For a couple of weeks I have been translating parts of columns and news articles to post here. What happens is that I start one, don't get it quite finished, then something else develops out there in the world, and, I think to myself, that's more interesting, so I start another one. Events seem to be tumbling over each other.
Government proposals for reforms in education, energy and taxation have stirred the political pot. I reckon everyone I know, and that covers quite a spectrum, has ideas on these. And the icing on the cake -- the melting icing which has spilled out of its pot in way too much abundance -- is the weather.For us here in Colonia Ursulo Galván, it's been almost unceasing rain for days and days and days. We haven't had much flooding where we are, but probably as dangerous are the mudslides and landslides of various sizes. On our walks, even along shortish roadcuts not covered in dense vegetation, there are minislides, one after another.
The worst problems have occured in the State of Guerrero, where Acupulco dwells. Acupulco itself has virtually been cut off from the rest of the country, the main highway, in what now seems an ironic name, the Highway of the Sun, to Mexico City being closed as is the airport. All runways were flooded.
A street in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, drowning in mud. From La Jornada, 16 de septiembere, 2013
Forty thousand tourists have been stranded, there is no phone service, no internet, and in some places, no electricity. And, I gather, virtually all streets have been flooded. In
A street in Acapulco. Photo from La Jornada, 16 de septiembre 2013
Guerrero, things are especially bad because two storms blanketing much of Mexico, Ingrid and Manuel, seem to have collided. The clouds just stay and stay, dumping what I believe are record amounts of rain.
Here in our area, a friend says in July we had 20"of rain, in August, 25". I think we've already had more rain in September than in either of those two months, but I'm not sure. I do know that roads and walkways are slick with slime, mold and mud are crawling up outside walls, paint is blistering and peeling. Seeds have swum out of our garden to find other homes. Our clothes are damp in our drawers, too, though this happens every rainy season.
The teachers' strike, for which I have a lot of unposted stuff, went on through the rain, and schools were closed not only in Mexico City in protest, but here in our area, too. Today everyone here was going to go back to school , but the governor has ordered theschools closed because of the weather. The strikers more or less (some dispute about this) left the Zocalo in Mexico City in time for El Grito which is given in pueblos large and small all over Mexico at around 11:00 at night on the 15th of September to mark the beginning of Mexican Independence Day. The Grito in Mexico City is given by El Presidente, and no matter what you think about current politics, it is quite a wonderful and stirring ritiual. This link should take you to a video of it. I am too lazy to embed it at the moment. The Mexican Revolution is said to have begun in the pueblo of Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo) in the State of Guanajuato when the local priest, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla who was involved in a plot to overthrow the government, and some criollo associates first freed a number of prisoners. Afterwards Hidalgo ordered the church bells rung and gathered some parishioners on the steps of the church where he urged them to revolt. They still ring the bells as part of El Grito and call out the names of the heroes of the Revolution. You really ought to watch the video. For a pretty concise version of El Grito, look here.
More soon. In closing, I would just like to say that I HATE Windows 8 which I have on my new laptop. It complicates even the easiest tasks.