Shadow Shot Sunday 12 - The only place to be in Mexico right now...

We are in the middle of a five day shutdown here in Mexico, and escaping to the beach seems the best place to be right now, where there is only a partial closure. This shot was taken at quiet and tranquil Pie de la Cuesta, not far fom Acapulco, but with schools closing for ten days, and British Council workers being sent home to the UK, I am now up at Puerto Vallata, a larger, much more well known beach resort. Here it is much quieter than usual, but there are no face masks in sight, and most places are open until midnight, unlike my home Mexico City where there is currently a total shutdown. We are now awaiting instructions from the Mexican Government on Tuesday, to see if the schools will reopen and we can go back to work, and back to some kind of normality. In the meantime bars here are offering a free Swine flu shot with every drink or meal purchased... ( which is a tequila shot of course...)

For more details on how the country and city have been affected, please check out the last two posts, and for more shadow shots around the world, please click here for Hey Harriet

More from masked-up Mexico City - Update

The situation has escalated from a health crisis to a severe economic crisis in the past three days with Mexico facing a five day shutdown of all non-essential services and businesses. Over the past three days restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms, pool halls, swimming pools have all been shut down joining the closed schools, churches, Public Events, and Government offices. Rumours that supermarkets may also close spawned a panic buying hysteria with stockpiling reminiscent of the 2000 Millenium scare, leading to three hour queues in Walmart and the like...Businesses are losing millions of dollars a day and this is hitting hard on the heels of the dire impact of the global Recession...

These hotel workers may not look quite so concerned a few days ago, but now the crisis is really beginning to bite economically, and those running businesses are really beginning to question such restrictive measures. The government has so far stopped short of restricting travel or closing down the metro, but pesero and taxi drivers are now obliged to wear both surgical face masks and gloves if they wish to stay in business. Here are my local Delta Sitio taxi drivers all masked up and ready to drive....

When they start driving they have to don the surgical gloves as well...

Here is my masked taxi driver taking me to my apartment this afternoon, looking somewhat sinister, but with his rosary swinging beneath the driver's mirror...

WHO has reported tonight that the spread of the disease seems to have now stabilised... let us hope so... but even if this is the case the economic ramifications and consequences of this, as tourists are cutting short their holidays and fleeing the country, will be felt for a long time to come here in Mexico...

In the meantime, Mexico City feels and looks like it has morphed into some weird Science Fiction movie or even worse a perverted porno film. In light of this, do you think this guy, spotted at the Maco Art Fair last weekend, had any awareness of how he was presenting himself???

Is he offering us DF residents some brand new form of sexual service that promises to be out-of this-world to entertain us during this crisis?? Or is he merely worried about his own health and contracting the deadly disease?? Whichever - the irony of his statement seemed totally lost on him!!

Will keep you posted on whatever happens next here in Mexico City.....

Masked Mexico City morphs into Ghost Town...

Hard on the heels of water rationing, worst traffic jams ever, escalating violence in the border drug war, dire impact of the Recession, follows the outbreak of the swine flu epidemic that has so far seen 81 deaths here in Mexico City, many more infected, and cases now beginning to be reported in other countries around the world.

The Mexican Government took swift action on Friday to impose severe precautionary measures to hopefully contain the further spread of the virus. All Public events have been cancelled, Government buildings and Offices closed, plus all schools shut down for the next ten days. Football games have been played behind closed doors in empty stadiums, Theatres and cinemas have stayed dark, and even Mass has been suspended after heated debate concerning the safety of taking the wafer during Communion.

The city's population, of some twenty million, has been advised to stay at home, avoid congregating in large crowds, refrain from greeting or touching people.... Mexico City is notoriously a place where people find it very difficult to follow rules, and are not usually law-abiding citizens! So how have we been faring faced with such draconian restrictions and shutdowns??

Well I have been out and about today, and the city truly has morphed eerily into a Ghost Town. I have never seen the streets so quiet, the traffic so absent, the hustle and bustle so strangely subdued...

The roads are indeed empty - Reforma is normally buzzing on a Sunday morning with joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers, and dogwalkers but today there was no-one in sight....The shopping malls,too, are usually a hive of activity with crowds teeming to and fro... Today they too are almost empty...

Only a few lone shoppers braved the malls contributing to the feeling that Mexico City had indeed morphed into one of those weird Science Fiction movies...

It has quickly become Company policy for all service industry workers to be masked up in shops, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels. Here are the waiters at my favourite restaurant for Sunday breakfast - the Condesa DF hotel. I am pleased to see that their masks are the perfect match for the cool hotel decor, co-ordinating with the exact same shade of aquamarine blue...

About 50% of other people around and about today were wearing surgical protective masks, whether they were visting Mexico City's largest Art Fair, MACO...

Or trying their best to refrain from the "No kissing" rule on the benches along Reforma, a notorious location for cuddling and canoodling...

So...yes...Chilangos are being responsible citizens, and are definitely heeding the seriousness of the situation, responding to the Government's message and rules. People are extremely anxious and worried here, but for the time being the city is calm, quiet and quite literally holding its breath, waiting with trepidation to see what will come next....

To find out what is happening today in other parts of the world, click here... for My World Tuesday posts... I hope they contain much better news...

Shadow Shot Sunday 11 : Antigua

Rather an accidental shadow shot this week to coincide with all my recent posts about the amazing Easter celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala.....Here is a purple-robed float bearer looking for his Procession and float with the statue of Christ to carry...A serendipitous spear-tip shadow shot found whilst trawling through all my Antigua photographs!!

To see more deliberate shadow shot hunting don't forget to check out Shadow Shot Sunday over at Hey Harriet by clicking here.... Enjoy!!

Purple Robes at Play - The Lighter Side of Easter in Antigua...

After all the intense solemnities and religious fervour of the Passion and Easter Processions, it comes as a welcome relief that there is also a lighter side to the celebrations in Antigua, a more human side to the festivities, perhaps initially signalled by the souvenirs for sale....

You can still display your own extrovert personality and look cool and trendy in sunglasses and a purple robe...

And indeed, after the processions it is perfectly acceptable to get on with the ordinary things in life, which may involve making those all important phone calls on your mobile...

Reconnecting with your girlfriend.....

Even indulge in some canoodling in the public plaza....

In the plaza after the Processions, a more festive atmosphere reigns with everyone eating, drinking and chatting with family and friends...

Families are on the move, walking back along the cobbled streets after their duties have been performed in the Processions...

Many are on the move by motorbike, an increasingly popular form of transport in Antigua.....

Or by scooter...

But I think my favourite shot of all that best exemplifies this theme of the wonderfully human side to celebrating Easter in Antigua, Guatemala, is this shot of the clear devotion and love a parent has for his child - shown in this image of father and son....

Which really brings us back full circle to the religious meaning of Easter celebrations. If you get a chance to go to Antigua, Guatemala to witness it all for yourself...Don't miss it!!

A life in the day of an Antiguan alfombra...

One of the most unforgettable aspects of the way in which Easter is celebrated in Antigua, Guatemala, is the visual spectacle of all the amazing alfombras (carpets ) created for the occasion by the local community.

Made of pine needles and fresh flowers, or coloured sawdust in intricate stencilled designs, they start to appear at 2 or 3am along the major route of an Easter Procession. Whole families are up and out beginning the process under spotlights, laying the foundations, crawling precariously on crawl boards so that the complex design is not compromised...

Complete concentration is focused on creating the most beautiful of flower carpets..

And the most stunning of sawdust carpets along the narrow cobbled streets....

Everyone gets involved - young and old, family and friends, tourists and locals....

Then, before the Processions arrive, the main task is to keep the flowers as fresh as possible with a constant spray of water from the family hosepipes.....

The odd dog or too has to be shooed away from spoiling the holy effort and pristine finished product...

As the monumental Processions draw near, the carpets are first blessed by numerous incense bearers who create an atmospheric haze of smoke swirling along the streets...

And then in the very next instant they are trampled to dust and crushed to nothing by the feet of the float-bearers carrying the gigantic statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary...

Local people following the Procession rush to gather what remains of the trampled flowers as they are now holy and blessed, and then it is time for the final stage...

And with astonishing and somewhat ruthless,clinical efficiency, rushes in a team of sweepers, who without further ado, brush up the remnants of pine needles and sawdust unceremoniously dumping them into the convenient dumpster - the final float in the Procession....

All that remains is a faint smudge on the cobblestones and a stray wisp of incense... as if all this had never really been......

Until of course the next Procession is due, and the whole cycle is repeated all over again...and again...and again!! I was fortunate to be staying on a main Processional route at Posada LaMerced, Antigua, and so was involved in making the hotel carpet out on the street under the strict design orders of hotelier and good friend Gail Rogers... An unforgettable experience!!! ( Posada LaMerced at Avenida Norte 7 , 43a is a highly recommended, friendly and great value place to stay.)

Amazing Easter Processions in Antigua

If you haven't yet witnessed the visual spectacles of the Easter processions in Antigua, Guatemala, here is a quick taster which I am sure will get you heading for Central America before too long..

It takes 100 men " Los cucuruchos" to carry a float this size, and they proceed along the Processional route with a coordinated hypnotic swaying movement - to literally keep it all afloat. Places are assigned by strict height measurement from ground to shoulder, and each bearer is given a "turn" and "shoulder" position on the platform issued on a postcard pinned to their purple robe.

Next come the women in black lace mantillas and stilettos stoically wielding the Virgin Mary aloft. The haze of the incense and passionate fervour is palpable in the strong, harsh sunlight...

The giant carved wooden figures of Christ carried on high in Guatemala are world renowned for the intensity of their Passion...

An intensity and religious fervour which is mirrored in the faces of the Procession leaders...

And of course the float bearers themselves...

The Easter Processions in Antigua are on an unprecedented scale in terms of religious devotion and visual spectacle. Don't miss this experience if you get a chance to go.... More posts to follow this week... In the meantime check out other windows on the world by clicking here for MyWorldTuesday posts.

Shadow Shot Sunday 10 : Xilitla

This week I have chosen a selection of shadow shots all taken very recently at the wonderfully quirky hotel "Posada el Castillo" in Xilitla, the former home of the Surrealist Edward James. Enjoy....







For more practical details about Posada El Castillo and Xilitla, check out the last few posts, and for more showy shadow shots check out Hey Harriet by clicking here.....Enjoy!

Xploring Xilitla 3 - Delving for the Details Deep in the Jungle

Yes.... I know this is my fourth post on Xilitla and the surrealist sculpture garden of Edward James in less than a fortnight, but it is such a special and magical place, that I just wanted to share a few more of the finer details deep in the jungle...

Set amidst this natural setting of pools, waterfalls, and jungle foliage, it is exactly this paradoxical combination of concrete and nature that perfectly complement each other, that makes this place so fascinating. Above you notice the beautiful plants first, and then catch sight of the sculptures peeping through the leaves, and then discover that one sculpture even has plants growing out of its crown....Next the sculptures begin to emerge from the jungle much more strongly....

And then the detail of the sculpture becomes the main focus, through which the jungle is viewed, as if through a lense...

In some places the plants and sculptures are in perfect balance and harmony, neither dominating the other .....

Just melting, merging and blending together; an interplay of shapes echoing each other....

Then the plants take over again as the concrete recedes and becomes more weathered....

And it this continous ebb and flow, back and forth, that creates the rhythm of the place until the jungle once again completely obscures the man-made architecture with not a single sculpture in sight....

But final quirky details always remind us that human hands have been at work here....

For more practical information about getting to and staying in Xilitla, check out the last few posts.

Xploring Xilitla 2 - Posada El Castillo - An Englishman's home is his castle....

If you do manage to get to Xililta to explore the weird and wonderful world of Edward James and his surrealist sculpture garden, then the only place to stay to really soak up the whole atmosphere of his fantasy creations is his former home "Posada El Castillo". With these welcoming footprints leading from the front gate, it is immediately clear that this is not just any run-of-the-mill hotel....

The house has an eccentric and quirky castle feel to it with turrets perched on high, twisting spiral staircases, ornate roof terraces, Modernist architectural details, and Surrealist art work displayed throughout. Here is a mural by Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington (long-term resident of Mexico City)...

The posada is currently owned and run by Gaby, niece of Plutarch Gastelum Esquer who along with his wife shared the house with Edward James for many years, subsequently inheriting it when James died in Italy in 1984. The posada only has 10 or 11 rooms all with a distinctive character such as high vaulted ceilings, lattice arched windows, unusual hexagonal shapes, and many also have fantastic views....

Rooms range from about 800 - 1500 pesos per night and are well worth the money. Here is the Rose Room where I stayed for my visit...

In addition to beautiful rooms, artwork, and views, there are also gorgeous gardens, a pool, and a lounge where guests can relax with an extensive library of books and DVDs, including a fascinating 45 minute documentary all about Edward James and Las Pozas. For more information about his sculpture garden click here... Here is a final shot of the roof terrace to further whet your appetite....

Like all secret hideaways, Xilitla is fairly inaccesible. It is 9 hours by 2nd class bus from Mexico City but the route is indirect through 860 hairpin bends in the magnificent Sierra Gorda mountains. For softies, there might be a more direct route by car via Pachuca....

For more glimpses into different places around the world click here for MyWorldTuesday postings....

Shadow Shot Sunday 9 - Zebra Legs in Xilitla!!

Isn´t it fascinating how harsh sunlight and shadow can transform the most ordinary and familiar of everyday objects into the eerily strange and unrecognisable?? This was taken on the roof terrace of Edward James´ former home in Xilitla which is now run as a hotel called "Posada El Castillo". More details to follow.......In the meantime hunt down more Sunday shadow shots by clicking here for Hey Harriet....

Xploring Xilitla - Las Pozas

If you have the time and want to explore off the beaten track in Mexico, then make sure you head off to Las Pozas in Xilitla and visit the surrealist sculpture garden of the "crazy Englishman" Edward James.....

A patron of the major surrealist artists of his time, he also indulged in creating fantasy worlds of his own in the form of floral sculptures, staircases ascending to nowhere, Escher and Gaudi -like architectural structures all eerily staged in the steamy jungle of Xilitla amidst natural pools and waterfalls. Most such doodlings would have remained quite simply on paper, but he possessed the material inherited wealth to make his dreams concrete...literally... and with the help of a local modest Mexican mason, Las Pozas was born. Xilitla is nine hours from Mexico City, and be sure to watch out for more posts and photographs of this fascinating folly...

For more MyWorldTuesday postings click here....

Shadow Shot Sunday 8 - Mexico City

This is Mexico City's coolest contemporary art space down on the Unam University Campus. The clean lines and bright whites of the building itself make it a very appealing gallery to visit...

The architecture indeed is as cutting edge as the art displayed.....

For more information on Mexico City's newest art gallery click here....

And don't forget to chase down more shadow shots by clicking here for Hey Harriet.....

Mission Impossible?? - Jalpan and the Sierra Gorda Missions

Lonely Planet will tell you it is pretty difficult without your own transport, but if you are up for adventure and don't mind second class buses ( just like Greyhound my NY travel companion commented) and 860 hairpin bends through the mountains of the Sierra Gorda, then head for Jalpan as there are some real jewels awaiting you.

The jewels are in the form of five Mission churches all built by the Franciscan Fray Junipero Serra in the mid eighteenth century who subsequently went on to found a whole host of much more austere Missions in California, USA and Baja California, Mexico. The Sierra Gorda Missions are distinguished by their fine colourful facades and fine ornate detail...

This particular detail depicts the familiar Franciscan symbol showing the interlinking of the arm of Christ and the arm of the Franciscan. These five Mission Churches were awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2003, but being in such a remote region they are still largely unvisited... Here is the beautiful facade of the Conca Mission.....

And here is an example of the exquisite carving at the Landa de Matamoros Mission.....

The remaining two Missions are at Tilaco and Tancoyol, although the latter is still in need of much restoration work. To get to the Missions take a three hour bus from Mexico City to either Queretaro or Tequisquiapan, and then a second class Flecha Amarillo through the mountains for four hours to Jalpan. Hotel Maria del Carmen provides a good base in Jalpan, and negotiating with a friendly taxi driver will get you a six hour tour of all four Mission churches for just 600 pesos... a bargain!! It is an off the beaten track trip which is well worth the effort!!