August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 4

Tuesday - I've started walking again in the morning. Left the motel and went down Menaul all the way to University St. and back which is a pretty good walk...surprised at the light traffic in the morning.

Decided to go pay a visit to the City of Rio Rancho's public works and building regulation departments just to see what they were like and what they had to tell me. The building dept. gets a D+ or maybe a C- if I cut them some slack. They have several set answers to questions..."that's not our department", "I'm just getting to that", "it's in the packet of information". The packet is the same stuff on the web page. First impressions are important and they didn't do very well. On the other hand, the Public Works department was very helpful with questions and putting me in touch with Eddie who will let me know about the water availability. I'd give them a B+. I expected to talk to some engineer types who would not be able to communicate but was surprised.

I spent the rest of the day in Bernalillo. I had lunch at Abuelita's and had some authentic New Mexican food -- a Navajo Taco which is a sopapilla laid flat and then covered with refried beans, shredded beef, lettuce, tomatoes and green chile sauce (sauce on the side). This was like a Tostada Compuesta if you know what that is.

Today is the Feast of San Lorenzo, the patron saint of Bernalillo so they have a 3-day fiesta that started Monday afternoon. They had already carried the Saint from the church earlier in the day and took him to the festival area where the observance was presided over by a Mayordomo - head of the family that "owned" the saint for the past year. Each year the saint is passed over to another family who take responsibility for it and also host the Fiesta. They provide food and take care of details for the fiesta and the Matachines dance.

The fiesta dance grounds were sort of behind the grocery store. My waitress at Abuelita's filled me in on how to get there. I was able to follow local people carrying lawn chairs once I got close to the place. It was pretty full and kind of a tight squeeze. I was a little concerned with the guys carrying the whips but they were dancers and that was one of the things they used in the dance.

Luckily I got an ear full from one of the concession guys who explained all about San Lorenzo. Once it got started I was struck by the religious atmosphere that it all took on. I asked if it was OK to take pictures and they said 'yes' but there were not many cameras so I only took a few.

They have been doing this dance in Bernalillo since 1693. I tells a story of Christianity coming to the Aztecs and how Montezuma struggled before finally accepting Christianity. There are some key figures...Montezuma, Malinche (aka Marina), Aztec warriors, the devil/evil one, and protectors who guard against the devil (guys with the whip). The dance went on in the hot sun for almost two hours. One of the final parts of the dance involves the town's people joining in with the dancers to reaffirm their commitment to San Lorenzo and the church. Then, after a break, they took the statues of San Lorenzo and paraded through the streets around town. He goes back to the sanctuary church tomorrow after being handed over to the new Mayordomo family. This was really fascinating to watch. I have heard about this dance -- mostly in Mexico or South America -- but never have seen it.

I was hot after several hours in the sun (not as hot as the dancers) so I tried to cool off. I went back up to my lot and re-confirmed some of the information I talked about at the city hall. The manhole cover I saw that I thought was sewer or water was Qwest's underground wire access. I suspect that I'm going to need a well after all...even though I can see a huge water tank about 1000 feet away.

I cooled off in the Santa Ana Star Casino for about an hour -- spent $20 but had a good time. It was getting dark when I got started back to my motel and, of course, I managed to get lost.

Watson is sick and Jill took him to the animal hospital. He has lost about 5 lbs from his high od 22 lbs and is too weak to go eat. He will stay with the vet until I get home. They ran some blood tests but everything was normal. He has a fever so maybe an infection of some kind. Poor guy.