Déjàlà: Charm and Sorrow in Pictures and Words

Poverty exists not because we cannot feed the poor

but because we cannot satisfy the rich.

Unknown

Mi abuela me contó de los calzones de “robamaiz”.

My grandmother told me about……….

When I looked up ‘robamaiz’ for its English translation, President Obama’s name came up! Quite a leap! There is nothing tangible to be found on-line about this word or variations of. Yet, when I asked my host-family, they burst out laughing. They knew at once.

It is the word for old bloomers. These ancient female undergarments look as if you stuffed stolen (robar) corn (maiz) in them… The mural seen above was created during a Violence Against Women week, adding, perhaps, a different meaning to the long drips going down the wall.

Full knowledge of a language comes from many avenues, not just from sitting in, sometimes fun, other times boring, classes. There are blogs, current affairs, podcasts, art work, songs, kids’ stories, legends, TV shows, movies, interactions with people, applications, and much more. I remember unfamiliar words much better if I can associate them with a visual such as the one above. I have spoken English for over half my life but wasn’t raised with that language. To this day there are many references to kid stories’ characters that I don’t know / understand… Still learning after three decades!

A la ‘Banksy’ – unnamed street art (arte callejero)

Love the tiny skulls on back fender – at first, I thought they were bubbles

In Mexico, VW-sedans are called Vochos or Vochitos (diminutive of vocho)

More than 1.7 million were made in this country, many are taxis, perfect for narrow streets

New rules are calling for four-door taxis, slowly making these collectors’ items

Viva el Vocho!

Sometimes Guanajuato’s tunnels are closed to the traffic and become

amazing places to hear music, see movies or dances, and taste new foods or wines.

Young ballerinas (bailarinas) – ready to dance (bailar) underground

First built to carry destructive flood waters away from the city, these tunnels

Are now used for vehicular traffic, keeping the city, mostly, pedestrian friendly

During the rainy season, they fill up with water at times, closing to everyone

Beautiful inquisitive young folkloric dancers

From Prita Noire (short film), 2011 by Sofia Carrillo

Feeling like an adult hatchling handled by an inner child

Over 30 movies have been made in and around Guanajuato

A city dedicated to the arts in all its forms

From Fuera de Control (short film), 2008 by Sofia Carrillo

Enclosure, isolation, loneliness, loss

Took me years to figure out what these numbers on various doors or door frames were

“C” for Census (censo) then numbers for dates? Number of people?

Special code to let other census-takers know what has already happened at each location…

Mexico is still very low tech

Noria de Rocha

Noria (waterwheel) but the same word is also used for Ferris wheel

Hydro-powered apparatus used to lift water into small aqueducts / flumes

Used for irrigation and mining – found mostly along waterways

Quite common in ‘the days’

Artistic tile-work representation of another noria

As part of the natural landscape

Old, unused flume/aqueduct traversing a part of Guanajuato

Several flume remains cross here and there

Clever way to safely sell your tire rims

In window behind bars - - - $$$$$

Whereas the burros in San Miguel de Allende are only for show

Tourists love taking their pictures with them in tourist towns

The ones in Guanajuato and nearby towns are still used for work

Here, bringing firewood down from Valenciana to Guanajuato

Most of that firewood is used to roast chickens

Traffic stops for burros

Busy roundabout at rush hour

After delivering bags of sand to nearby construction site

Since it is impossible to drive in many parts of the city, you often see

Piles of sand and building materials left by side of roads

Needing to be carried by people, to the job site, usually up some steep stairs

Not easy work, job security…

Partial ruins are cleverly used in many aesthetic ways

Bumpy petroglyphs are so common, they serve as simple washboards

In many households!

Mina de Guadalupe – not open to public unless you attend an event

Nicknamed, Elephant Mine, for the obvious shape of the supports / buttresses

On the outskirt of Guanajuato, photo from owner’s website

Templo Valenciana or Iglesia San Cayetano

Built with money from one of the richest silver mines in Mexico

Contains three huge altar pieces covered in gold leaf

Missing right-side bell tower fell due to water damage

Renovated San Ramon (1549) mine entrance

Tower is for air intake

Second oldest mine in the area (first La Luz, 1548)

Grinding wheel is called Malacate de Sangre (Blood Mill)

Many animals or humans running the grinding mill, 24/7,

would die of exhaustion

San Ramón de Nonato (1204-1240)

Patron Saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women

His mouth was padlocked by the Moors to stop him from preaching

Keys and locks hung from ceiling = prayer requests to end rumors, falsehoods

Not sure of connection between this saint and this mine

I was born in Saint-Raymond where they also venerate this saint

Valenciana smelting chimneys

Called Chacuacos, a name also used for heavy smokers

Miners would take herbal infused steam showers to clear their lungs

Steam baths (bochornos) is also the word for hot-flashes…

This one has been turned into an art gallery

Miners were weighed coming in and out of the mine to make sure they

Didn’t take any minerals out with them….

Castillo Santa Cecilia

Castle built in 1951 but sign over entrance archway says 1686

On grounds of old San Francisco Javier Hacienda de Beneficio

(Beneficiation = mineral extraction)

Later turned shelter and hospital then abandoned

Brigitte Bardot, Isabel II (Queen of England) have stayed here

Restaurant also with ‘elephant’ buttress.

Great architecture – just not ancient as they would like to claim

Many movies have been made here

Poor management = back to being in state of disrepair

Ex-Convento Diegüino aka the Pompeii of Mexico

History lost, buried by massive 18th century flood, not volcanic ashes

Rebuilt twenty-one feet higher to current street level

Left to see is this supported underground part

Used as museum, for small conferences, or music

Great acoustics underground

Peruvian group entertaining us

Deep-fried spiraled potato on stick – Asian origin

Mexican approved

Seats for six, salsa bottles for hundreds

Mercado Hidalgo fast food area

Obleas – wafers – come in many shapes, colors, and tastes

Not only served as communion wafers

Also, as colorful sweets, here with pumpkin seeds

I was raised eating the plain cut-outs of real communion wafers as treats

Fun to see them again decades later

Many people, including me, are under the impression that many more words are the same in French/Spanish than in English/Spanish. The truth, however, may surprise you.

Similar words French/Spanish = 5,995

Similar words English/Spanish = 7,256

Most rapid languages in descending order: Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian, English, German

Spanish is considered 20% faster than English but both language have the same rate of information shared because more words are needed to express the same thing in Spanish than English.

University of Guanajuato, 1732

Sculpture by Capelo at the base of 85 steps to main entrance

Attached to the university

Templo de la Compañia, inaugurated 1767

Street views:

Lavender and light teal

Bright pink, sea blue, variegated green

Fleur-de-Lys

Art Nouveau

Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe:

Grandma with grandson

Mother, daughter, baby doll

Notice the tiny sandal hanging on Virgin – middle right

Dad and mustachioed boy

Posing for mom / wife

Posing for mom and dad

Escaping

Is for kids, much more than for adults

Mummies:

Santa Paula cemetery, Guanajuato: If you couldn’t pay the monthly fee or were not on the ‘en perpetuidad’ (in perpetuity) list, your body might be un-buried to give space to fresher bodies. Some of the bodies that were interred between 1850 and 1950 were taken out between 1870 and 1958. To the amazement of many, some bodies were very well preserved, relatively speaking. It is thought that the type of mineralized soil and fairly dry conditions helped in that process. A museum shows some of these bodies, it is one of the most popular museums in Mexico.

Today, the cemetery no longer offers ‘en perpetuidad’. You must keep paying a monthly fee if you want the body to stay in Santa Paula. My host-family has crypts under one of the oldest churches in Guanajuato, Templo de Belén. Truly sought-after spaces.