Comic and Table Game Convention

In yet another episode of the "This is not your normal Peace Corps experience" story, last Saturday night we went downtown to the convention center. They were hosting several events, one of which was a Comics and Table Games convention. We were hoping to find some cool party games or nice chess sets (none of which are sold in the Wal-Marts or toy stores here...the only things we can find are the basics like Monopoly and Life).

Instead, the convention was filled with pure anime, comics, and videogame fans. Lots of people were dressed up in costumes. I was particularly impressed by the Joker costume.



Also, there were some Mexican celebrities on hand doing autographs and photos. The gentleman here plays the voice of Mr. Burns in the Spanish version of The Simpsons.

Real de Catorce

Last Monday (Nov 16), we had the day off of work for Día de la Revolución. Technically Día de la Revolución is Nov 20 (Friday), but for some reason the federal laws state that when the 20th is a Friday, the holiday is held the previous Monday...Día de la Revolución celebrates the start of the Mexican Revolution against the dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1910. This means that next year, 2010, will mark the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution--it should be a very festive time to be in México!!

Taking advantage of the long weekend, a couple of coworkers and I headed down to Real de Catorce for a day-trip on Sunday. Real is a tiny pueblo in the state of San Luis Potosi, in the center of México. It used to be an old silver mining town (like many pueblitos in México), and is now mostly a ghost town / tourist destination (like many old mining towns in México). It is probably most famous for being the site of various movies, including The Mexican with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Another notable site is the long, long, very long cobblestone road that leads to the town. It stretches on forrrrreeeeeeevvvvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr...



We ate lunch at a hotel where the crew for The Mexican stayed during filming. The chef is actually an actor and appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean. Lots of pictures of both movies in the lobby.



On Friday after work, we had a carne asada at my counterpart´s apartment. It was a lot of fun, and a group of us actually wound up staying til 2:30 AM playing Risk! I haven´t played in a long time, but it was a good time.

Japanese Festival

So being in one of the largest cities in México, one of the advantages is the multiculturalism--and I´m not just talking Méxican culture. The local university actually hosted a two-day Japanese Festival this last week!

At the festival, I saw a tea ceremony, some dances, and participated in a True / False game about Japan. It turns out that Japan and México have had relations for the last 400 years!!



I also had the chance to brush up on my calligraphy skills, writing two kanji characters with a brush. Here is my turnout for the character for water. Ignore the fact that they gave us a hardcopy to trace...

10K Race in Monterrey

We two Monterrey volunteer went and ran in a 10K race this morning, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, according to local reports, the area with the highest per-capita income in México (and possibly all of Latin America). It is a very, very nice area, and all of the houses that I have seen down there would be considered luxury homes in the US. Obviously we don´t live in San Pedro.

However, all of the local races seem to take place there, as running is apparently a luxury sport. I managed a 1:01 10K, about on pace with the 8K I ran a couple of years ago (45 min). Not particularly fast, but it was a great workout, and I hope to run more in the future. The race was very well attended, well organized, and well supported. They even had bands and cheering squads set up every couple of kilometers to cheer on the racers! This group of guys on stilts wandered around afterwards with a small band, handing out balloons.



Also, since it was Halloween last weekend, it was a costume race! Most runners wore the official, red shirt seen in the pictures (one of the requirements to be in the raffle for 50 iPod Nanos), but some others got really creative. This guy ran all 10K in this bull-rider costume!

Día de Muertos in Aguascalientes

A couple of volunteers decided to meet up this last weekend in Aguascalientes to take in their Festival de Calaveras. It is a celebration of the Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos, which occurs on the evening of November 1 every year (All Saints Day). November 2, the following day, is always a national holiday in México, regardless of what day of the week it falls on, so this year we were lucky and had a 3-day weekend.

A calavera is the head of a catrina, and both are skeleton images that are widely celebrated now in México. The catrina was created by Méxican artist Jorge Guadalupe Posada--born in Aguascalientes. A famous image of a catrina is here.



The festival included a ton of activities, including bands, a county-fair, theater, and a parade. Here is a picture of some people painted as calaveras and wearing traditional costumes. They were pulling people from the crowd to dance on stage.