Going Mexican

Going Mexican Dec 2008

This year we had the special privilege of attending the Mexican celebration of the Virgin Guadalupe with Keltie and Sabie´s friend Rodolfo.(Well he’s now everyone’s friend)

The celebration of the virgin is celebrated every Dec 12 in Mexico and they know how to party!
Rodolpho´s brother Carlos and a group from their village in Akumal spent 10 days riding his bike from Oxaca to Quintana Roo as a show of dedication. He even lost his job at the restaurant here in PaaMul because this year his boss would not give him the time off work so he could keep his promise to the Virgin.
We picked up Rodolfo’s Father and cousin and drove over to meet up with them just outside of Tulum, following behind them towards the village of Chemua for a prayer service outside the Church (there were to many people to all fit inside the little Church)
The plan was to get to Akumal (the town they are from) by midnight for food and celebrations outside of the Church there.
Little did I realize that we would meet up with a ton of other runners and cycler´s and were in the middle of the parade route into the town. All the people from the whole town were out along the road coming into the town to cheer on them on, I was so glad Rodolfo was driving and his Dad was in the front seat. It was funny enough when we got out that we were the only white people there. Everyone was eating food; listening to the Mariachi Band and watching the various groups go in to the church and pay their respects to the Virgin.
It was a very cool experience!

Here is a Map of the Mexican States so you can see how far Carlos rode his bike…Oaxaca to Quintana Roo
You can also see all the States we have driven through on our way the first time we came to Quintana Roo (pronounced row) where we now live.
Nuevo Leon, Tamaullpas, VeraCruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo.
Chad now cuts across to Chiapas and drives up from there. Chad and I have vacationed in Sinaloa (Mazatlan) and Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta)
I’m looking at all this and thinking …..We have been in more states in Mexico than provinces in Canada! We’ll have to do something about that!