Category Archives: Travel in México

Travelogue Spring Break 2011, Day 3: Valencia Mine Guanajuato

 

The Valenciana mines in Guanajuato are old–1500s. They are still active, mining silver, gold, copper, and other minerals. We walked down into one of the tunnels, and heard about the history of mining, from its roots in slavery to the present day. One Spaniard from the southern Valencia region moved to the new world and opened the mines in this region. He prayed to San Cayetano that he would find gold, and that if he did, he would build the saint a temple. Well, he sure did strike it rich! The three altars in this church are completely covered in four layers of gold plate. It’s an absolutely beautiful church. The diocese threatened the “Conde” that if he built the other tower and the central dome, they would disassemble the entire church, as it would compete with the existing cathedral downtown.

 

Palm Sunday Parade Guanajuato

This was a parade on the evening of Palm Sunday 2011 in Guanajuato. The last few weeks of Jesus’ life, minus the first Moses float, of course 🙂

Travelogue Spring Break 2011, Day 2: Guanajuato

 

We slept in till we woke up this morning, which felt absolutely fantastic on this first day of vacation. Once we all showered and got ready to go out, our first stop was, predictably, for a cappuccino, which was dutifully drunk in the sunshine in the midst of the flower market. The flower market plaza was today filled with woven palms of all sorts, in honor of Palm Sunday today.

We knew there was a mass at 1:00, so our first stop was the Alhondiga, site of the huge massacre of both Mexicans and Spaniards, which El Pípila finally won for the Mexicans, by burning down the huge wooden door with the oil the Spaniards had released so the Mexicans would fall in the streets.

It was gorgeous! To think that this building, which from the outside looks like a fort, and from the inside looks like a palace, was built as a GRANARY! Some lucky cereal! It has had many lifetimes, at one point serving as a prison. We could see holes in the marble where bars had once been, and cutouts in the wooden doors where guards could look in at the prisoners.

After we toured the Alhondiga we walked over to a nearby church to attend Palm Sunday mass. You can see that every other resident of Guanajuato also lined up to attend one of the many masses held today, in one of the churches on nearly every street corner here in this gorgeous city. No shortage of Catholics here today!

The Immaculate Heart of Mary was absolutely gorgeous, and completely overcrowded.

After mass we were starving and happened up a side alley onto a beautiful and very quiet little plaza. There we ate lunch. Greg and I both had “enchiladas mineras,” which we decided are basically pan-fried quesadillas covered with potatoes and carrots, and served with a sauteed chicken breast.

After lunch we walked a couple of blocks to the famous “Callejón del Beso,” where two star-crossed lovers supposedly lived on opposite balconies, just a few centimeters away from each other.

At this point we were getting a bit tired, so we took a cab over to the Mummy Museum, which is beneath the Panteón de la Ciudad, the city cemetary.

We met a lot of very friendly and kind people today, and thoroughly enjoyed our one full day this trip in this UNESCO World Heritage city. We will be back! Tomorrow we hope to visit one of the silver mines, the Valenciana.

 

Travelogue Spring Break 2011, Day 1: MZT-GDL-Guanajuato

 

Off we go, onto the cuota highway…

We departed Mazatlán about 7 am Saturday after picking up our beautiful niece Mara. The car was pretty full, with a cooler full of food and drinks, 4 people and all our baggage.

Daniel had the brilliant brainstorm as we were entering Guadalajara about 1 pm that we should have Indian food for lunch. So Little India it was! It seems our friend the chef is gone, and the current owner, Deepak, was his partner and is now the sole owner. It was Mara’s first time ever to eat Indian food and I think she loved it, especially the lamb tikka masala. Deepak’s wife, a Tapatía, has a little shop around the corner from the restaurant, where she sells spices, some clothing, jewelry and incense.

The drive was long, approximately a nine hour ride to Guanajuato. The kids listened to music, played some games, and Danny read a book for a while. Fortunately things were very uneventful.

About 6 pm we were soooo happy to finally arrive in Guanajuato! Not the main purpose of our trip, but a place I’ve been wanting Greg and Danny to see, and I’ve been wanting to visit again, for a long time. We plan to spend two nights here.

We found a charming hotel that has three beds and a terrace, with this view. Not bad, I’d say.

After unpacking and resting a bit, we took a walk. The architecture here, as I remembered from my first visit, is incredible. I had not remembered the candy or snack shops, however!

We walked past the central market (Mercado Hidalgo) and the Plaza Mayor (Jardín) with its gorgeous church.

In the main garden/plaza is the Teatro Juarez, which in any light is absolutely gorgeous, but lit up at night it was truly incredible.

The students dressed in the cervantino garb, ready to take people on a musical “callejoneada” stroll, were gathered in front of the theater.

The kids were hungry, so we stepped into a restaurant a cenar. They make beautiful “sangrias españolas” here, layering the soda or juice with the wine much like a cappuccino.

After dinner we took a long walk through several of Guanajuato’s 18 tunnels, and miraculously came up for air nearly in front of our hotel, exhausted.

 

Fortune-Telling Birds/Canarios de la Suerte

 

We saw fortune-telling birds in Tlaquepaque on our last visit. This time we saw them in the historic center of Guadalajara. The wooden cages were beautiful little castles and most of the “augers” dressed traditionally; it was a charming scene that appeared to be a tradition. So, of course I just had to give it a try!

It was mid-morning. The street vendor asked me what I’d like to know: did I have questions about love, health, wealth… She said it would cost me 10 little pesitos.

But, I wasn’t sure what to ask about. She asked me my name, and I told her it was, “Diana.” She then had the bird choose five fortunes for me, which I guessed to coincide with the five letters of my name, each chosen from a different area of the little box with folded paper fortunes.

One of these papers she handed me to read right away. It was titled, “Anuncio de Vuestro Porvenir.” I of course got the “Especial” (as no doubt does everyone), which told me I was intelligent and noble-hearted, would have riches, love, friends and luck, and that my pain would dissipate. Not bad!

She wrapped another of the papers in gold foil and taped it closed (it’s titled, “Horoscopo Planetario”). Then she wrapped the first one around the one in gold-foil, and instructed me not to open this “special” fortune until after 3:00 pm that day.

The other three fortunes I received are titled:

  1. 6 Preguntas al Oráculo
  2. Planeta de Dicha
  3. Horoscopo Personal

The full experience that I received didn’t cost 10 but rather 40 little pesitos! 🙂 But it was interesting. I didn’t take video, but here’s a link to one if you’d like to see it in action:
Video of fortune-telling birds in Mexico

When I got home I tried to do a bit of research on this interesting tradition. I learned that sometimes the fortunes are called “”tonali,” a Nahuatl word for destiny or fortune. In ancient times infants’ names were entered in the Tonalmatl or Book of Fate.

I have seen birds choose fortunes elsewhere in the world (Hong Kong, India, elsewhere in Latin America), including pecking a stick or a paper with a number (the number corresponds to a paper fortune chosen from another, numbered stack) or a tarot card. So, I was curious to know where the birds-as-fortune-tellers tradition originated, and how it travelled worldwide.

My internet research, however, was not extremely fruitful. I found bits and pieces and nothing very comprehensive—a good project for someone with more time, talent and interest than I have!

I did discover several words dealing with birds as diviners or fortune tellers:

  • augury (divining the future by observing the flight of birds)
  • alectryomancy (grain is sprinkled on the ground, birds peck at it, and someone reads or interprets the pattern), and
  • ornithomancy (predicting the future by observing the natural patterns or changes in the patterns of birds).

Augury (derived from the Latin word for “bird”) seems to be generally used to refer to the use of birds for divination. I read that it was first systematized by the Chaldeans, and popular among the Greeks and Romans. I also read references to ancient Egypt and the Druids. So, it’s a tradition that’s obviously been around a while! Romulus, the second king of Rome, was an auger and started a college of augury around 300 BC. Supposedly no major military battles or matters of state were entered into in ancient Rome without consulting the birds.

In Biblical times people watched the flight of birds to predict the future. Originally, it seems, the use of birds for divination involved reading their entrails. The current practice of a canary or finch choosing a paper or stick would seem much more delightful than someone reading the bird’s entrails 🙂

I found a source that talks a bit about the history of parrots as astrologers in Singapore and India. The parrots there use 27 fortune cards based on Indian cosmology. The practice supposedly originated with the Tamil Nadu and Kerada of southern India. Here are a couple of videos of these birds:
Video of a fortune telling bird in Singapore (bird chooses a paper packet)
Video of a fortune telling bird in India (bird chooses an astrology card)

Video of a fortune telling bird in Japan (bird chooses one of three sticks)
Fortune telling bird in Brazil (bird chooses a paper as in Mexico)
In South Korea (bird chooses a paper as in Mexico)
Byangoma-byangomi are legendary birds of Bengali mythology, including the Thakurmar Jhuli fairytales

Something that struck me during my several hours of research was that there did not appear to be general agreement on where the practice of birds as fortune-choosers originated, nor on where the birds used in this practive originated. According to one scholarly article I found, Columbus took American parrots to Spain in 1493. The Portuguese took the birds to India (from whence they were later re-introduced to Europe). My guess is that of course other species originated in other areas of the globe, and were likewise transported.

My brief research does lead me to believe that the use of birds as fortune tellers is gaining popularity in response to the desire to supply tourists with a unique and fascinating experience. In those places where this has indeed been a local tradition, it would strike me as a terrific way to carry it on. And, my guess is that it has taken root in other areas as a street-vending/money-making opportunity, which is not bad, either.

In addition to what I’ve noted above, there is a whole literature on birds as omens, birds in the tarot, etc. I was really researching the practice of birds used to choose or tell fortunes for pilgrims or paying customers. I did love that there were so many song birds all over Guadalajara. Every market sold them, and it seemed every restaurant had them. Below are a few closing photos.