Bits and pieces of Guanajuato (Sept. 13-16)

First and foremost, I would like to dedicate this blog to Colleen for being such a wonderful hostess.

The hillsides of Guanajuato
Dogs were barking. A man was singing to the radio with his deep, baritone voice. Water was running through the pipes. Church bells rang. Those were the sounds that accompanied my solitary state on the roof of the hostel, Casa Bertha, in Guanajuato. From my rocking chair, I saw houses upon houses set against the hillside. All together, the haciendas looked like the top of a Crayola crayon box as they were painted brilliant purple, violet, deep orange, periwinkle, hunter and moss green and burnt red. Hidden among them, I could see Teatro Juarez, a beautiful colonial theater located in the center of town.

Mummy Museum
During the day a group of us went to the Mummy Museum. Seeing mummified people was one of the most unique experiences that I have had yet. A long time ago, unclaimed bodies were found in Guanajuato in a type of soil that had naturally mummified the dead. Tradition says that the families of the bodies were forced to pay taxes and if they could not afford it, the deceased would become an addition to the museum.

The mummies still have their skin, hair and teeth. Some of their clothes were preserved too. Captions hung on the walls next to them, giving them an identity. For example, the first mummy was supposedly a French doctor from the 19th century who had no family. Another woman had died during a cesarean section; she and her child were propped up next to each other.

As I left the museum, the sign read, "Aquí acaba la vida y la eternidad empieza" (Here life ends and eternity begins). Woah.

Diego Rivera's house
The famous, Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato in 1886. His actual house was nothing to write home about, but it was interesting to see the progression of his art work over the years. He went through stages of realism, impressionism, neoclassicism, and cubism before developing his signature style as a muralist. Thus, seeing his earlier work provided me with a new perspective for viewing his more recent pieces.


Callejoneada
On Sunday night, we were determined to go see a callejoneada, or a group of students dressed up in medieval costumes who sang and played musical instruments. Their wardrobe consisted of a burgundy velvet jacket, puffy balloon shorts with black tights and a matching crown.

Within a block of our hostel, we heard the music and followed the sounds until we reached the rest of the crowd. We arrived just in time to hear a serenade sung by a teenage boy. All of the women were invited onto the steps so that the group could sing to us. Unfortunately, I was not the lucky lady chosen for the serenade.

Each callejoneada belongs to a different department at the University of Guanajuato. The students play in the band to help them finance their schooling. This tradition was brought over from Spain ages ago and was reborn in the 1970's.