The family I never met

Sorry for the delay in writing. My father has worn me out.

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.

Placer de encontrarle

I’m out of the dry heat of Southern California and into the humidity of Guadalajara.

One of the worst fears I had with all the schedule changes was another one at the last minute. I was scared too when the counter agent could find me and my dad in the computer.

After a few minutes, she was able to locate us. The one thing I did notice with all the schedule changes was they bumped us up to business class on the flight out. When she took our checked luggage, she also gave us passes to the business class lounge telling us there would be no meal on the flight so eat there.

Business class is an experience everyone should have at least once. The lounge comfortable and clean with all the food and drinks you want.

Part of the reason why our flights were moved was the airline was doing its best to fill up their flights. Our flight was under half full with just three total people in business. I could only imagine how full they were before.

We stretched out in our wider seats and I played the movie ‘Blazing Saddles’ with the audio in Spanish so my dad could enjoy the genius of Mel Brooks. During the flight I was noticing something outside, flashes of lighting. I told my dad and he said it’s the summer storms in the mountains and get used to it. It was a beautiful sight and frightening at the same time. The closer we got, but not directly through it, the more we saw. My father told me, if you look at the other side you’ll notice it is clear.

We arrived at the airport and were greeted by my cousins who were happy to see us. As we walked to the car, there was a huge flash followed by the loudest roar of thunder less I’d ever heard a second later. They turned to me and said: “Bienvenido a Guadalajara.”

After a tour of my cousin Rigo’s house, he took me to my Tia Irene’s house. It had been a long day and I just wanted to sleep. It was a little difficult since it was a bit humid but my exhaustion was overpowering.

I woke up to the sound of church bells. I got up and there was family already at the house. It was the start of me meeting a whole lot of family in a short amount of time. Watching them interact with each other and my father made me feel like home. They like to make fun of each other reminded me of my siblings.

My father gets the open arms treatment from the family with everyone coming over wanting to know how he’s been. It’s pretty cool to see that.

While my father and I were left alone for a few minutes as my aunt and others walked to pick up some menudo for breakfast. During that time he reminded me that this was the house my mother died in. He relived what happened and told me a lot in a short amount of time.

After a while, my father and I left with my cousin Daphne for a quick tour of the city’s cathedral and surrounding area. I remembered from the night before I was no longer in the United States because everyone didn’t buckle up in the car. The taxi we took had no seat belts in the back of the car.

We walked around the cathedral and went to the business district nearby as my father needed to change dollars into pesos. After a trip down to the shopping district, we headed back home.

I took a nap since I only had a total of 10 hours of sleep the past two nights. When I woke up, the house was full. I met a lot of people and tried to keep up with them the best I could over the next few hours.

After dinner, I walked to the nearby convenience store with Daphne for some ice cream. Not long after we got back there was a roving bakery that stopped off and everyone from the neighborhood came out for some baked goods. Roving sales are common. Earlier in the day my Tia bought a kilo of tortillas from a salesman who rode up on his bike.

Rigo will return in the morning and take me and my dad around Guadalajara during the early part of the day then we are heading to Sahuayo and spending the night there. On Sunday, we are heading to my hometowns of my parents before an impromptu family reunion before returning to Guadalajara.

I don’t think I’ll have an Internet connection until I get back Sunday night.

Leaving on a jet plane …

Oh yeah, after a long break, I’m back. Sorry to the handful of people that read this on a consistent basis.

I’m heading back to Mexico for the second time in less than 11 months tonight. I’ll be there until Sept. 1. My father and I will arrive first in Guadalajara then on to Mexico City.

My trip has already had a huge stumbling block, Mexicana Airlines.

If there is anything I’ve learned about travel, without actually traveling, it is for the rest of my life I’ll always research the financial stability of an airline before I book with them, especially an international flight.

Since I purchased the tickets in June, I’ve had a stopover added and have had my flight out moved back from 11:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Of course, if I was a wise traveler, I would have checked to see if the company was fit to travel with. I’ve learned it really isn’t.

Mexicana Airlines filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection and briefly stopped booking new flights earlier this month. Since then, they have been able to move flights or straight up cancel them. If you’ve already booked with them, you have no choice but to accept it.

No matter how much trouble the airline has given me over the past month, it will be small and trivial compared to the wonderful time I’m about to experience.

I promised my parents, long ago, I would always visit my family in Mexico. I began that promise last year by going to Mexico City and seeing my cousins and my aunts there. However, not all my family is located within the Federal District.

Now I’ll be completing the second half of that promise as I fly into Guadalajara tonight at 1 a.m. local time.

I’ve meet many family members over the years, most of them I’ve never seen in person – the wonders of Facebook. It’ll be wonderful to see many in 3-D and hear their voice as opposed to an IM.

I’ll also be going to my parents’ home pueblos and see where they grew up this coming weekend. My mother’s birthday is August 24 and she would have been 70 this year so it makes this pilgrimage special to me.

I’m nervous in a way because of the unknown, which also makes it exciting. I don’t know what to expect for the most part.

I had a wonderful time last year and look for an equally terrific time over the next 12 days. You can follow along too; meet who I meet and experience what I experience.

Except for any change of plans by Mexicana Airlines, those are mine.

I’m shocked, but not surprised

February and March are almost over.

… With the 2010 census comes the responsibility to filling out 10 questions and mailing it back to the government so they can make the appropriate appropriations.

I answered my questions then came to a question of my own. One question asked about Latino heritage; that was simple enough. The next question was race and that is what got me as there was no Latino/Hispanic box.

Perplexed I messaged one of my sisters and asked her what the deal was. She said, “I hate to break it to you, but you’re white.”

For a moment I felt my credit score go up.

She told me that technically there are only three races: White, Black and Asian. It made sense to me later on as I thought about it. I’ve filled out questionnaires before and there were options saying “White/non-Hispanic; White/Hispanic.”

I just find the whole thing interesting.

… I recently have been enjoying a Yahoo! blog titled “Dirty Tackle” which is mainly about soccer around the world. What I’ve enjoyed about it is it shows another side of soccer I ordinarily don’t see as much.

I’ve always been told things about it, but seeing is believing.

Amazing goals are all over that site. There are bloopers too. What struck me the most is the amount of violence. A friend of mine always told me there was plenty of passion in the sport. It’s shown with hard fouls and retaliatory attacks on the pitch.

Now, I’ve been slowly watching more soccer as I’ve gotten older, this site just gives me a better view of everything.

... My next blog might not come out on the usual fashion since I’ll be in Northern California and on the farm without Internet connection in two weeks.

I’m going home to spend time with family, go to a Giants game and be with my dad to commemorate the funeral of my mother.

In fact, Easter weekend will be a reminder of my mother’s passing which will be a year on Saturday.