Deb – Page 7 – Boomer Away

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing.com is a community and website we’ve belonged to a few years. Couchsurfers can seek out each other for a cup of coffee, a party, or a place to sleep for a couple of nights. Last night we met up with our first couchsurfing host here in Queretaro, and what a treat it was! Salvador is a history buff, an all-around interesting guy, and as an added bonus he is an industrial engineer like me. He gave us a tour of a site full of statues at the top of the aqueduct, and a better understanding of the rich history of Mexico.

We started up by the aqueduct at Panteón de los Queretanos Ilustres, a historical site with statues commemorating critical persons in Querétaro’s past.

the great artist, Panteón de los Queretanos Ilustres

I love the fact that not all of the statues and paintings were for people who fought wars. Painters and authors and benefactors are worthy of remembrance, too.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Vergara, patroness of the people

Ignacio Perez, the Paul Revere of Mexico

Onward to see more sites!

Salvador, Matt and Deb at La Selva Taurina

During our tour Salvador treated us to a shot of mezcal at La Selva Taurina, formerly a dive bar but now a bit trendy. The bull heads on the walls are from valiant losers in the local bullfights. (Yes you can still go to bullfights here, if you’re inclined to do that.) The mezcal jar had a dead resident in it. Don’t worry, he’s been there for a long time. Pickled, pretty much.

Waiter there's a snake in my mezcal — Waiter there’s a snake in my mezcal

Salvador is a great guy, and he reminds me so much of a couple of my dear friends from Querétaro who have taken good care of us over these past few years of visits. People who take an interest in outsiders, and reach out to become friends. That’s a part of what I love about this place and its people.

Celebrations at Templo de la Cruz

On the weekends we can sometimes hear loud booms that ricochet off the buildings of the Centro area. Curious, we walked up to the Temple and Convent de la Cruz, and saw the religious faithful blasting off these rockets. You can see a number of them on one man’s shoulders, while another sets one off.

Firing rockets in front of Templo de la Cruz, Queretaro

As the action intensifies, the rocketeers rapidly toss the rockets from one man to another and fire them off as fast as they can, creating the sensation of being bombarded; and the likelihood that you will in fact get hit by falling debris. I know I did. Kids then pick up the 5 foot long sticks and whack each other with them.

The rockets will continue intermittently into the evening, with the last one I noted at 10:30 PM, and another single rocket at 6 AM.

Buses full of devout Catholics disembark in the area, with traffic jams ensuing, and buses honking and backing up and waving of drivers’ arms and shouting. This traffic mess is exacerbated by the fact that many of these devout ones, mostly men, will then hoist up a heavy pallet with a statue of Jesus or Mary, and circle the area on foot, followed by that bus.

On the plazas and streets nearby you can buy any variety of Christian religious articles, up to a 6 foot Archangel Michael statue. You can also get some tasty Mexican food, and/or a ringside seat with a glass of wine and an artisanal pizza. If you’re lucky, a wandering musician might be playing some really good saxophone nearby.

It’s always 63 degrees inside, and that’s OK

The house has heavy brick and plaster walls, almost 2 feet thick, and the direct sun never enters the walled garden. All day and all night, the temperature indoors is 63 degrees. Back home I would have a problem with that. Here? It’s perfectly fine by me. It’s a nice temperature for sleeping, and we wear jackets indoors during the day. Want to warm up? Go sit on the roof, or go out for a walk.

Our host says the temperature in summer is a consistent 72 degrees F, even when it’s in the high 80s outdoors. No furnace, and no air conditioner. You just don’t need those expenses.

Now it’s time to step outside into the streets, and see what the day holds for us.

Queretaro in antiquity

Here in downtown Queretaro most of the buildings originated in the 1600s and 1700s. The architecture is endlessly fascinating; our housemate, who has lived in Spain, says that it is very similar to Seville and other cities back in Spain. We took a walk through the Autonomous University of Queretaro (UAQ), at their satellite site for Philosophy. It makes a nice sheltered shortcut from our house to the mercado.

I thought of the Jesuit priests at my alma mater, Marquette University. Settlers, conquerors, educators; it’s complicated.

You see a lot of corrosion or spalling on the walls around here. It’s no big thing, just a part of the natural way with these old walls, inside and outside of buildings. (The rampant graffiti is another matter. I wish it would go away.)

Across the street from our house a renovation is in full swing, and has been for 2 years now. This gent has spent the entire week removing a ledge on the wall, laboriously chipping it off with a chisel and hammer, down to the bricks, and plastering over it. Why? Since his labor costs about $1 per hour, apparently the owner thought, why not?

Renovations on Rio de la Loza; removing a ledge for no apparent reason

MUCAL Museo del Calendario

Situated in an ancient home that has been renovated into a museum, this is partly an archaeology site, partly a garden oasis cafe, and partly a history of calendars, art, and printing.

MUCAL, rooftop oasis with view of neighboring buildings

MUCAL El Calendario: 3 major classifications

MUCAL is a surprising site and well worth a visit. The relatively small topic of “Calendars” becomes a 2 to 3 hour tour, with a sufficient number of “wows” thrown in. It starts with the history of calendar concepts.

Aztec Calendar, wood, modern reproduction

It then continues on with a focus on the Mexican calendar company Landin, which has supplied the calendars of Mexico for about a hundred years. They are the patrons of the museum.

Most of the artwork is reproductions of the originals. Certain rooms focus on particular artists, including Jesus de la Helguera. Helguera is credited as the best of the calendar artists of Mexico. He preserved legends of Mexico and presented them in ways that shared them for generations to discuss. His principal models were his wife, and his nephew, who are seen in many or most of his paintings. The copies and originals in the museum are detailed works of art.

"The Sleeping Woman" mountain — “The Sleeping Woman” mountain

"The Sleeping Woman" mountain (La Mujer Dormida) (Helguera) — “The Sleeping Woman” mountain (La Mujer Dormida) (Helguera)

In subsequent rooms you tour the history of Landin’s calendars from the earliest days to the present. There are creative allegorical tales.

It’s a delight to mark the milestones of your own life as you travel in time.

Deb was born in this era; this could represent her parents' lives — Deb was born in this era; this could represent her parents’ lives

Our home host tipped us off to get an annual membership. When you arrive and pay your 25 pesos ($1.30) do fill out one of the half-sheet forms sitting on the entrance desk, and include your “address” (email address.) The staff will enter your information into the computer, and you are now free to attend anytime during the year. The outdoor cafe with free wifi is a beautiful place to hang out, read, and enjoy the birds that come to the bird bath. (The oranges that have fallen off the trees are not edible, according to the staff, they are “grey” oranges.)