Horses and Donkeys

Attentive readers will have realized by now that I am Catholic--thus, not Jewish and not very familiar with the customs of Jesus`s religion. However, I am aware that Passover begins next week and that during Seder dinners, participants consume sweet and bitter foods as a reminder to accept the bad along with the good of life. In this spirit, I am going to recount two stories that shows how this applies to me in Mexico.

Yesterday, I was in a bad mood as a cold was coming on and the kids at work had been particularly grabby and demanding. The week overall had gone poorly because Jessica and I had been to a third government office due to our ongoing struggle to obtain visas to stay here. We`ve had to deal with stacks of paperwork and regulations like the offices not being able to provide photocopies of papers they have given us even though they are the ones who need the copies. It`s always a rush to get to the offices as they`re open to the public only during the morning hours and every time we go we come back with a long to-do list. We have made at least a dozen trips total and have just realized it would have taken less time and money just to leave the country for a weekend and return on a tourist visa.

Rather unhappily that evening, I walked into the parish and saw two, huge, beautiful horses grazing in the lawn. (The animals are too be used in the forthcoming passion play.) Their owners let Jessica and I climb up on them and we rode them bareback through parish grounds. I had been riding a few times before, so I new enough to maneuver the horse and it was thrilling to be able to ride it without the hassle of finding a ranch, paying for lessons and staying on a trail.

Still, my grumpiness returned today since I now have a cold and I had to fill out more paperwork for visa. (Can anyone tell me if my forehead has a normal, high or low slant?) However, I was cheered by the addition of two new horses and a pony at church and by the fact that my ride extended to the streets of Santa Fe.

Where I`ve lived in the States, horseback riding is costly and time-consuming, but it was run of the mill here. While I am sometimes baffled by lack of organization in Mexico and frustrated by the unexpected, what goes along with that is being able to do things like hop on a horse out of the blue. (And by the way, a donkey as well--last week I took a ride on the church`s now neglected burro.)

Though it seemed like the week would end on a positive note, I am right now awake at 4 in the morning due to noisy neighbors. Recently,after weeks of construction and jack-hammering, a tire shop opened next door. Now we are dealing with things in front of our door like controlled fire tires and the cars of customers.

I have seen the owner doing business from nine in the morning to midnight. However, I am remiss to give him too much credit for being a hard worker as the shop often seems like a place for him and his buddies to hang out. The drink beer, listen to music and stand on the sidewalk waiting for customers at all hours.

Tonight, music has been coming from the shop at random intervals and the streetlight that the shop installed (that shines directly into my bedroom window) has been left on. I don`t know the owner well enough to ask him to pipe down and calling the police is useless here. This is the downside to living in a place where things are so uncontrolled. (Though on the bright side, I appreciate the owner`s taste in 60`s rock music.)

As I am groggy from sleepiness, I can only wrap this up by saying that I have shared a few good antecdotes but am missing a punchy clincher--let`s accept this and see what tomorrow holds.