Trekking Adventure Tour

Students from the tourism department of UMAR organized an after school walk downtown yesterday. Coincidentally, my bike was locked up in my apartment after repairs and I had planned on walking home anyways. All I knew was that people were walking home in a big group but it was a big deal in honor of Children's Day and people were dressed for the occasion.

I took a lot of pictures but people were in motion and the light was fading. These are the ones that turned out.

It was dark when we arrived downtown so no pictures of the dancing and water balloon fights that took place. Good times.

The Walking Dead 2011

Look out! If possible, this year's Day of the Dead event at UMAR Huatulco was bigger and better than ever. Dead people, tragically young, arrived at my office door to make sure I didn't miss a thing of the big night. They weren't scary like Halloween ghouls back home. They were quite friendly and very charming. The problem is that, just like in the movies, their sheer numbers can be overwhelming and before you know it, you've b

een overrun. Luckily for me, everyone left peacefully without taking a single bite. They even left a gift of candy instead of the other way around. The big night arrived. The living and the dead hung out and had a good time. I didn't know any of the dead personally but I think several must have been very closely related to some of my students. The lighting wasn't conducive for photography and the dead don't photograph very well but I managed to get a few good shots.

This year we had guided walking tours open to the public.

For some, the fun continued on a parade downtown. It was starting off too late for me on a school night so I pushed on to skip a weary dawn of the dead.

School's Out

I first heard about this event at lunch time on the last day of school. A student tried her best to explain but I didn't quite get it. I showed up anyways. All would be revealed. The only snag was that it began at 7 pm, clock out time. I rode home, parked the scooter, unloaded my backpack, headed to the rendez-vous point and arrived around 7:20. Everyone was still there and more stragglers were still arriving.

Everyone was in a great mood. Spirits were high.

This was Calenda, a happy drinking and dancing parade weaving its way through town.

I took a turn wearing one of the mascot costumes. I don't think I did a very good job. Most mascots jump around and dance. I tried not to bump into people. That thing is top heavy. You grab on to the strong wire mesh inside. If you tip a little, the mascot dips a lot. Eventually a better person took over the job.

Time for another dancing break, this time in the center of Infonavit.

We even had a police escort. There was a moment I felt a bit self-conscious about walking in the middle of the street with a beer in one hand and tequila in the other with a flashing police car behind me but it wasn't a problem. Their job was to ensure that nobody interfered with my public drinking. Fun.

Friendly UMAR people on standby in the back of a truck, making sure nobody was left without a cold beer.

There was so much booze. I had to start declining generous offers of mezcal. Eventually the party weaved right by my apartment complex and I dropped out. I was beat. I'd had a full night already but the party continued on without me. What a great tradition to celebrate the end of a grueling semester.