"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

February 18-22:  Small world connections, La Basilica, and a trip to the park! - D.F.

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Hi guys!

Well, this is a pack-em-into-one-journal summary letter.

On Friday night I was invited to join a family for dinner. The connection was that I had a Spanish aide in second grade named Maria Garcia. She heard that I was going on this trip and told my mom that she had family in Mexico City. I got to visit the whole family, and eat a wonderful cauliflower dish with them (the mother, Aurora, found out that I was vegetarian!).

Aurora brought out a little box in a plastic bag. Inside were about 50 years of photos of the family. They all got to laugh and remember the way things were. It was really a gift to be treated as such an honored guest. I had made them a little brass Peacebiker out of wire and Valentine's Day candies and they gave me a pin of the Virgin, a bracelet, and a rabit's foot, all to protect me along my journey.

It is certainly a small world. I found out that Margarita, one of the sisters of the family, came to Dayton, Oregon in 1995, my home town, and helped out in my little brother's class. She actually had a photo of my brother when he was in kindergarten!

We talked until about 11:30pm and then they gave me a late-night tour of their church and the colonia's plaza. We then went to Garabaldi, which is a place downtown where all of the mariachi singers hang out and wait for someone to ask them to sing. There were literally about 1000 guys all dressed up in sparkling mariachi outfits trying to get someone to take them home. I saw one car stop and about 20 guys ran over and surrounded the car. The passengers hire them to sing for family, friends, or even to serenade lovers.

The next day, Saturday, Edgar (the guy who took me to the airport) and I went to the Basilica de Guadalupe. This is the spot where Juan Diego, an indian, met the Virgin Mary. After seeing Mary her image stayed on his robe and this is, according to what I've heard, the same robe that is now in the Basilica. We visited the new Basilica (the old one is becoming the Leaning Tower of Basilica and may fall over), the Museum of the Basilica, and the old chapel on the location that Juan Diego met the Virgin Mary. We later visited the most beautiful garden I have seen in Mexico. The neatly trimmed grass was broken up by flowers, waterfalls, and bronze statues.

On Sunday I got another chance to ride with the Bici Gatos. This time some of them had had a chance to checkout the peacebike site. Some of them offered contacts for other places in Mexico I will be visiting. I met one fellow who has backpacked around Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and Guatamala. He gave me some tips as to what I should see. Thank-you to all of you for your warmth and welcoming.

Later that day Gabriela and I went to Chapultapec Park. This park is like few I know in the U.S. Maybe it is like Central Park in New York City, but I wouldn't know. There were probably 20,000 people there, mainly families out for a Sunday afternoon stroll. There are all kinds of things to buy from snacks, to painted faces, to rides on the mini-train. I was telling Gabriela about how I would like to learn how to make balloon animals because that would be a fun skill to have around kids or if PeaceBike funding runs low I can make balloons for my supper. I realized that you have to be careful what you wish for because in no less than 1/2 hour I was being taught how to make balloon shapes.

Gabriela and I decided to watch a street performer. There were about 250 people watching this guy and I could tell he was quite good because they were laughing every 5 seconds. I noticed that he would stop and use people in the crowd in his act and I wondered if he would spot the gullible gringo in the crowd. Sure enough, he did and I was brought out in front. He spoke to me in broken English and we had a balloon blowing competition. I blew mine about 4 inches long and he blew his about 60 inches long. Then he raised his and said Mexico! Then he pitifully raised mine and said Estados Unidos! Everyone thought that was very funny. He then blew mine up and taught me how to make a balloon sword. Everything was going just fine until he decided to take this whole gringo thing to the next step and he went to get Gabriela. He thought that we were dating and so he started making all these oohing and aahing sounds and the whole crowd started cheering for her to come out. She comes out looking quite red and he makes her a heart balloon and then she is supposed to give it to me. I couldn't believe this whole thing was happening. Everyone was laughing, including Gabi and I, as the performer finally got me to give her a peck on the cheek. Our part of the show, we decided, was over, and we quickly hurried off. When we walked out I told Gabriela that it is pretty dangerous going out with a gringo in this park. She laughed her agreement. For the rest of the day little kids were pointing at us as the two in the show. We decided to head up to the castle lest we become prey for another street performer like the Rambo look-alike who was also there. Gabriela showed me the Castle of Chapultapec and told me the story of the cadets who defended the castle against the Americans. Very interesting to see your country from a different perspective. Later that evening we parted ways and I came home and worked on the website.

Monday, I spent my day looking for white gas, Fansidar( a malaria medicine that does not exist in this country, I found out visiting 6 pharmacias), and some brass wire. I spent the rest of the day getting myself frustrated trying to work on the webpage as the power would go out and my programs wouldn't quite work. A call from my family and Teresa's potatoes put me in a much better mood and I decided to stay an extra day.

Well I should be on the road soon but for now I will keep webbing,

TAD

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www.peacebike.org

An 'edu-venture' around the world for peace.