famous statue of General Morelos, which stands about 40 meters tall. (For reference, the statue of liberty is about 46 meters from the top of its base to the tip of the torch.) Inside the statue are murals of Mexican history, but they don't allow photographs, so I have no pictures of that. You can see the statue from miles away on the highway that approaches Patzcuaro. It was pretty cool seeing this bit of radical iconography rising from distant waters.

The lake is also famous for the butterfly fisherman, who arrange their boats in a wide circle and then slowly tighten the circle until the fish have nowhere to go but in their nets. The back of the 50 Peso bill has a picture of them.

The stores and restaurants in Janitzio fry up these little lake fish (charales) whole along the steep, narrow streets of the island. Tasty :)

There is a national park in the city of Uruapan which is basically a rain forest reserve, filled with waterfalls, springs, and lush vegetation.

In the tiny hill town of Tingambato there is an interesting excavation of pre-columbian ruins.

Finally, I thought I'd share these pictures of a small rally in Morelia regarding the recent election. They had booths with all kinds of information and bulletin boards with various editorial cartoons about calderon, vincente fox, and gwbush. I picked up one of the anti-fraud posters as a souvenir--I saw these posters hanging in office windows, taxi cabs, lunch counters, and more.

[SeattleGirl]

1. Great pictures, fishwax!

Looks like you had a great time!

[fishwax]

4. Thanks!

We did have a great time. And the wedding reception was even better than the various sights that we saw. What a party! :)

[ceile]

2. Beautiful!

Thanks for sharing.
What was the atmosphere like around the election?

on edit: those little fried fish look yummy. Is it dinner time yet?

[fishwax]

6. most people I visited with or heard talking about it favored obrador and

assumed the election was stolen. But not all of them were surprised (or even particularly angry about it). One attitude seemed to be that the PRI had stolen elections for 80 years, so it's nothing they weren't used to. But other people were upset about it. I only talked to one person who said he didn't think the election was stolen.

I started a GD thread about my thoughts on the election atmosphere: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1813019&mesg_id=1813019

And the fish were yummy :) All the food on Janitzio--tortillas, fry bread, grilled corn and more, prepared and sold by vendors along the street--looked and smelled delicious. I wish I could have tried more of it. :)

[ThomCat]

3. It looks like a great trip!

It's good that you didn't melt in the heat. :)

[fishwax]

7. Morelia was pretty mild, but Apatzingan was HOT

Morelia is high up in the mountains, and was maybe in the high 70s, low 80s while we were there. Apatzingan, on the other hand, was high 90s with about 95% humidity. And me in a suit for the wedding :wow:

[ThomCat]

8. Did that suit have to be burned afterwards?

:yoiks:

[fishwax]

9. haha

fortunately the wedding wasn't until 8:30 at night, so it had cooled some by then ... and it was semi-air-conditioned where the reception was. But yeah, that suit definitely took one for the team.

[malta blue]

5. Great shots...thanks for sharing

How was the wedding?:hi:

[fishwax]

10. the wedding was amazing

And the reception was an incredible party, lasting until six the next morning. (I, alas, lasted only until five. :))

[malta blue]

11. LOL

I have been to a few weddings in Mexico, and have had to call it after 4 or 5 and they kept going.

Glad you had a nice time!:hi:

[brook]

12. Thanks so much for

the great pictures and commentary! Glad you enjoyed yourself. I love Mexico, but had never traveled in that area. (I lived and went to school in DF). That statue is amazing, especially, as you say, with the water in the foreground.

Since the PRI has stolen elections for 80 years, it's a good sign that not everyone accepts it any more. It's my hope that Mexico will become more democratic and socially responsible so it can provide better futures for their beautiful people. So many have been deprived of fully participating in the economy... not having access to good schools, technology or many of the things we assume everyone has - clean water, electricity, etc.

Thanks again!

[fishwax]

14. glad you liked them ... i'd like to go to school in DF

Well, I've toyed with the idea of applying for graduate studies there. But that's really more of an escapist fantasy, and I'd have no idea how to go about it :)

How long did you live there?

[XemaSab]

13. Suweet!

Viva Mexico!