Mochitlán -- The Virgin's New Home

One of the things we do too often is see places as tourists. A few weekends ago we had the chance to see the small home town of one of Gretchen's collegues, Vicente, in the state of Guerrero. Vicente is an art teacher at the Secundaria Aztecas. He invited us to accompany him to his hometown of Mochitlán for a weekend of the town's festivities. We set up our tent in the patio of his mom's house, and hung out with Vicente, his mother, and assorted extended family who came to the town for the weekend.

Breakfast with Vicente and his family (Note: no silverware, just lots of fresth tortillas hot off the comal)

The occasion was the transference of the Virgin from one family's home to another--each year a different family keeps the town's Virgin in their home for the year. The day on which the townspeople accompany the family is an all-day affair. A procession/parade accompanies the Virgen through the town. When she arrives at her new "home" for the year, the host family must feed everyone who shows up -- chilate (a cold chocolate milk with cinammon drink), tamales, and there are a number of men serving shots of mezcal (a tequila-like drink, but made from different agaves) to anyone who will take it.

The Virgin being taken to her new home for the year.

The next day we took a guided tour of some local caves (las Grutas de Juxtlahuaca). The entrance to the caves was filled with bats and cockroaches. There was so much bat guano around the entrance that the temperature rose significantly, from the decomposition of the guano. As we got deeper in, there were no bats, but there were subterranean pools which we had to wade/swim through to get to the end of the visit, some spectacular crystal formations.

Sabine standing among some interesting cave formations.

The weekend was indeed a great opportunity to see a town we wouldn't otherwise have visited.