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12/13/2003 Archived Entry: "Our Lady of Guadalupe - Mexico Gone Wild!"

The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th in Mexico and is a rather amazing event. First, it must be said that the celebration is unnoticeable in the upscale areas of Lomas de Chapultepec or Bosques (...)

For my part, on December 11th in the morning I noticed that altars to the Lady of Guadalupe were erected at almost every street corner. Many people were toiling hard to hang decorations across the streets, keeping the stray dogs away from their carefully arranged displays (these dogs are a plague in Cuajimalpa - there are hundreds of them, each dirtier than the other - a mobile flea-market at your doorstep, every day!). Yet, the fun really began at night on that same day...

As my taxi was returning into the village I noticed the crowds in the streets, mostly teenagers (Mexico is one of the world's "youngest" countries). My usual access road home was blocked by people busying themselves with some mysterious activity. My driver smartly took a main street and soon got stopped by a pickup truck parked right in the middle of the road. End of the journey, everybody gets off and walks! I was still several hundred metres from home, but never mind.

Given my European background I couldn't help marveling at the fact that no policeman was in sight, no sign had been installed - the population had just taken over the streets to celebrate! Walking past the pickup truck, I discovered a group of men building a podium made of wood, smack-bang in the middle of the road. I just continued my way wondering the purpose of that stage. I will probably never know what it was for (and it won't prevent me from sleeping at night either).

However, what really made me drop my jaw to the floor was the open-air discotheque that had mushroomed in a few hours a the turn of the street leading to my house! Complete with giant speakers and blazing lights, the disco had attracted hundreds of teenagers that made a neat circle of shyness around the central "dance floor". While I crossed decidedly in the middle of the empty area they looked at me as if I was from another planet. I assume I will have to buy a new suit, there must be something wrong with the cut of this one!

As I escaped the noise of the disco, a deafening "bang!" sounded above my head. The whole village was rocked by a barrage of fireworks launched seemingly from everywhere at the same time. By the time I arrived home, hundreds of fire-crackers had exploded around me. This religious manifestation of joy (I have other descriptions for this unceasing bombardment but I will abstain from mentioning them here) lasted until 3AM and it is truly thanks to the kindness and mercy of the Lady of Guadalupe that none of my windows has been shattered on that "special" night.

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