My Mexican Mid-Life Crisis

Last Friday, my fellow student and friend Jeya and I had a night out on the town (essentially our last hurrah before she headed back to Oregon and I started social distancing), complete with a fantastic dinner and amazing music (see next post). As we left the restaurant after dinner, we were launched into calenda craziness. See videos below. Jeya knew all about calendas, a Oaxaqueno parade and party tradition, but I was speechless. It was one of the most incredible and joyful and funny things I have ever seen. Just inexplicably nutty and surreal and delightful. Apparently, Oaxacans traditionally pair their biggest celebrations – weddings, graduations, etc. – with parades featuring giant papier-mache puppets and bands and singing and dancing in the streets. Oh, and let’s not forget mezcal. Lots of mezcal. This calenda in front of Santo Domingo, Oaxaca’s main cathedral, was part of a wedding. You can see the bride and groom puppets. I’m not sure why there is a policeman puppet. Perhaps they were signaling that the mezcal consumption eventually involves law enforcement. At the end of Part 2, you can see what I presume was the groom’s wedding party dancing, smoking and drinking mezcal. And random people on the street joining in. It was probably my favorite moment of this adventure so far, and I have a very high bar.