May 16, 2010

Dark Stairways in Guanajuato, Mexico

During my last week in Mexico I had the misfortune of falling on a stairway in a hostel in Guanajuato. The night caretaker would turn off the hall lights so he could sleep. At 6am in the dark, I thought I was on the bottom stair. Wrong. I sprawled out on the landing hitting a small table as I went down. I crawled back to bed and hoped the pain would go away. When it didn't, I thought I broke my ankle. We waited later in the day hoping for the swelling to go down and finally went to the hospital to get an x-ray.

Fortunately it was a very bad sprain so they put my foot in a half cast and told me to try to find a walking boot to use in a couple of weeks with my crutches. Don managed to find one by traveling to Leon by bus. Twice to get the size right. What a guy!

In Guanajuato I had the fortune of seeing one of my best friends that I hadn't seen in 14 years. Marcia and I were buddies when I lived in Santiago, Chile. She happened to be going to Mexico with her girlfriend.

With my foot, I couldn't go around town like I wanted to but I managed to spend time with her never the less. What a treat!!! After 14 years!!

Some of the many underground tunnels in Guanajuato.  The old narrow streets can't support the amount of modern traffic so tunnels have been built underneath the city.  On the right, a musical group performs outdoors across from our hostel in front of a Don Quixote  & Pancho Sanza statues.

I think this was the original 'happy face' from the mid 1600's.

One parade of many in Mazatlan.  This group carried their altars.

Trying on Frida Kahlo costumes

May 20th - One week later, my braces were finally removed. Yehh!!! It took a year to complete from start to finish. If I was in Seattle, the dentist from the same school of dentistry as my dentist in Mexico said it would take 2 years and a few months. Hmmmm…… Anyway, the orthodontist in Mazatlan was excellent!