Some firsts

So many things happen every day, it's hard to keep track (or keep up with posts to share it all with you). We'll try to do better.

First, some firsts.

We ordered our first bowl of chapulines at a restaurant. Chapulines = grasshoppers.

Jiminy!

Oscar went first, of course.

Oscar declared them salty. Sean and I agreed. (Wilhelmina "wasn't that hungry" and declined to try them.) The three of us each ate a few more, delicately, but it soon became clear to me that unless we upped our intake, most of the appetizer would go to waste. So I decided to power back a small handful. "Muchas proteínas!" I said to myself encouragingly, remembering the recommendation of the waitress.

Salty, yes. No on sweet, bitter, and sour. What is that earthy, insectile taste? Umami, maybe?

We concluded that when it comes to chapulines, menos es más.

~~~
We made our first trip to Zinacantán, an indigenous town nearby. It's only about ten miles away from San Cristobál, but it seems farther. You don't hear much Spanish (Tzotzil, a Mayan language, is the going thing) and most people -- men as well as women -- wear very colorful traditional clothing (the town is known for its weaving and embroidery, and the designs are inspired by the other big industry here: growing and exporting flowers).

Inside they were having a joint ceremony:
first baptisms x 10, plus a wedding.

The men's vests have tassels in back. 

These embroidered shawls are quite stiff-looking; I don't think the
women use them to carry things (or babies) as we see elsewhere.

These older gentlemen seemed to have a special role.

I wonder what a more-traditional wedding gown
would look like here? (I bet it would include purple.)

The deafening DJ music outside the church was
punctuated by the still-more-deafening
fireworks shot out of gourds.

Sean and Oscar were investigating this closely (not me; my
 nerves were shot by all the noise) and I think they said
gunpowder was packed into this tube.

I think the guy holds the gourd that holds
the tube that holds the gunpowder? Then, kaboom.
(Oscar just confirmed this and notes that the
mallet is used to pack the powder into the tube.)

Oscar and Sean were not the only boys
interested in the fireworks.

~~~
We celebrated our first Mexican Independence Day, Saturday, September 15.

A week before the holiday, we thought these were
very early Christmas decorations.

Viva México! this man said to us.

A fabric store suggested patriotic couture.

Relevance unknown.

There were lots of school and military bands.
We missed them all (we slept in) but are assured
that we'll have another crack at it on November 20,
the Day of the Revolution.

My favorite part of the holiday was the ceremony at the kids' school. Wilhelmina correctly predicted that I would be particularly charmed by the little girl who carried the flag: wears glasses, watches her feet when she walks...who can resist her? So I am repurposing the video that Wilhelmina already has on her blog; I can't get enough of it. See if you can pick out Wilhelmina and Oscar in the background....

~~~

Cowjie made his first kill.

Later, the tail went missing.

~~~
Also: Wilhelmina became the first person in our family to hold political office. (She was voted president of the school.) Oscar had his first soccer game.  (He said he had fun, despite what he termed "a bitter defeat.") Sean started volunteering (he is already in demand at several places) and my book got its first prepublication review (it was good!).

And finally: we had our first up-close-and-personal bat encounter. Wilhelmina was the first to wake up and discover the creature flapping around downstairs. This video is poorly shot and probably dull, and I am sorry for the sounds of my intermittent gagging, but it does show Sean's heroic if futile efforts to evacuate the thing. (Eventually the bat found its own way out the door.)