Mascota

This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited (in a roundabout way!) to Mascota, a mountain town about 100 Km away from Puerto Vallarta. The teacher at the orphanage, called Maestra Luz, is from there and was heading home for her secondary school's reunion and invited me another girl called Alison along.

It was a great experience!! We took a bus for the three hour journey there and the scenery was stunning, heading further and further inland and higher up into the mountains. Mascota is at about 1,200m height so the air felt a lot fresher which was a great relief from the heat in Vallarta. On the first night we stayed in Luz's brothers house, which is not used for the majority of the year and was full of spiders and cockroaches. Poor Alison had a little trouble sleeping after noticing a huge spider in the corner of the room above her bed!

Saturday was the day of the celebrations and after mass we headed for a big meal with all of Luz's old classmates. We were served various types of meat including tongue, and some side dishes all with the obligatory tortillas and tacos. All this was accompanied with tequila (to be sipped, not done as a shot!), music and dance! That evening it was spontaneously decided that we should go to  Navidad, another village further up in the mountain which was celebrating its anual 28 day fiesta.

                                                          Before and during the fight. 

The fiesta was amazing. Unfortunately it was raining but that didn't stop the celebrations and crowds of Mexicans stood in the streets around taco and tortilla stands watching whilst couples danced to the Marichi in the middle of the square, drenched but loving it. We found a little respite from the rain watching a local sport: cockrell fighting! I honestly thought I had walked onto a film set. There was a square of sand in the middle where the fighting took place and all around were men in white cowboy hats with a bottle of tequila, placing their bets with heavily made up girls! It was incredible. The sport itself is a litte gruesome, as the cocks have small blades tied to the bottom of their claws to make the fight more interesting and to draw blood from their opponents!

                                                                          Alison and I

That night we stayed at Marthas house, a friend of Luz's who showed me some of the mango jelly she makes (Cajeta de Mango) which was absolutley delicious. On Sunday we took a wander around town and visited a museum by an old local man who creates everything out of stones: Tvs, tables, plates, guitars.... We also saw the ruins of a church which never had the funds to be finished and is now a cultural patrimony.

Cajeta de Mango

Ruins with Luz Alison and Marta.

Stones...

After a long and uncomfortable ride back in one of Luz's friends truck we were back in Vallarta. The weekend was really wonderful, exactly the kind of thing I want to do whilst I am out here. Everyone welcomed us with open arms and I truly feel I have experienced Mexican generosity!! 

                                                                        Stone TV



Love Soph xxxx