On Saturday morning my dad and I headed out with my cousin Rigo to visit more churches and museums around Guadalajara before we drove out to Sahuayo where we would meet, you guessed it, more family.
We went to the historical center of Guadalajara to visit more churches that surrounded the main cathedral. In case you had forgotten, Mexico is strong Catholic nation.
The next stop was the old statehouse of Jalisco. The beauty of this building is the artwork. Walking up to the second floor of the statehouse there is a huge mural covering the stairwell. There was also a mural inside the statehouse. Both were visually stunning, dramatic and passionate and if I were to describe it beyond that with detail it would not do it justice. Let's just say it served as a reminder to legislators where Mexico came from and to always be fair.
We later walked to the Regional Museum of Jalisco. The first level is archeological finds within the state. The second level is art work created by artists from the state of Jalisco. Many of the artists whose work was in the museum were enshrined at the nearby Rotunda of Illustrious, a sort of walk of fame except here people’s accomplishments aren’t stepped on.
We left for Sahuayo in the afternoon. Unlike the United States, there is no true freeway system in Mexico. They are more like traditional highways, think Route 66. To prevent people from speeding through town, there are speed bumps right before you enter to slow you down.
After a few stops we arrived in Sahuayo at 8 p.m. There I met my half-brother’s family.
Only a handful of my friends knew that I had half-siblings – a total of four. When my childhood friend saw pictures I posted on Facebook he wondered if I had made a mistake. For the longest time I never knew I had half-siblings. It’s one of the things I didn’t find out until later.
What I also never thought about that I had more nieces and nephews than I thought, 14 more. Add that to the 13 I always talk about and I have 27 now.
Family welcomed me with open arms. As I walked into the house where the dinner was, they looked at me and were surprised about how tall I was. A nephew would tell me later that I looked like a baseball player then followed that up by saying I had the size of Fernando Valenzuela.
Later that night I was in the back of my nephew’s house and found a Rubik’s Cube. He saw me pick it up and said, “No one ever solves these things.” In about two minutes I finished it. He grabbed it from my hand and showed the family. The first thing one of them said was, “He took it apart.” My nephew said, “No I saw him.” So I did it again while another nephew was recording me on his cell phone. I got a round of applause.
The next morning (Sunday) I woke up and we went down to the market to see where my family works. My nephew has a shop where they sell varieties of chilies and other produce. One of my brothers has a jewelry store outside of the marketplace. We thanked them for their hospitality and headed out.
On the way to my mother’s hometown of Mazamitla we drove through some of the greenest hills I’d ever seen. I’ve never been to Ireland, known for its greenery, but this was a very beautiful drive.
Mazamitla is located in the mountains of Jalisco, south of Lake Chapala. From what my relatives were telling me, it has become sort of a tourist town. I had the feeling that I was in Gold Rush country of California to be honest.
My father doesn’t remember too much of where my mom grew up. He pointed me over to a general direction, but that is all he knew. We walked over to the town’s square and checked out the sites before we moved on to my father’s home town of Conception of Buenos Aires.
We arrived to see my father’s cousin who is a few years younger than my dad, who is 80. We met his family and moved on to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. It was picturesque and very holy place as most things are that revolve around religion in Mexico. In case you are wondering, my mother’s parents are buried in Tracy.
The next stop was a store run by one of my cousins. Unlike the United States, your next door neighbor in Mexico could be a mom and pop type convenience store denoted usually by the Coca-Cola sign. We stopped in for a bit but we knew we’d see them again at the family get together nearby.
We got to the gathering and I meet plenty of people that only knew of my by word of mouth thanks to my parents when they would visit. They were all happy to see and meet me finally. My Tia Porfidia was there, I hadn’t seen her since I graduated from 8th grade. She saw me and was glad to see me. My father talked to his nephews and nieces and had a good time catching up with everyone.
We arrived back in Guadalajara at about 9 that night. We were all so tired.
On Monday, my father took me to one of his favorite churches, La Basilica de Zapopan. After that we headed to the church where my cousin is a priest at. He’s been at that church for several years and has remodeled it since then. After we had lunch with him, he showed us not only around there and to an almost completed chapel nearby. Everything was carefully planned and he couldn’t have asked for more from the results.
We then when to see more family nearby and went home.
Tuesday was my mother’s birthday. My original hope was to go to my mother’s hometown that day, but due to limitations, we couldn’t. Instead we went to see her cousins that live in Guadalajara. We picked up one of her cousins, Antonio, and drove to where her cousin Rafael lived with his wife. Two of the children also greeted us: Gustavo, nicknamed Goose, and Mari. I hadn’t seen them in years. I think the last time I saw them was my first trip to Disneyland when I was 8 I think. They lived in El Monte at the time. They recognized me and were amazed how tall I was.
My father and I came back to my Tia Irene’s house and for the rest of the day we stayed at home for the most part. We had a quick trip to a tourist trap. It was beautiful however and had two more churches; surprise, surprise.
On our last full day in Guadalajara, there are only a few things planned. I also need to get souvenirs.
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