Bang! Pop! Pow!

Holidays, fiestas, saints days - they're all big things here in Mexico.  And they are all celebrated - usually with fireworks beginning at dawn.  And fireworks include aerial bombs, i.e., loud explosions.

We thought we had escaped most of the noise when we moved to La Lejona. We have no church in our section of town (it's a fraccionamento, not a colonia) and the nearest churches are some ways away, so what bombs that are set off are not near.  The dogs don't even notice them.

So imagine our surprise this morning when it was Bang! Pop! Pow!   We hurried up to the rooftop to see if we could find out what was going on.  It sounded quite close, so if it was next door we could throw a bucket of water on the offenders!!!

However, it was about a block away:  a procession on the road out of town towards Celaya.  Dozens of folks walking down the highway in the outside lane, accompanied by several police vehicles with flashing lights, flag men to remind drivers to use the inside lane, and a band in bright orange/red suits (playing slightly out of tune).  Banners were carried by members of the procession that stretched for some ways.

It was kind of neat, actually, and I was glad they were out of reach of our buckets of water.  The instruments would suffer from the damp - though they sounded like they had already suffered.

We later found that it was a saint's day - San Pacual Bailon (thanks, Viktor) so all is square.  San Pascual was a religious born on Passover (hence, the name Pascual) in 1540 in Aragon, Spain.  Until he was 24, he was a shepherd, then became a Franciscan brother.  He later became patron of the Eucharistic Congresses and nighttime Adoracion.

Not sure where the church of San Pascual is in town.  Perhaps just a neighborhood that celebrated the saint's day.  As usual, we're guessing here.   Isn't Mexico fun!

Just a little more, please....

Just when we thought the rainy season was over, it rained last night!  The day had been overcast most of the time and there were big storm-like clouds in the evening, but we were still surprised when the rolling thunder and lightning turned into real rain.  Often the clouds - and even thunder and lightning - come to naught.

Now, there wasn't much (only 0.44 inches overnight), but it was the first rain we'd had in August.  The Presa (the large reservoir west of town) is quite low.  I've even heard that you can see the roofs of the homes in the village that was flooded to form the Presa - though we haven't gone looking ourselves and it may be a bit of hyperbole.  Since we are headed into the dry season, we need every bit of rain that can be squeezed from the clouds overhead.

Even now, there's thunder and a few sprinkles.  Although it will play hob with our plans of going into town for dinner, the rain is needed.  Let's hope it produces more than sound and light effects!

One of Life's Accomplishments

We successfully had our garbage picked up yesterday!  Now, that may not be big news for most of you, but it is for us.

In the states we had these three big, rolling bins - one for trash, a second for green stuff (lawn clippings, etc), and the third for recyclables.  Here in Mexico we have nothing.  It's all do-it-yourself.

In Colonia San Rafael the trash was picked up 3 times a week (good when you don't have garbage bins to hold the trash): Monday, Wednesday & Friday morning about 7:30.  We knew when the truck was nearing our street because the neighborhood kids would ring our doorbell and ask if we had any 'basura' - which they would be happy to hand in to the truck on our behalf, and thanks for the tip.

The trucks are not the automated things we had in the states.  They are open-topped trucks with high sides and there are at least a couple of men in the back, accepting the bags we handed up and spreading the garbage around the truck, separating any recyclables and putting them to one side.

When we moved to Fracc. La Lejona, we were told trash days were Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, so we were prepared to take our trash out the first trash day after our move.  Surprise! The days are actually Monday, Wednesday & Friday - just like back home in San Rafael.  However, there are no children in our neighborhood to assist with the trash pick-up.  And there's no one to pound the piece of metal with a bar to alert the homeowners of the impending truck. 

The folks with the truck will pick up your bags of trash from the sidewalk if you aren't there to hand them up yourselves (thus ensuring their Christmas tips), but if you put them out too early, the neighborhood dogs are likely to tear the bags open and help themselves to a snack.

And since their pick-up time is variable - and we might not be home during the afternoon on a trash day - it's always a good thing when we manage to get our trash picked up.  Sort of gives you a sense of accomplishment!