Burning the Bad

Carnaval:
Tuxtepec Style
The first night of Carnaval in Tuxtepec opens with the burning of the witch who represents all the bad feelings from the previous year. All the "mal humór."
We watched and took pictures and OF COURSE I was on the wrong side of the street to get a frontal view. Damn it.
But the witch was stuffed with fireworks so it got exciting and we had to stagger back as the little bottle rockets and sparklers went off.
Then we (the English Dept and friends) went to the Bar That Smells Like a Bar for some after-witch-burning drinkies.

Tuxtepec Piña Lady

When you cross the Papaloapan River coming into Tuxtepec from the direction of the UNPA, at the first major intersection you find the Piña Lady. They recently repainted her - which makes me think that they repaint her every year. Before they repainted her, she looked pretty Anglo - now she's darker, but still not as brown as the real people here.
There ARE still women who dress like this, but you don't see too many of them and they are mostly old women.
I see one most mornings walking to the Tux Van to come to work. She is always walking towards me on the sidewalk, dressed in her traditional costume and wearing no shoes - but with remarkably clean feet. I'm in awe. I wear shoes and my feet get filthy.