Merida Day 25 - Noche Mexicana and random notes

Last night we caught a taxi outside the house and went to Noche Mexicana. Those of you who are regular readers have heard of this term before as George and I have been twice. This was Mum and Dad's first show.

The first couple of acts were solo singers. just warming us up. The main performers were a Mariachi Band and a dance troop. The picture above is from their first dance. They would do about 3 dances and then change costumes.

The full dance troop was 9 couples and that's a lot of people to have swirling around on a relatively small stage. The choreography was very good. The energy was amazing, especially as it was at least an hour of almost constant dancing.

However it was the costumes, for both the men and women, they were fabulous. They involved full changes, right down to hats and shoes and, for the women, hair accessories.

The dancing was followed by a group playing Marimbas. Something I had never seen before and Mum and Dad had seen in Oaxaca. Very melodic and also a form of choreography as the 6 people playing have to move up and down the instrument.

It was a great show. This morning we had no agenda. Easter Sunday, we didn't know what would be open so Mum and Dad went to the City Museum, which was open. George and I stayed home. I experimented with a little watercolour painting, not a medium I an at all comfortable in.

The photograph looks better than the original, maybe that's the solution.

I wasn't particularly happy with the results but I think I just have to start painting and hope that I will improve with practise.

As, again, we are settling in rather than being tourists this is rather a sparse blog, so just some random notes:
Birds - Mum and Dad bought a bird book with them and the garden here is so treed you can just lie in the hammock, or sit in the shallow end of the pool, and bird watch. Up high there are always Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures, in the trees (and part of the dreaded-because it is so early-"morning chorus") there are lots of Zenaida Doves and little Aztec Doves. There are also plenty of Mocking Birds, Kiskadees and Boat Tailed Grackles. The bird book lists 3 pages of Hummingbirds for Mexico and we have some Cinnamon Hummingbirds regularly in the flowers . The most unusual looking bird was spied by George at an archaeological site, a Motmot, then Mum and Dad saw one on their Flamingo watching trip. At the coast we saw Pelicans and Frigate Birds.

Frigate Birds floating up high.

Hammocks - these are not just for lazing, they are actually used for sleeping in many houses in Merida. Walking by and looking in windows we can see them tied up on the hooks on the wall during the day. At night they are hung from one wall to another, sometimes 3 or 4 in a room.

This is how the hammocks are hung during the day (tied by Anna, our cleaning lady). This photo
also shows the hook in the wall. In Casa Bonita there are 3 hooks in our bedroom, 4 in the front
foyer, 3 in the living room and 2 in the courtyard. We only use the ones n the courtyard.