¡Otra Fiesta en Ocozocoautla!

Rafael picked me up and we headed to a town called Ocozocoautla (pronunciation guide - o€ak>!ÖzÆe-'ow¥¡! k^wow*t,l"æh) also known as Coita (pronunciation guide - coita).

If I’d had any doubts about the ability of Mexican people to put on a party, those would be laid to rest now.

Since I did not have a camera with me*, I will try to set the scene. Once we had picked up Thomás and Julio in Coita, we headed out of town to a ranch. Try to imagine a beautiful ranch set in a valley surrounded by verdant hills and imposing cliffs. Of course, for me the most dominant feature of the ranch was the five or six massive trees that dotted the property. Not only were they massive, but they spread out their branches so far as to seem as if they were embracing the whole crowd. But I digress. The eight thousand or so people also made an impression on you. The outskirts of the ranch had people riding horses and children riding ponies. There were tents or stalls everywhere and in these tents were food vendors selling a strange variety of foods, there were cerveza tents and strange Mexican forms of gambling (Loteria with dice, card games and games that involved marbles falling through a maze of nails and then into different slots). In the centre of the excitement was a stage with several different acts. Wandering through this teeming mass of humanity was any number of mariachi bands, other musicians, people selling candy, nuts, cotton candy, balloons, inflatable creatures and much more. Weaving their way through the crowd were young children picking up the discarded beer cans.

The first act on the stage was a singer and a keyboard player with two scantily clad dancers. Having learned many of the, shall we say, ‘ indelicate’ words in Spanish with the boys at the previous fiesta, I was rather surprised when the singer used all the ones I’d learned and a few others as well, judging by the crowd’s reactions. The dancing was a bit of a surprise too, as I guess I expected ‘ family entertainment’ and this seemed gear for a different demographic. To me the crude language and sexually suggestive dancing was the most obvious difference in our cultures I have yet seen. The second act was a huge group playing a type of music known here as Bandas. It has an incredibly fast tempo and sounds like a cross between big band music and ska with a Mexican flavour (yes, that flavour would be picante salsa). Bandas is also incredibly infectious and I find I love this genre of music already. I could probably even dance to it as it is so fast you don’t have time to be good.

It was amazing to me at one point to realize that I was almost certainly the only foreigner in that crowd of many thousands of people. I was thrilled to realize this actually.

* This photo was taken by a photographer Thomas knew. The guapos in the picture are (from the right) Thomas, me, Julio, Rafael (AKA, 'el Jefe') and Rafael's nephew whose name escapes me.


Strange Things I Have Eaten So Far II

Patas de Pollo - Chicken feet
I have always wondered why people eat chicken feet. Having tried them, I still wonder why people eat chicken feet.
Guasano - Caterpillars
These were fried, I think (as they were not squishy) and nicely seasoned. Coming soon to stores near you.