Try as I
do, to keep current on the blog, it seems increasingly harder the longer we are
Winter Texans. When we first arrived here in the RGV, CC and I were both easily
frustrated by how slow life’s pace was. The people here drive slow, walk slow,
talk slow (unless you are trying to communicate in Spanish, then they spit out
the words faster than my ears can comprendo). In fact we both commented when we
first arrived, “If I get slow like that, just shoot me”. But, since actions
speak louder than words, it seems we have in reality, adjusted quite well, as
the frequency of our blog illustrates.
The
first weekend in February, the 13th Annual Kite Festival was held on
South Padre Island (SPI), and we planned on driving the 55 miles, spend the
day, and return home Saturday evening. We got caught up in traffic due to a
parade in Los Fresnos, and more congestion in Port Isabel, due to construction
on the causeway. What is normally an hour drive, turned into almost 2 hours. It
seems the locals have adopted the sluggish behavior of the Winter Texans. We
finally arrived to SPI around 11 am, and proceeded to the festival held on the
flats north of the Convention Center. The weather was perfect; warm with a
slight breeze. (As usual, click on any image to enlarge)
Maybe we
had high expectations, due to all the pre-festival hype on the local television
stations. We both were a little under-whelmed, thinking we would experience
something similar to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, only with kites, since
this was billed as the largest kite festival in North America. We stayed for a
couple of hours, hoping to see more, but that didn’t happen, so as we left, we
checked that off our bucket list, and headed home.
It’s
hard to believe we have been here for 10 weeks, as it seems like we just arrived
yesterday. Over the past weeks on our visits to Nuevo Progreso (NP) I have
accumulated photos of various Piñatas available. In Mexico, they are used at
birthdays, and anytime a party for kids is given. They are empty when you buy them, and are
then filled with candy, small toys, money, etc., by the person hosting the
party.
The
papier-mâché constructed Piñata is usually hung from a tree branch on a rope,
five or six feet above the ground. The children are blindfolded, one at a time,
spun around a few times to disorient them and given a stick to swing at the
hanging Piñata. The children take turns attempting to hit the Piñata hard
enough to cause it to break, thus freeing the candy and gifts for the screaming
party-goers.
These
are but a small sampling of Piñatas available. They will even “custom-make” one
if you provide them a sketch or picture. Prices are really cheap, and range
from $5 for the smaller ones to less than $20 for the larger more elaborate
ones. What sets the host back is the plethora of candy and gifts placed inside.
Almost
all of the department stores in NP sell Piñatas. There is even one “Party
Store” that specializes in anything and everything associated with parties that
have a huge selection of Piñatas ranging in size, price and subject matter.
They also sell costumes, which are also very popular in Mexico.
Over
the last three winters we’ve been in the RGV, we’ve seen many parties and
parades hosted by the local Hispanics, as well as south of the border. They
LOVE a party, of any type. But a true party includes a Piñata (or two), food
(lots of it), cerveza fria, loud, loud
music and fireworks. If you are ever invited to a party given by them, accept
the invitation, and go and witness something you have never seen before. They
LOVE their parties; maybe that’s why they are always happy and smiling.
That’s
all for now. Take care and stay well, until next time………………….
