Home again

We relaxed at the apartment in the morning, and then Felipe picked us up at 1 PM and took us to the airport.

We flew from Guadalajara to Dallas, waited a while for the flight crew to arrive, and then flew from Dallas to Denver. We got home after 11 PM, about when we expected. The sunset shot was from Dallas.



A good trip, but time to be home. It felt cold in Colorado.

Basilica de Zapopan and Ballet Folklorico de Colima

On Thursday, Richard went back to Zapopan, to the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Zapopan, to take a few more pictures and get some more information, in case he decides to write an article. He asked permission and got back behind the altar. He also interviewed someone to answer some questions.



In the evening, Felipe drove us to the Teatro Diana, of the University of Guadalajara, to see the Ballet Folklorico de Colima. Colima is the next state to the south, not far. This Ballet Folklorico was of the very highest caliber. We have seen the Ballet Folklorica in Bellas Artes in Mexico City, but we think that this was better. The costuming was a spectacle in itself, and the singing and dancing were excellent. They started off with a pre-hispanic dance, with natives in loincloths, and continued forward in time, ending at the Mariachis of Jalisco. The only thing that we could compare it to was the wonderful show that we saw in Hawaii, with the top Hula group in the islands. It is one thing to see a good show, but another to see a superb show.

A visit to Tequila

Tequila is a town about an hour northwest of Guadalajara, and the center of the tequila growing area. It is part of the UNESCO world heritage area for the Tequila industry, and also a "Pueblo Magico", designated by the government of Mexico.

We got there by taking a taxi to a small bus station that we did not know existed, on the NW part of Guadalaja. This meant a short taxi ride, and completely avoiding the traffic of downtown. Our taxi driver, Felipe, suggested it, and it worked very well. This is probably mostly a good option for those who are already some distance north and west of the center of town; if you were downtown you would only have a short taxi ride to the old bus station, which has frequent departures to Tequila.

Tequila has cobblestone streets, and many old buildings. The Tequila industry started there, in the early 1800s.

One interesting chapel in the square may be the world's largest ex-voto! It was built in the 1940s, funded by a woman who was completing a vow. A little bigger scale of thank you than most of us are used to thinking of.

We started our visit to the town with a visit to the Tequila museum, which focuses on the history of the industry. The Cuervo and Sauza families were some of the largest tequila producers, even 150 years ago. But there are dozens of brands of tequila, and many producers offer many different types of Tequila, at a range of prices.

Tequila is distilled mezcal, which was believed to be fermented by the indians. Tequila became more of an international drink in the 1970s. The Tequila industry has been producing more and more expensive tequila in recent years, and found good acceptance. The more expensive Tequilas are 100% Blue Agave, and are aged longer.

We took the elaborate factory tour at Cuervo, starting with a video, and continued through the process of making Tequila.


Tequila is made from Blue Agave, which is the primary crop for many miles around the town of Tequila. It has a beautiful blue color, and the larger plants are spectacular. It takes seven to ten years for a plant to mature. When the plant is ready for harvest, it is dug up, the spines/leaves are cut off, and the heart or base of the plant is saved to be processed. They start with cooking the plant for 36 hours or so, and then squeeze out the juice. The juice is then fermented and distilled.

After our tour, we had a very good lunch in the Fonda Chamula, also owned by the Cuervo family. We strolled around the town a bit, and then headed for the bus station. After an hour bus ride, and a short taxi ride home, we relaxed on the patio, watching the world (and the dog) go by. The dog takes himself for a walk about this time every day; we have no idea who its master is.

A quiet day and a pleasant evening

After Richard's long day Monday to San Juan de los Lagos, he was just as happy to have a quiet day at home on Tuesday. He worked on blogs, reviewed photos, and worked on an article he is writing.

In the evening, we took a taxi to Richard's editor's house. Carol is a single mom with two twenty-something sons living at home. The food was very good, very Mexican, Yucatecan. We had a very wide ranging conversation about life, pilgrimages, exvotos, kids, Mexico, business, you name it. We had met Carol face to face last year. A pleasant evening. We took a taxi home; it took a while to flag one down, but we did get one.

We also invited Carol to join us at the Ballet Folklorico Thursday evening.

San Juan de los Lagos and its exvotos

On Monday, May 5th, Richard got up early to take the local bus to the bus station, where he bought a ticket to San Juan de Los Lagos, on the ETN luxury bus. It was a two hour trip; when he arrived, he took a local bus to the center of town.

San Juan de los Lagos is the second most important pilgrimage site in Mexico, after the shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe. It receives seven million pilgrims per year. Richard was told that on feast days, you can hardly move. Luckily, that day it was easy to get around. Many pilgrims go the entire length of the church on their knees, rocking back and forth.


The pilgrimage is based on a miraculous statue of the virgin, brought to town by an early missionary. Perhaps the best known early story was of a circus that came to town, in which the family had a trapeze act. On that day, the seven year old daughter slipped, falling on a bed of spears set up to make their act look more death defying. The girl died instantly, but one of the local ladies brought the statue to the girl, prayed over her for hours, and she came back to life.

Richard had been wanting to go to San Juan de los Lagos for years, because he had heard that it had an impressive collection of exvotos. Richard was not disappointed. There was a side room in the Cathedral, 20 feet high, in which the exvotos completely cover the walls. More are added each day; the two men who care for the room move the older exvotos higher on the wall, and ultimately to storage.

Exvotos or retablos are a tradition found in many countries, but in Mexico they tend to be a combination of a story, folk art, and a personal thank you note to God.

Richard took many pictures of exvotos, but here he will only show a few. He plans to write a story for an internet magazine, in which he will show many more. The one below is from a circus performer, who was run over by her elephant, and spent three days in a coma. She attributes her recovery to the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos.



Richard took the first class Estrella Blanca bus home, but ended up waiting more than an hour at the Guadalajara bus station for the local bus back to the apartment. A very long day.

Cathedral and Tonala

We got up, and decided to head downtown, as Marianne had not been downtown on this trip. We went to church in the Cathedral, had lunch in Sanborns, and then decided to go to Tonala, to visit the museums.


We visited the Museo Nacional de Ceramica in Tonala, where we met a very nice young man, a student at the university, who spoke very good English. As is sometimes the case, the people that you meet in the museum are more interesting than the exhibits. It was market day in Tonala, so it was hot, and the streets were crowded, although not as crowded as they would have been earlier in the day. We took a taxi home for 160 pesos.

Mazamitla and family

We left Guadalajara around 8:30 AM to head for Mazamitla, where Althea grew up. It was a drive of about 2 hours to Mazamita, a mountain town that is a popular destination for people from Guadalajara. We stopped along the way in a town on the shore of Lake Chapala to look at the lake, where Althea asked for and received a magnolia flower from one of the large magnolia trees.



Mazamitla is a tidy town at about 7000 ft altitude, surrounded by pines, a real difference from the vegetation at lower altitudes. We ate lunch on the outside of town; you can see the carne asada being cooked on an open flame.

We watched some folk dancers from Michoacan in the square, visited the church, and watched the horses for a bit. Then we headed off for the small village near Mazamitla where Althea grew up, Epenche Grande. The dirt road was pretty good. The area is very dry, with the rainy season about a month away. We did see a lot of open fires, which surprised us.


Our visit to Althea's grandma's house was a surprise, but grandma and Althea's aunt and uncle were very hospitable. They gave us ponche, a locally made alcoholic punch, and some pork with tortillas. Then we headed off to the next village to help celebrate the birthday of one of her three aunts that live in the area. As guests, we were served the tres leches cake first, and sang “Las Mananitas”, the traditional birthday song in Mexico. These are pretty basic houses, with crude electrical wiring, no bathroom, and a water tank for washing dishes. The flowers in the yard were beautiful.

Marianne bought a pine needle basket from the lady in the little town store.
We headed back to Grandma's house, and of course it took time to say goodbye to everybody. We headed out on a different dirt road, a kind of jeep road, which Althea coaxed her Honda sedan to traverse. The view was of long needle pines, and often included vistas of the hills and valleys. The road gradually improved, and then we arrived in the pretty town of La Manzanilla del la Paz, where we stopped at a nice hotel, had a cup of coffee, and admired the town square. We cruised out in dusk on a paved road, headed back towards Lake Chapala. We arrived at our apartment around 10 PM.

A very interesting day. We don't generally get inside the houses of country folks, let alone be part of a Mexican family gathering.

Downtown and Tlaquepaque

In the morning, Richard took the bus downtown to find the Museo de Artesanias, which included a little serenade on the bus. The Museo was OK, but it was more interesting to talk to the guide. I have included a picture of an exvoto from the museum, a man thanking God for giving him the opportunity to buy a tractor.

The guide mentioned that there was a nearby museum of the Martyrs of the Christero wars, so Richard walked over there, and found a small Diocesan museum devoted to the martyrs. The most striking thing was the quotes from the martyrs.

"Do not worry, our blood will wash away our sins"

"Since the day that I was ordained a priest, I have been asking our Lord God for the grace of martyrdom."


In the late afternoon, we took a taxi to Tlaquepaque, to see the mariachis and to eat an excellent dinner at La Casa Fuerte.

May Day Holiday

May 1 is Labor Day in Mexico, and in most parts of the world, except the USA.

We took it as a day of rest as well, only walking over to the Galerias shopping area to look around. Prices there seemed very high, by and large, with Dockers pants costing around $80 US. Sears is kind of a luxury store in Mexico, rather than the middle class store that we think of it as in the USA.

We understand that there were May Day demonstrations and parades, with the governor a popular target.

A visit to Lake Chapala

In the morning, Richard went into the city to check out buses. He took the red bus to the old bus station, where the buses go to surrounding towns, took almost 45 minutes. There are buses to Tequila, Lake Chapala, and other destinations in the surrounding area. The new bus station is for the first class bus lines going to Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and other destinations away from Guadalajara. The buses at the old station varied from old and junky to relatively new and in good shape, at least Greyhound quality. Looking at the clock, Richard ended up taking a taxi back to the apartment for 90 pesos.

Althea came by around 3 PM to take us to Lake Chapala. She drove us out to the lakeshore towards Ajijic, where we had dinner in an open-air restaurant on the lake. It was nice to see a big body of water. We chatted at some length; she has lead an interesting life, having crossed the border illegally, but is now a legal resident. She was born in Mazamitla, which is now a tourist destination, in the highlands of Jalisco.

We then went over to the town of Chapala, a tidy town, popular with Americans and other foreign tourists and residents. We strolled out on the pier, and admired the historical paintings.


We are talking to Althea about going with her to Mazamitla this weekend, possibly staying with her family there. That would be interesting, and we had been talking about a trip to Mazamitla anyway.

We got home around 9 PM.