Trip to Monterrey Mexico

        Against the warnings from the U.S. State Dept., I went into Mexico on May 1. I dared not take my car, for fear of a hijack. Instead I took the bus. The trip itself is about 3 and a half hours by bus. It is non-stop, except for the miilitary inspections. One never knows how many of those there will be. One also does not know if they are really soldiers or make-beleive ones. There was only one military stop and they did not get on board.
          My trip to Monterrey was two-fold. I wanted to visit with friends and pseudo-relatives and I wanted to gather information about the family. I started working on the geneology and needed hard facts and dates and juicy gossip.

            Monterrey has a bizillion people. It is the industrial capital of Mexico. It is surrounded by mountains. The geography and the traffic makes the city unbearably hot in the summer. The iconic image of the city is Cerro de la Silla (Saddle Mountain).  However, this time there were storms in the area and although it did not rain, the temperaturs was very pleasant, which was a surprise for trhe month of May.

Mexico, Monterrey, and the people I know are divided into two classes, the "have" and the have not."  I needed time with all of them so I will share my views.

HAVE:

The people with money are well known to all by their address or "colonia." These folks have all the conveniences of modern life. Those that I visited are pseudo-relatives because I have not yet determined our connection. Until I see it on the geneological flow chart, I won't really know. In Mexico, your grandmother's aunt is your "aunt." The "grand" or "great" is not mentioned. The lines get blurred.

This is Javier and Rosa, the nicest and most attentive poeple. He is a retired engineer and university professor. She is a retired surgical nurse. They shop at the malls, WalMart, and the modern grocery stores. There is a house helper that comes in 2 times a week, as well as someone to wash the cars and care for the patio garden. The following pictures show their environment.

HAVE-NOT:

The people on the other side of the equation are also known by the "colonia" where they live. These folks are barely getting by. Their houses have the necessary conveniences, fridge, stove, washer. There is no central air or en-suite bathrooms. No one comes by to wash the car because they don't have one. The cleaning lady lives on the property. They are not likely to shop in the fancy store or malls because of price and inconvenience.

Jose Juan is a life-long friend. He is a welder/ wrought iron artist. Although he is officially "retired" he must continue to take on odd jobs to make ends meet. I don't know how much formal education he had, but it was not much. He worked all his life to help his siblings get an education and help his family survive. My aunt's house was right across the street from him.

Ester is Jose Juan's mother. She had 13 children. In the photo she is cleaning a chicken to make my lunch. The woman in the shadows is one of the daughters, Socorro, who lives on the property, in the back with her husband. She is the one who does the daily sweeping and mopping. She has never lived anywhere else.







Their backyard/patio is the work spcae for Jose Juan and Socorro's husband, who tinkers with carpentry jobs. The neighborhood is their life. Their shopping is restricted to what is close by. The abandoned building below used to be a grocery store many years ago.

Another abandoned building (grocery store) on the corner. By the way, when you drive in this colonia remember that the stop signs are across the street from you and the street names are on the buildings infront of you, not on sign-posts. In the picture below the stop sign is covered with flyers and the name of the cross street is barely visible in yellow, "Libertad."

The center of the city was a tourist mecca until the violence, the abductions, and the killings. Oh and the fact that the State Dept. issued those warnings against travel into Mexico. It is still a vibrant city and the downtown is still open for business.

Giant plaza downtown with elaborate fountains and sculptures.

Hotel Ancira caters to tourists and those with gold credit cards. There is a very nice bar and buffet.

I could not resist. This restaurant is right across the street from the Ancira and its name was no doubt intending to bring in the "gringos." If you don't get it, give it a moment.

This old church is in the poor colonia, a few blocks from my friends' house. I was built in 1895. It seemed much larger when I was a kid. Now it is dwarfed by the concrete monster that took its place. You can this newer church in the first picture in the foreground to the Saddle Mountain.

The Monterrey version of the Statue of LIberty celebrates the breaking of the Spanish and dictators' chains. The giant archway used to be a"drive-around" but now it is a drive-through arch. Like many European cities, Monterrey has statues in honor of this or that hero, this battle or that one.

What can I say? I saw this outside an upholstery shop and had to take the picture. If I could have, I would have bought the shoe and had it recovered. Crossing the border would have been interesting though.

Conclusion

 I always enjoy my trips to Monterrey. This time I found some interetsing tidbits about my aunt and other family members. The trip left me wanting to go further into Mexico in search of my family's origins.

I stayed with the "poor folks" 3 nights and 4 nights at the other colonia. I enjoyed my 3-night stay with Jose Juan and his mother better than the other nights. We walked or took the bus around the city. There was no A/C in the house, but I felt more comfortable, at ease. I was able to be myself. I will be back in  mid-June.

Until next time.

Joe