Wanderings onward: Guanajuato 7

That dog on the roof down below is barking it's head off again. Every year I've come here, that dog has been there. It's kept in a little enclosed area of someone's rooftop and every so often it goes on a barking jag for differing lengths of time, a loud, frenzied, demented sort of bark. Sometimes it barks for a few minutes, sometimes all day, like the other day when I was sick and trying to sleep. Seems so cruel to keep a dog confined like that. The poor critter is clearly bonkers. And the neighbors? Day after day, year after year with that bark? A testament to the Mexican live and let live mentality. I've become accustomed to the fighting cocks on the roof just a couple of roofs over and don't even hear them any more. But the dog......

It's Semana Santa and the town is inundated by tourists, mostly Mexican. There have been a series of holidays leading up to Easter starting with the Day of the Flowers, then a women's run followed by Viernes de Dolores, Dolores Thursday (Our Lady of Sorrows) and since then there has been one event or another but I've spent most of that time in bed. First I got some sort of tummy thing that put me to bed for a couple of days and while still weakened by that, I caught a nasty cold. I'm not terribly sad that I missed out on the events as it feels like the town has been taken over and has become so crowded and noisy that I'm not comfortable. Lots of young teens. Sleeping has been rough due to partying people inside the hotel and out. There are so many things I love about Mexico and Mexicans but, when you're sick in bed, the last thing you want are Mexican tourists staying in your hotel. One of the characteristics of the culture here is the love of partying and there are no cultural taboos about noise. More of that live and let live mentality. I've given a lot of thought to where the love of the fiesta comes from. Is there something stemming from the long history of being subjected by empire builders? The Aztecs, the Spaniards, the French briefly, and lately the corporate empire builders. The failed revolutions, domination by the US, the institutionalized corruption in every facet of society. So maybe the response to all of that has been: screw it, nothing we can do about all that so let's PARTY! In my limited world experience, it seems peculiar to Mexico and colours every aspect of Mexican life and culture bringing a vibrancy and also an edginess to life reflected in the arts, particularly film and literature, a hint of violence lurking in the corners, sometimes not too far in the corners. Colours are big, bold and bright, as is music. Laughs are big, loud, frequent and sometimes desperate. Though all this vibrancy may be annoying to my restrained Canadian sensibilities at times, I miss it when I'm not here and always look forward to coming back. And you can take my analysis and musings with a grain of salt. Just another foreigner with his two cents.

More random photos:

Balcony flower gardens are very popular though I haven't seen any sign of veggies

More of those magueys as they continue their flowering cycle

Every Sunday Lydia sells her munudo in the little plaza by my place. Menudo is a soup eaten almost exclusively on Sunday morning, is made from cow's stomach and is said to be a cure for hangover.