Carnaval, Canvas, and Coital Croaks: A Cultural Immersion in Puerto

Upon finding yourself in a Latin country during Carnaval, you must do all the things! While I know nothing will top the fun I had at Carnaval in Mazatlán, México, I’m still excited about the festivities happening here in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, México. There’s even going to be free concerts. You all know how much I love free. I also like an early bedtime, so we will see how the whole thing pans out. To the parade!

Burning of the Bad Humor

My new condo is in a really amazing location (except for all the hills!), walking distance to just about everything. So I could actually hear the parade traveling down the street toward the Agencia Municipal de Puerto Escondido, which has a large concrete central area for small concerts and events. I actually didn’t even know that there would be a parade today until I heard all the music.

However, I was really surprised when I got to the Agencia Municipal to find it mostly empty. There was a stage setup with a ton of folding chairs in front, but not many people. Time to find the people. I spotted some folks blocking the street for traffic and headed in that direction. Within five minutes, the first of the floats came around the corner, with lights and music and dancers.

Usually when I am watching a parade, my short stature has a hard time seeing anything over all the people. With so few humans hanging out along the route, I had an amazing view. Here’s the thing, there were a bunch of people walking with the parade. Like the parade was a pied piper and called out with its drums and music, gathering all the folks as it slowly traveled along to this final destination. How fun!

Um…Is that safe?

Once the parade arrived at the Agencia Municipal, all the seats filled up quickly in front of the stage. I found a spot up the hill so that I could see the entire thing: stage, humans, and bouncy-slide thing. I do love people watching. Behind me, the equestrians from the parade were offering up horse rides to people wanting selfies on the gorgeous creatures. The horses are obviously very hot from their slow trek through the hot streets. Luckily, there is a guy going around pouring and splashing water on them to cool them down. While it may be nighttime, it’s still tropical hot-hot!

At some point, several humans in white robes carry a coffin up onto the stage and light that sucker on fire! What the crap is going on!?! That thing goes up like crazy and I’m genuinely concerned that the stage will start on fire as well. This does not seem safe, but it’s all outdoors, so as long as nobody panics, it should be fine… right? It’s the Burning of the Bad Humor (Quema del Mal Humor)!

I totally forgot about this part of Carnaval. The tradition is symbolic to encourage viewers to let go of their worries to better enjoy the festivities. I’m assuming the coffin represents mortality? Begone, Death! It’s party time! And with that I went home to bed… because I really do love me some sleep.

The big parade!

The last night of Carnaval promised an even bigger parade right near my condo. All I had to do was wait until I could hear the drums and music, and then head on down the hill… and up the hill on the other side. So many hills! Once I made it to the parade route, I was once again surprised to find that the street wasn’t lined with people. Where is everyone?

It was a short while before I spotted the first float… and loads of bystanders walking with the parade. Such an interesting social norm for the area. I was whooping and hollering with everyone enjoying the show. Then a few of the dancers ran over and started dancing with me in my bright pink shirt! I just about died, it was so fun! See… this old lady still knows how to party!

Now you could just stand there and watch the parade go by. Or you can get the hint and walk with the parade like everyone else. I chose the latter option to join the throngs of people being swept up with the music. Some of the floats were rather tall, so they had spotters along the route whose job it was to lift tree branches (and a few electrical lines) so that the trees didn’t knock anyone off the truck (or take out the power). That’s entertainment for you.

That’s a child!

But the real entertainment was the pyrotechnics. There was a child in charge of fireworks for a couple floats. I am not joking. That kid could not have been more than eight years old! He would run in front of the truck, placing a firework on each side strategically such that they would not get run over, did not hurt any dancers, but were still close enough for drama. The fireworks would go off simultaneously and the float would drive through all the crazy fire sparkle. Then he would run back and retrieve the spent cartridges. That kid was good at his job!

The parade ended at Foro Costera, which is like a big dirt outdoor concert venue surrounded by booths selling all manner of things. Free concert! I stood around for quite a while watching the band setup on the large stage. Tons of kids were running around with a ridiculous array of toys. Families were coming in with all the picnic supplies. The people watching was fantastic.

However, turns out I actually do not know how to party and I’m tired. It’s not even that late, but bedtime calls to me. After a few fun songs (I think it was reggae?), I took my leave and headed home. The walk took about 30 minutes with all those hills, but at least it’s a very safe neighborhood. My bed awaits and there is no use trying to stay awake any longer.

Speaking of home

My new upstairs condo is amazing! I have this absolutely gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean from my massive covered balcony. The weird thing about the place is that the bathroom is across the hall. Like, I have to go outside and unlock the door to go into the bathroom. Which is totally fine during the day. In the middle of the night when I have to put on clothes, find the bathroom key, and head outside, that’s a bit odd.

Plus, the light switch is down the hall and not inside the bathroom. One of my neighbors could walk past and put me into total darkness, if they were so inclined. This entire floor used to be one penthouse. Then the owner built another floor above (the penthouse that my MIL and her friend stayed in), and converted this floor into two units.

Because of the existing bathroom plumbing, both units’ bathrooms ended up side-by-side in the other unit’s footprint, so I have to cross the hall to my neighbor’s side of the building to use the bathroom. The neighbor ended up with a bigger kitchen, but I ended up with more room, a full two (large!) rooms worth of extra space, and this incredible balcony and a small private balcony out front. I’m clearly the winner and really surprised that both units rent for the same price. Plus, I got an amazing deal because I’m staying for so long.

Moving rooms

It has been quite the adventure in Puerto Escondido. The first downstairs condo I moved into had a broken fridge, which was an enormous pain in the ass. Luckily the owner is wonderful and fixed it really quick. That condo was weird in that the kitchen was outside on the deck. There were these two iguanas who would stop by almost daily and have mad sex right outside the gate of the deck. I named the lady Greta. It always looked like they were fighting but were instead just making babies (although it is not the season for iguana babies just yet, it’s still fun to try!).

There is a spot for watching the sunset near my place and the first time I went, I spotted a humpback whale spout way off in the distance. Then, to my utmost excitement, loads of bats started appearing out of various sleeping spots! Eat the bugs! Of which there are not too many. It’s dry-season, so that helps.

Right before I moved to the upstairs condo with this amazing balcony (I can see so many whales!), I spotted an anole by my shoes. Later on, I spotted him again next to my bathroom sink. He would only move when I wasn’t actively looking at him. A bit of research revealed that he’s a Puerto Escondido Anole! He ended up living under my dresser for a couple of weeks. He would pop his head out on occasion to watch me. I named him Neil the Anole and already miss him after my move.

Hiking

From maps of the area, I had high hopes of this really pretty walk along the coast from Playa Principal to Mirador Un Sueño Posible. There are stairs on both sides that head down the cliffs to the Pacific Ocean. Someone built a concrete walkway all along the cliffs with fancy solar-powered LED lighting and everything. Here’s the thing. The ocean takes back. The lights rusted to oblivion and several of the bridges got washed out during storms.

You can still do the hike, but it’s slightly treacherous. There’s this one section that I just can’t get past. It’s either a rock scramble or a meter jump over a crevice. I don’t like either of those options. As you know, I’m afraid of heights and dying. To be fair, I probably wouldn’t die if I fell in the crevice. I would just get really wet, but still. It’s a pretty hike from either direction, but I’m disappointed it’s no longer a complete path.

Puerto Escondido also has a bunch of street art all around town. I’ve had a great time taking pictures while wandering around. I even found this park (Parque el Idilio, aka: The Romance Park) with walls covered in absolutely amazing tile mosaics. People are so talented. I’m always in awe. That’s the great thing about travel. You see so many incredible things!