Con perros y gatos

I am trying my hand at writing in Spanish. This article is about the state of domestic animals and strays in the city where I currently live, Morelia, Michoacan. As always, leave a comment, I love to know what you think!

¿Alguna vez has visto un animal lastimado o atropellado en la calle? Circulando por las calles de cualquier ciudad es probable que tarde o temprano, encontrarás un animal doméstico, ya que sea perro o gato, herido. La ciudad de Morelia no es diferente. Hace poco en Morelia, vi un gato atropellado en la calle. A primera vista pensé que ya estaba muerto, pero a pasar a un lado del animal, vi que movía su cola. “Pobre gato” pensé, y sentí una gran tristeza por ese ser que obviamente estaba sufriendo. Sin embargo, seguí mi camino salvo que llegara tarde a la cita que tenía. Reconozco que esta actitud de indiferencia es muy común. Como sociedad hemos acostumbrado a “esto no es mi problema” cuando en realidad la situación con animales compete a todos. Quizas diras “pero tienen dueños y ellos son los que tienen que cuidar a sus mascotas” sin embargo, en la actualidad solamente 1 en cada 10 animales en situación de calle son reclamados por sus dueños. Como bien lo comentaron Marielena Hoyo,  ex-directora del zoológico de Chapultepec, Tania Muller, secretaria del medio ambiente del Distrito Federal y Georgina Molina, presidente de la asociación Rescate Animal el mes de abril pasado en CNN, México Opina (dale clic aqui para ver el video) hay una gran problema con el maltrato animal en las ciudades de México.

fuente:www.ghapad.com

Los refugios para animales en la ciudad de Morelia son varios, como Perra Vida, Adopta Amor, Hogar Refugio Lumi, Amar y Ghapad. En Morelia Ghapad tiene más de 10 años operando, rescatando animales y abogando por la concientización de la sociedad acerca de la condición de los animales. También cuenta con refugios en Tacambaro, Lázaro Cárdenas y Tarimbaro.  El refugio Ghapad trabaja no solamente con los animales sino también con las personas ya que la educación es una parte integral del cambio de cómo son tratados los animales. Tuve la oportunidad de conocer a dos personas entregados a trabajar con los animales. Fernando Valladiva, voluntario del Ghapad  y Carlos Herredia Gonzalez.

A Fernando Valladiva le hice la pregunta ¿qué deberíamos hacer, los ciudadanos urbanos, cuando nos encontramos a animales en situaciones donde han sido heridos o atropellados?

“Yo aconsejo que llevar en el carro una toalla o manta y un botiquín de primero auxilios” comenta Fernando, y agrega “al momento de acercarse al animal, ponte entre la calle y el animal. No dejes que el animal te vea ya que se podría espantarse. Toma el animal desde atrás y en el caso de un perro, cubre su boca y cargo el animal con cuidado. Hay varios medicos veterinarios en la ciudad de Morelia quienes trabajan con animales rescatados, entre ellos están es el doctor Hugo Valiente.”

fuente:Cambio de Michoacan

Fernando está muy ocupado, es el paseo dominical de los perros del refugio, y se va con una perrita que parece French Poodle, llamada Candy. Espero a Carlos Herredia Gonzalez, voluntario fundador de Ghapad. Nos sentamos debajo de un árbol ya que es un día muy caluroso y el sol esta fuerte. Carlos saca un cigarro  y me ofrece uno. Le agradezco pero no fumo. Nos ponemos a charlar mientras Carlos fuma su cigarro. Comienza a explicar acerca de la situación actual de los animales domesticados en México. “”Existe una laguna legal impresionante.” Pregunto acerca de un caso reciente en las redes sociales donde se dio a conocer que un caballo había sido atropellado en la glorieta de Juan Pablo II en Altozano. “En este caso del caballo llamaron al zoológico pero esto no esta en su competencia a nadie le compete a través de asociaciones varios frentes existe una responsabilidad ciudadano. Animales de trabajo son registrados con dueño.”

Carlos termina su cigarro y le hago la siguiente pregunta, ¿cómo podemos generar un cambio en la sociedad ante como son tratados los animales? La respuesta de Carlos es conciso y apasionado. “Recoger perros y gatos no ayuda a nada, no soluciona el problema...va en aumento. El problema viene de la gente y por una [falta de] respeto a la vida. [Hemos tenido un] acercamiento al ayuntamiento para cambiar leyes y reglamentos, formar y generar cultura, propuestas de ley aunque ya existe una ley desde 1988 con Villicaña. En papel esta bien pero no hay quien lo aplique.”

Carlos se ve interrumpido cuando uno de los perros que esta siendo paseado por uno de los voluntarios empieza a ladrar a otro perro y tumba a su paseador. Carlos se pone de pie rápidamente y corre al auxilio del hombre.

Regresando a la sombra del árbol donde iniciamos nuestra charla, Carlos me sigue contando de actual situación de la ley para la protección de animales en Michoacan. “[Hubo una] ley propuesta del PAN en Michoacán...del refugio fueron a pedir apoyo Macarena Chávez y Dr Morelos bloquearon la ley por los toros, mostraron su falta de conocimiento en la ley propuesta”.  Carlos explica “volvieron hacer la ley por el Partido Verde muy parecido lo que habían ya trabajado. Ahora la ley del medio ambiente y la sigue es de protección animal.”

Y finalmente cuando le cuento del gato que había visto atropellado en la calle, Carlos me comenta que pudiera haber llamado a la perrera y quedarme a acompañarlo en su proceso de muerte “hasta donde tu te puedes comprometerte con ese animal.” El sol ya esta muy fuerte y aún hay más perros por pasear. Carlos se pone de pie y me dice “esto no lo hacemos por los perros,  lo hacemos por nosotros porque queremos vivir en una sociedad mejor.”

Para más información acerca de Ghapad, consulta su página de Facebook. Ahi encontraras informacion acerca de veterinarios quienes colaboran con el refugio y también todo tipo de información de como ayudar a animales en situaciones de peligro.

Temazcal Part 2

This is part two of my article describing my recent visit to a local temazcal. For part one, click here. To watch two short videos explaining what a temazcal is click here. If you are interested in re-printing this article, please leave me a comment or email dushka.rinasz(at)gmail.com

Sweating it Out in a Temazcal

by Alma Maria Rinasz

My intentions. Earlier I had told myself I wanted balance. As any mother knows and is told by numerous mommy blogs and parenting websites, I needed “me” time. I had recently stopped breastfeeding, my role as the caregiver of an infant, that final extension of pregnancy that breastfeeding creates, was now over. Our baby was becoming a toddler and I longed for a space where I could once again find myself, not in terms of this child’s mother, but in terms of who I am as an individual. There were also other factors that brought me to the temazcal, namely feelings left over from relationships that I needed to let go of, chronic sinusitis and the curiosity of actually partaking in a temazcal. I needed to figure out how to balance everything. I was there because I needed a space for healing my physical body and my emotional self.

It is now my turn to enter. “I am here to heal my body and my soul” I said softly as Carmen looked up at me from the temazcal doorway. Crouching down, asking for permission from the guardians, I half walk, half crawl into the temazcal and feel the impact of the dry 50 degree celsius heat. Carmen asks us not to walk over the center of the round temazcal. Later she explains that this is one of the four doors of the temazcal. With everyone inside, the door is closed from the outside. I make the mistake of entering wearing my glasses. I have myopic vision and an acute astigmatism. I quickly realize that I need to leave the glasses outside.  Carmen continues with the ritual, she passes a small deer skin drum with its accompanying stick, a maraca, a box of kleenex.  The musical instruments are for us to use when chanting if we want. The kleenex for cleaning our noses (she explains that people tend to get runny noses inside because of the steam).  Carmen explains that we must honor the four directions as a part of the ritual. After the fourth direction is honored, the temazcal will be over. She points out that there are four “doors” in the temazcal that correspond to the directions. We must ask the divine guardians permission to speak before we speak, if we must exit we must ask permission to do so and the same if we wish to re-enter.

I am surprised how quickly the intensity of the heat gets to me. Suddenly I vividly recall how I felt when I was in labor with our third child, the baby that has just left his mother’s milk. Just as in labor, the experience at that moment brought me entirely into the now. I was extremely present, there was nothing before this time and there is nothing to come: there is only now and the intense weight of the heat. Carmen explains that we can drink herbal tea out of a communal cup, asking us to only wet out mouths and throat. She then offers us aromatic branches to move the air above our heads or to softly beat against our legs (to help circulation). We can also sprinkle clear, clean water on our skin. Carmen uses a specially prepared mixture of water and herbs to douse on the fiery volcanic rocks that produce the intense heat.  With each wetting of the rocks, Carmen honors one of the four directions/doors of the temazcal.  After honoring the first door, she tells us to lay down if we feel the need. I  awkwardly lay down on the wooden floor. It smells like a sauna, the smell is comforting and clean. I can feel my fellow temazcal bathers push up against me. This must be what multiple babies in one womb feel like. My legs are awkwardly positioned on the temazcal wall, I am turned at the waist, laying face down on the temazcal floor. Just as in labor, I suddenly feel the urge to vomit. I begin to panic: I can’t vomit here! I take in a deep breath.

Carmen as if she had read my mind, distracts me by telling us that if we feel the need to leave, we can get closer to the door to feel the breeze.  She urges us not to leave. I drag my face and torso closer to the door, as do seven other people. The urge to vomit begins to subside. We are all so close to one another, I can feel someone holding my arm. My glasses had already been placed outside the door, so it is impossible for me to see who is holding me. My husband, sitting next to my legs, pulls at my sheet, covering up my inner thighs. My attention is brought back to the door, we are waiting for some cool air. Except that the “hobbit house door” is not letting any cool air sweep our sweaty bodies. One of the other temazcal users, the only other man besides my husband, sticks out his hand and says “ask the Lord for the breeze, he will send it to us”. Oddly enough, hearing this petition, is when I find it difficult to want to stay. I snicker and silently guffaw. But then I catch myself in my own hypocrisy: if I am willing to ask a deity permission to enter this sweltering igloo, why not ask some other deity for some wind? A soft breeze comes in and we sigh.

I speak up and tell my fellow temazcal brothers and sisters that I feel like I am in labor again. Carmen guides us through chanting, at times we moan, at we are times silent, other times some of us cry. She explains that we can call out our own names, she leads us in the example and we all call out her name “Caaar-meeen” we yell loudly. The noise we make is sad and full of longing, my voice cracks and I sob a little. We are crammed into a temazcal, a steam bath used for traditional healing practices dating from pre-hispanic times. We are united in our self-induced discomfort. Carmen had told us prior to entering that she had been using the temazcal for over twenty years.  Later, in our interview she tells me that she has been guiding people in her own temazcal for two years. “There are times when people enter the temazcal and they want to leave right away. This has to do with their mental and emotional preparation.”  

Looking back, I can say with certainty that being in such a small space, dark and hot, was comforting and terrifying. It makes me think of what it is like to be a fetus. It makes me think of things that I can’t possibly remember or even know for sure; I can only feel them on an intuitive level. One of the uses of the temazcal is psychotherapeutic. Carl Jung spoke of the shadow or unconscious.  In Macina’s words “the temazcal is a representation of the interior of the Earth, it is a cave. Like the clefts of the Earth-gullies, holes, caves-it puts the surface world in communication with the subterranean world.” Carmen has guided us through those dark recesses of our minds and souls. I also later find out that she is a psychotherapist, I believe this makes her an even better guide.

Unbeknownst to me, as I am panting and living the now of the temazcal, Carmen is honoring the fourth door. The temazcal is over. I suddenly feel as if I could stay in there for hours. My fellow temazcal bathers begin to exit. I say behind, helping Carmen clean out the temazcal. I hand her the branches, the drum, the maraca, the water: I don’t want to leave. Again I am reminded of a baby, those stubborn children that don’t want to be born, they stay in until their moms are 41 or 42 weeks pregnant. I don’t want to leave the inside where it is warm and wet and dark. I like it here. Carmen smiles at me and I look around one more time, my blurry vision only allows me to see so much, a play between light and shadow, but I smell eucalyptus and rue. I will come back I tell myself and emerge into the light.

I am doused with cold water and asked to remove my sheet as Carmen’s daughter wraps me in a clean towel I have brought from home. I stop her mid wrap. I have to pee and Carmen asks me if I am comfortable peeing outside. I answer “I was a girl scout, I can pee anywhere” and I run behind the dome of the temazcal to relieve my bladder. I shake and tremble and I feel so alive. I return and am duly wrapped up in a cocoon of soft warmth and I lay on the wooden deck where I see that Alex is already snoring. The temazcal ends in us eating oranges and bananas and drinking cold rose hip tea. We then go off to eat a light dinner which is followed by a guided meditation lead by our yoga teacher from earlier that day.

Coming into the light

There is a term in Spanish for giving birth. It is called dando a luz or bringing into the light. The temazcal has been used for centuries as a way to prepare women for childbirth. Vicenza Lillo Macina explains that the objective was to “relax [women’s] muscles, nerves and joints” The midwife, or partera, uses different treatments, “she´ll massage the parturient woman’s abdomen...and she will straighten the offspring incase it is feet first. After birth, the mother will receive various very hot baths so she can recover the heat she has lost after birth and so that the cold that [she feels] goes away.”

Carmen Magallon explains that women, in ancient times, used to give birth in the temazcal. One of the practices often employed by midwives when a woman is having trouble transitioning into the third phase of labor is to reduce the light. A dark or soft lighted space is believed to help women deliver their babies with more ease and comfort. A temazcal, recreates the in vitro environment: it is dark and warm. I can see why ancient parteras or midwives, used the temazcal for birthing. It seems fitting that temazcal ritual included asking permission of the mother of the gods. “I used it after my daughter was born” Carmen explains “and I took her in when she was 40 days old”.

“Women would have their children in the temazcal. Also, after giving birth, after the first forty days women would enter the temazcal. Now a days that is the aspect of the temazacal that has been preserved; the use by women. Why? I think mainly because of the use of the parteras (midwives) it is rare that women have babies in the temazcal now, that is something that was done before, within  the groups of First Nation people. One thing that is done now it that in lieu of an actual traditional temazcal, women in some communities recreate the temazcal using blankets.

From my own personal experience, “discovering” the temazcal has given me an opportunity to take an active role in my own physical and emotional health. The combination of plants, herbs and Aromatherapy has been studied somewhat by Western medicine. Empirically, I find that inhaling eucalyptus opens up my breathing passages, rubbing mint oil on my tired legs and feet invigorates and refresh me and I don’t need a medical study to tell me that that  works for me. I’ve found that Western medicine more than often loses sight of the patient as a person, you are a post nasal drip, type II hemorrhoids, type III diabetes, a malignant tumor. Traditional medicine tends to deal with the patient as a whole. The body, soul, spirit are all honored in traditional medicine.  Western medicine is just “discovering” what traditional medical practitioners have known for thousands of years: emotions and thoughts directly influence our physical health. My symbolic rebirth, coming out of the temazcal, into the light of day, gave me a sense of balance. My objective, my intention was fulfilled.

-Alma Maria Rinasz

For more information on the temazcal, please read Vicenza Lillo Macina’s book

http://www.plazayvaldes.com.mx/libro/el-temazcalli-mexicano/1524/

If you are in the Morelia area and would like to experience the temazcal first hand, please visit Cerro Verde Facebook page https://es-la.facebook.com/temazcal.cerroverde

I strongly suggest that if you partake in a temazcal you first ask what the practice is during the temazcal, if the guide is particularly strict about you being able to leave the temazcal before the ritual is concluded you may find your experience causes suffering instead of healing.

Temazcal Part 1

Sweating it out in a Temazcal 

by Alma Maria Rinasz

In mid-April 2013, a fierce forest fire blazed across Cerro Verde, on the outskirts the central Mexican city of Morelia, Michoacan. The blaze stopped short of consuming a traditional temazcal on Carmen Magallon’s property. “It was the guardians that saved it” Magallon says, smiling as she shows us the extent of the damage to perimeter of her property.  It is May 4th, 2013 and I’ve come to Carmen

Overlooking Temazcal Cerro Verde.
 Photo credite:C.Magallon

Magallon’s home to partake in a temazcal. She is the temazcal guide at Juata Xunhapiti. As I look around as she points to a water tank that nearly exploded from the heat at the back of her property that sits on a steeply inclined hill, I can’t help to think that there is some irony in that nature’s fire stopped short of consuming a human made structure that is used to cleanse and purify. Forest fires clean out the old to make room for the new.  I am about to learn first hand how purifying a temazcal can be. Together with a group of nine people two hours after Carmen’s tour, we are sweating, moaning, chanting and laying awkwardly on the temazcal’s hot wood floor.

Temazcal Cerro Verde
Photo credit: Carmen Magallon

What is a temazcal?

Jose Alcina, a scholar at Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM),  describes a temazcal as a “mesoamerican steam bath”. In essence, it is an integral part of traditional medicinal practices. In Mexico and Guatemala the nahuatl word temazcal or temazcalli refers to the “house of steam” and is characterized by rituals,  steam, aromatic plants, herbs and herbal remedies. It has many names besides temazcal, similarly, the building can vary depending on local customs and tradition. “A temazcal is a construction [that can be] made from different materials, traditionally...clay [or] a kind of adobe, built in a round iglu shape.” In Vincenza Lillo Macina’s seminal work on the Mexican temazcal, the author interviews people in different parts of Mexico who use the temazcal. The temazcal can be rectangular, dome-like or even underground. Nonetheless, Lillo Macina explains “the temazcal is a representation of the Earth’s interior, it is a cave.”

Carmen explains that the temazcal is a pre-hispanic practice that has different goals: it is space to facilitate physical healing for respiratory, circulatory and osteo problems, as well as detoxification. But the temazcal also has a ceremonial component. In Magallon’s words “it can be used as a space for offering and giving thanks to nature, to mark certain dates, for example planting time, the rainy season, harvest, or rituals to honor the patron saint of a town. The use of the temazcal also has a social aspect to it. It has been used to resolve conflicts between peoples; when pueblos, neighbors would have problems, the elders would enter the temazcal to reach agreements.”

The Modern Day Temazcal: Reclaiming the Past

The temazcal has traditionally covered three main aspects of human needs: medicinal, ceremonial and social (as a mediation space). Today the temazcal is being reclaimed by traditional and alternative medical practitioners.  Just as Ayurveda and yoga have become “the go to” practices for many of those in the West seeking traditional, holistic remedies to ailments,  the temazcal in Mexico is an essential element in traditional medical practice that is being used once again as a way for people to find emotional and physical well being.

The Mayas used temazcales and as Magallon points out in our interview, it is common to find temazcales in tourist centers [in places like the Yucatan peninsula.] And you can even see the ruins of a temazcal in Chichén-Itzá. On May 4th, though, the temazcal is not a far away archeological ruin that I would one day love to visit, but a reality that hits me like a brick in the face. When we first come upon Juata Xunhapiti temazcal, my husband Alex jokes “it is a hobbit house”.  We were soon to find out that this temazcal was nothing like the hedonistic hobbit hole since I am sure that Tolkien did not envision his Hobbits panting and sweating to no avail.

The day began with Oki Do Yoga with Reiki Master Veronica Onofri. After about an hour of stretching and aligning ourselves, we changed for the temazcal.  Carmen offered Alex and I sheets: you can tie them around yourselves like Roman togas she explained. I chose to go for all or nothing; I wore my birthday suit and the sheet. Alex wore his boxer briefs and shorts.

Oki-do Yoga. Photo credit: V. Onofri

We walked down the steps towards the temazcal. It was lovely day with white puffy clouds scattered in a clear blue sky. As we descended, birds chirped and flitted from tree to tree. There was a river rock ying-yang sculpture in the side of the hill to our left. Balance. I breathed deep and set an intention for the temazcal: I want this temazcal to help me establish balance in my life.  We approach a wooden, raised deck that serves as a kind of vestibule area. Carmen is there with green enameled chalice. She is beginning the ritual. This takes me back to my Catholic school days. The thick smell of copal, the solemnity of approaching Carmen one by one, the narthex-like wooden deck leading to the temazcal; it’s as if we are going to take communion. I’m not consciously aware of these parallels until later.  

Cleansing with copal
Photo credit:C.Magallon

We each individually ask permission to enter the vestibule area. Here Carmen observes the ritual of cleansing us with copal, a type of incense that has been used in Mesoamerica for thousands of years. After the cleansing, Carmen explains how we must enter the the igloo shaped temazcal.  We approach the temazcal and one by one, we stand before the door and ask Teteoinna, who I later learn is the mother of the gods, permission to enter. We must also state why we are entering; Carmen asks us to “state your intentions.” And I must pause.

Walking in the Hills: A Homage to Hans

Morelia is full of fascinating people, both Mexican by birth and by geographic location. The following article was written by Hans Nienstaedt, who until recently, lived in his hillside home  in Morelia. Hans passed away this past month. As a tribute to him I am re-posting this article he wrote about hiking in Morelia. 

Hans Nienstaedt, a Dane who has a Ph.D in forest genetics from Yale University, joined the U.S. Forest Service in 1955 and worked in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He taught at Chapingo University in Texcoco for two years, working for the Centro de Genetica Forestal, performing fieldwork in Durango and Michoacán, before moving to Morelia with his wife Marj in 1989.

Mexico's peace and beauty: Roaming the hills around Morelia by Hans Nienstaedt Roberto, one of my Mexican neighbors once asked if he could hike with me. He had heard rumors that I roamed the hills around Morelia. I, of course, said: "Yes." It is good to have company when you hike - and safer too! Cerro del Punhuato Photo Credit:http://artemetyurecuaro.blogspot.mx/2010/08/contara-el-area-natural-del-cerro-de.html Then Roberto said: "What weapons do you carry?" When I answered "Absolutely none!" he became worried. What about the people? What about snakes? So I told him of my most dangerous hiking experience. It was west of Jesus del Monte, I came upon three or four campesinos rebuilding a stone wall and sharing a jug of pulque. To all appearances they had been sharing it for some time, and now I was to share with them, please! My dilemma? How to get out of that one without upsetting my friends. I managed somehow, and also convinced Roberto that he didn't need his pistol! That must have been about ten years ago, and now many, many hikes later I still maintain that it is absolutely safe to hike the hills around Morelia. Twenty years ago when we only were here as visitors I always hiked alone. No more! The trails are rough; you can fall and hurt yourself! Hike with a partner!! How to find your way? There are some major burro trails feeding into Morelia from the surrounding hinterland, trails used by the campesinos to haul in wood, leaf mold, charcoal, ears of corn — anything they can sell in town. Some trails are substantial, many are narrow, seldom used and have a freakish way of suddenly disappearing. So how do you find your way? How does the saying go? What goes up has to come down — or something like that. The topography around Morelia is very, very helpful; the many hills are landmarks you can't miss. Pick the one you want to climb, pick your way up there on burro or cattle trails. Then from the top pick your return and follow your nose. I admit it; bushwacking often enters into it, but even that need not be too hard. You will find a multitude of cattle trails going more or less in the right direction. Maps are available from INEGI. Carta Topografica, 1: 50 000, Morelia E14A23, is the one to get. There is an INEGI store on Garcia Leon, coming from Ventura Puente it is on the left hand side down towards Camelinas. The cost of the map is negligible. It covers a large area south and east of Morelia and Las Tetillas de Quinceo (also known as the Teats) to the northwest, Quinceo itself is just beyond the edge of the map to the north. The greatest help from the map is the topography — 20 meter contours — the trails that are shown are only the most commonly used hauling trails. What to look out for? The trails are rough with stones of all sizes. Going downhill can be a special challenge. It is easy to slip on small stones and gravel. During the rainy season trails and even the grassy fields become very slippery. So watch your steps! Poison ivy is not too common, but in some ravines with more moisture, it is smart to look out! Snakes? In all our hiking we have seen exactly one rattlesnake and it refused to use its rattle. Barbed wire fences are becoming more and more common, but can usually be negotiated between, above or below the wires. Motor bikes have become a nuisance over the years — noisy and impolite. We usually avoid hiking on the weekends. Take a look back down the trail you have come up every so often. Not only to see the view; it may be helpful in case you decide to return the way you came up. What to wear? Personally I wear shorts and short.sleeved shirts, but my hiking partners think I'm crazy, and I admit returning with my legs and arms looking like mincemeat. Huisache — a small tree of the mimosa tribe with small globular yellow flowers and awful spines — reaches out to scratch you! Wear sturdy pants and long sleeves, and wear a hat. I wear hiking boots, but my partners do fine in good tennis shoes. And make the water bottle a part of your attire, by March when it gets warm a six hour hike may require almost two liters of water. Some hikes Cerro Punguato This is an easy and short hike on a good trail. Park off the highway to Mil Cumbres about 1.5 km east of the Periferico where a road takes off on the left. The road doubles back and goes up to an old TV antenna and a small nursery and buildings. Between the highway and the buildings are two fences both gated for walkers. Be sure to close them when you are through. The trail to the top starts off to the right behind the buildings after you have past the big open water tank. It is stepped and for old duffers like me it takes about 45 minutes to reach the top at 2320 meters. From above, the morning view of Morelia is magnificent, and late April and May after the first rains there are many spring flowers. After the first gate on the uphill side of the road there are bright red wild Amaryllis — Sprekelia. They are over a foot tall and the flowers are more than six inches across, the bulbs transplant easily. The Mexicans call it Pata de Gallo or Flor de Mayo. In English, it's the Jacobean Lily. And that reminds me of another spring flower, also an Amaryllis and also called Flor de Mayo. There are many species in Mexico; the one around Morelia is white or pinkish about six inches tall and it is amazing to see it shoot up in the middle of hard packed trails after the first April shower. Just a delicate flower stalk and six petals. CERRO PUNGUATO, CERRO PRIETO TO BARANCA COMPUERTA. Get to the top of Punguato and continue NE to the top of Cerro Prieto — the one with the white cross. Onwards almost due north to the small building shown on the map and from there to the small dam to the ENE. The dam is in ruins and there is no water behind it now. Above the dam to the SSE at a distance of about 1 km is a rocky overview. The view is to the north down over the road to Charo which is about 2 km away. Return south via the baranca, cross the stream after the open plowed field on the east side of the stream and walk west parallel to the highway at about ½ km north of the village of Lazaro Cardenas. You will eventually find where you parked the car. It was just east of the top of Punguato that we saw the rattlesnake. The baranca below has interesting lava formations and a diverse vegetation. We have found some of the best developed epiphytic bromeliads with large showy flowers there, and at least two species of mistletoes. I have been told that there are more different species of mistletoe in Mexico than any where else in the world. In Barranca Compuerta these small parasites have beautiful colorful flowers, in one species the total plant is 2 to 3 inches and the bright red flower is at least one inch. It flowers sometime in March. The round trip will take 5 to 6 hours for the old duffers. Duffers needs explaining, I'm the only old duffer, Will and Max, my partners, will out-walk me any day so the time estimates are based on my slower speed. Cerro de Aparicio ti San Jose de las Torres Climb the fault south of the GIGANTE store on Camelinas. There is a new road that takes off from Av. Fray Antonio de San Miguel, it is paved with red paving stones (adoquín). Follow the fault east above Lazaro Cardenas, stay on the 2200 meter contour which double back south, east of Cerro el Guajolote then swing east over the saddle and climb Aparicio to 2380 meters. From there you have a great view north all the way to Lago de Cuitzeo, south to Pico Azul and southwest to Cerro La Mascara, Cerro el Venado, Aguila and even Cerro Zirate north of Lago de Pátzcuaro — all of them goals for future hikes. To the SW you can see the village San José de las Torres the first point on the return to Morelia. Re-cross the saddle and head SW to the village crossing, over a little stream on a rickety bridge, then up the steep hill to the first houses in the village. From there a major hauling trail will take you back to Club Campestre and Plaza las Americas. To get back to Av. Fray Antonio turn right at the entrance to the club's parking lot and wind your way east on the streets until you find your car. It will be about a six hours walk. You might want to go up to the lake in the village — actually the boys catch fish in that muddy water, but the adobe "factory" is more interesting. It is operated by young men and a bunch skinny small boys — Mexican child labor. The boys are having a ball hauling wheel barrows full of mud to the men forming the adobe bricks. The loads are too heavy for one boy so two at least shove and push and slip around in the mud, they seem to have a great time laughing and yelling. Much better it seems, than if they were down in Morelia begging at a street corner. Plaza Las Americas to San Jose de las Torres and Return At Plaza las Americas starting at Kentucky Fried Chicken and Bancomer take the street south along the east side of Club Campestre and continue up the dirt road past the old filters for the Morelia supply of water. There are torture racks at various places along the road for those so inclined. The road is the main trail for the serious runners of Morelia. The last torture rack is by a steep small hill, and there is a white pipe barrier along a sharp drop-off. At about this point where the trail divides, take the upper trail to the left and follow it all the way to the village. Go west to the right around the north end of the lake and follow the path towards Rio Bello. Just before the bridge take the path to the right, it is shown on the map. Eventually you will actually be walking right on top of the aqueduct built almost 100 years ago; it still caries water. This easy hike takes about four hours and walking on the aqueduct is interesting. Rio Bello over Pico Azul to San Miguel del Monte To get into more forested areas one must hike south of San José de las Torres and south and west of San Miguel del Monte. The Rio Bello-San Miguel hike takes two cars. Drive to San Miguel and through most of the village, a little before the saw mill on the left on a curve a road takes off down the hill and crosses a stream on a narrow two log bridge. Park one car on the main road, and in the other drive back to Rio Bello. By the first houses, the old road to San Miguel takes off to the right, park there. Cross the stream and follow the path, where you encounter houses on your left and will come to Rio Chiquita, notice the interesting bridge on your left that leads to nowhere. Follow Rio Chiquita SE, you will be going back and forth over the river several times and eventually (about 2 km) after some steep short up-hills come to a place where the valley divide and where there is a major hill in front of you. The trail continues up the hill, levels off and goes along a barbed wire fence on your right. Finding the path up the hill is the only difficult point on the hike. Continue until the trail comes to a larger road - the road from San Miguel, go left and continue to Pico Azul. The trail forks, the left goes to the east of the Pico, the right to the west. We usually take the right fork and below the peak we find some lava cliffs and eat our lunch there. Beautiful views to the east down to the deep valley with Buena Vista and Tumbisca, and to the west to San Miguel. You start back the same way you came up. Don't turn on the trail to Rio Bello but continue to San Miguel. The road does divide in spots, but usually merges again, all leading towards the village and you will come to the two log bridge, cross and go up the hill to the car. Estimated time 4 to 5 hours. We have not hiked to the top of Pico Azul for two or three years and don't know the condition of the fire tower. It used to be manned, but from below it now seems to be deteriorating. The pine forest suffered from forest fires a few years ago, but on the northeast slopes good productive pine forest remains, and there is good natural reproduction where burned pine have been salvaged. An easily identified species is the Michoacán pine with very long shiny needles and a curved cone up to six or seven inches long. There are some fifteen or sixteen other species of pine in the state — four or five of them on Pico Azul, but it takes the experts to identify them. Mexico, with some thirty different species of pine is the genetic center of the genus. San Miguel del Monte to Agua Escondido and Return This is another easy hike through forest most of the way. The road to Agua Escondido is shown on the map. It takes off to the right after a right curve just as you come into a sharp left curve. There is a small store above the road on the right just before the road begins. Park the car on the main road. A short distance up the side road you cross a stream with fair flow after rains. The road is open to trucks and easy to follow, don't worry about traffic there isn't any. The road does divide a couple of times and if I remember correctly you take the left fork the first time and the right fork the second. The village is divided in an upper and lower level, you want the upper level. If you first see the houses below you, you are on the wrong track, go back and continue up the other fork of the road. The right track takes you up a fairly steep hill, there is a sharp left curve and a cornfield in front of you and two houses a bit to the left. Go in and say Buenos Días to the folks. The youngest daughters Esmeralda, four years old, and Elvira, about seven, are my friends (I hope). The view from the house towards Pico Azul is wonderful. What a place to live! Continue up the road past the one room school where Elvira's uncle is the teacher for all of eight children. If the school is in session, stop in and have a look. Continue up the road past the cornfield with a barb wire fence on the left, shortly after that the road turns left and a smaller road continues straight down a fairly steep short hill. Take that side road and continue back down to San Miguel. The entire walk is about 4 hours or a little less. The forest up to my friend's home is mostly hardwood with oaks dominating There are some high quality stands of pine that would be a joy to manage. I have talked to the girls' father, who derives part of his income from the forest, harvesting trees for lumber and tapping the pines of resin which he sells to the resin refinery in Morelia. He understands the value of the forest resource, and he therefore follows the management plans provided by the state foresters. In many areas in the state and in other states that is not the case. The fields up there seem to be fertile and there seems to be higher rainfall; the corn undoubtedly is an additional part of his income. It is possible to continue up the road beyond the turn back to San Miguel and to cross the saddle NE of Cerro Verde and descend north to the old road to Atécauro and follow that east back to San Miguel. That may require a bit of bush-wacking and may add another hour and a half to the hike. Santa Maria to El Venado, La Joya, La Mascara and back From Santa Maria take the road south towards Durazno, when you come to the open fields above Trincheras cross them to the SW corner, follow the road about 200 hundred meters south, go down over the arroyo by the new well and pump station, continue up along the arroyo and go up to the new blue water tank. Follow the road south past a small nursery and down over the saddle to the gravel pit. The trail to the top of El Venado starts through the gravel pit and is fairly easy to follow to the top. One landmark is the crown of a fair size pine a little below the top that can be seen most of the way up. El Venado actually has two tops, you want the taller one at 2540 meters. Cross over the first one, go down over the saddle and continue up to the second. In the saddle there is an interesting old marker — a stone column about 8 feet tall and three feet in diameter, a couple of plaques mentions Morelia and a date, they are too weathered to read. I have never found anybody who could explain what it marks. I have assumed that it is an old hacienda marker. From the top you see the village of Atécuaro to south and the Cointzio Reservoir to the west, below a little south of east at little less than one kilometer is the site of the old ranch, La Joya, there are no buildings left, but just a few years ago a bougainvillea and a yucca clearly showed it was the site of an old ranch. From El Venado in the same direction you can see and area of heavy erosion, the trail to the saddle to the south near the top of La Mascara begins along the north edge of the eroded area. To descend go southeast on the ridge dropping about 160 meters, then cut Northeast to La Joya. The road goes right by the site and up through the draw through a couple of cultivated fields. There are a couple of gates: close them if you have to open them to go through. Crossing to the very end of the last field, go through the few feet of brush at the end over the barbed wire fence and a little to the right there is a path that continue up to the saddle. Rim rocks will be above you on the left as you ascend. In the saddle there is a trail to the north that will take you back to Santa Maria. There is also a trail to the top — another 20 minutes or half an hour. Depending on where you lunch you will have views in all directions. There is a large pine crown on the east down slope you can see from the edge of the plateau, and close to that is a trail that goes north around the mountain. Looking down to the north a small lake come into sight, descend to that go around to the south and from the dam continue down to the north east in the same direction as the stone wall on the left, cross over the dry steam bed and go up over the field then down in the valley and follow the small stream La Higuera back to Santa Maria. The entire hike will probably take between six and seven hours, but it is worth it. After that you will be familiar with the landscape and can start exploring on your own. La Mascara is one of the few places we see game. There on the plateau on the top we often see coveys of quails, we see then sometimes on El Venado and elsewhere, but they are more common on La Mascara. The number of hares (or are they big rabbits) we have seen can be counted on one hand, and the closest we have been to a buck was last year when we saw a sapling marked where a buck had rubbed its antlers. Other Trails Of course there are other trails. Below the road to the San Miguel below Cerro el Gigante is a heavily eroded area that is interesting, above it you can follow a trail on the ridge and get over to La Mascara. Northwest of Morelia Quinceo and Las Tetillas del Quinceo are obvious goals. To climb Quinceo itself drive to the end of the Collectivo line Café in the town of Quinceo. The trail comes off the road that comes in from the northwest at that point. In April (2002) the trail was marked with white arrows painted on the rocks all the way to the top, it goes in a northwesterly direction around the mountain, the final ascend is from the west. The hike up and back is about six hours. The trick is to find the starting point on the edge of the village, ask the locals! About five hours or a little less up and down. Actually I find the Teats a more interesting hike. The starting point is the village of Las Flores. You can drive to that, and from there the country is open and it is not hard to find trails leading in the right direction. The Teat with the antennas is open field to the top if you ascend from the north, the Teat to the north is more of a challenge, circle it to the east and climb it where the slope appears less steep. It'll be bush-wacking to the top but there is no huisache with awful spines. On an early May hike this year we found thousands upon thousands of ladybugs on the trunks of the oaks that form the stand on the top, they completely covered the fissures in the bark from the ground to heights of about 4 to 5 meters. Mexican ladybugs apparently do that, but I'm told nobody knows why! Disclaimer You are on your own from here on, and I hope you will enjoy your hikes. Will Myers, Max Shames and I found our way around hiking alone and have never had problems making it home. You, I'm sure can do the same. After all, I'm 79 years young, Max is 86, and Will's 69. Cerro Prieto Photo Credit:http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49831186 Perhaps what I have written will help some, but do buy that map!

Coming Soon.....A Visit to a Temazcal

I recently had the opppotunity to go to a temazcal.  

I went with very little expectations. I left feeling lighter, relieved emmotionally and spirutally. Shortly after, I participated in the HASTAC Feminist Scholars Digital Workshop. During the workshop I researched the temazcal tradition and am in the process of writing an article on the temazcal, as well as sharing my own personal experience.

Come back soon to read my article but in the mean time, check out these two videos that I found on Youtube that can give you an idea of what a temazcal is like and what it is all about.

Here is a short video explaining what a temazcal is used for (English):

And here, a man from Danzas Mexicanas explains what a temazcal is (Spanish):