RyBlog

eduardo and i bought some lucha libre masks. on the way back from the market, i thought it would be funny to scare people walking on the sidewalk. we would pull up next to them and eduardo and i would throw our hands up and growl as loud as we could. eduardo thought this was soooo fun.

a few people were startled and 2 guys actually growled back at us. when we were pulling up to the house eduardo exclaimed, “¡eso fue una adventura fantastica!” (this was a fantastic adventure!)

my friend jason is a music teacher from chicago. he brought his banjo to mexico, and seeing him play the instrument for people in mexico is one of the coolest things i have experienced here. most people from mexico dont know what a banjo is, so when he is playing it people are intrigued.

friday, we were in el centro (basically downtown cuernavaca) and jason began playing his guitar. he immediately attracted most kids that were nearby, many of the mexicans that work in the plaza selling things (balloons, gum, hammocks, etc..), and a few tourists. jason can play a ton of songs, but the banjo is best with certain types of music, such as folk and blues, so obviously he doesnt know many system of a down songs…

he played classics like Oh Susanna and i was surprised when most of the people listening in knew the words, or at least the sounds, of the chorus. it was very interesting to see people who dont speak english follow along with the words of traditional american folk songs.

there was one hombre who was entertaining because he didnt understand why jason wouldnt/couldnt play any song requested. the man asked for a john denver song, and i think that was jasons biggest mistake. he knew how to play one john denver song, and after that the man wouldnt leave him alone. beatles? rolling stones? shakira? linkin park? this guy was requesting any song/artist he could think of.

after about an hour of playing, jason and i started walking around, grabbed some sodas and decided to sit next to one of the fountains in the plaza. in this area, there are a ton of mariachis that hang around. the mariachis are interesting b/c they are there to make money playing for tourists, and unless you are paying, they are pretty reserved, keep to themselves, and never play for free.

a few of them saw jasons banjo and the sight of this strange instrument changed the normal mariachi norms. a few of them began asking jason about the instrument, what it was, how it worked, etc. jason started playing a bit, and soon he had an audience that consisted of eight to ten mariachis. people were walking by looking in amazement at the spectacle of the maricachis learning to play an instrument.

the first few songs were classic american folk tunes, but the excitement really began when jason started to play guantanamera (sp?). one of the mariachis busted out his guitar, and few “ayyyeeeyaaaayyyeaayyyys” were thrown out there and a mariachi/banjo love child was spawned. the rest of the mariachis circled around jason, and the meaestro was at work. jason was playing with the mariachis, teaching them how to play the banjo, and at one point they all were exchanging instruments. jason had the mexican guitar, the mariachis had the banjo.

i feel lucky to have been able to see this interaction…much cooler than a machine gun in my face :)

this is brandon and i in a bar in Cuernavaca around 1230pm. brandon sells roses in the street with his mom. he decided to take a break from work and hang out with us. these two photos are of some of his “magic tricks” that he was sharing with us.

he taught us how to hold fire in our hands (the lighter fluid in your palm trick) and we taught him how to take his thumb apart.

when we were sitting there talking with brandon, i felt a tap on my shoulder because someone was trying to get my attention. i thought to myself, “jesus, not more chicles. im going to tell this kid to scram.” i look over my shoulder and there was a machine gun in my face. no joke. a fucking machine gun. the bar had been consumed with mexican soldiers and they were ordering all of the men to exit the bar. my friend laurent and i looked at each other, then looked at the ladies sitting next to us and they explained to us ever so calmly that we needed to leave the bar for a minute. apparently this is normal…

all of the men had to leave the bar while these soldiers, who were armed to the teeth ready to blow my head off because i had the power to somehow rid Mexico of tortillas, took us outside to check for drugs. the women, meanwhile, were able to stay in the bar and they only had to open their purses to the soldiers to ensure they werent hiding 200 kilos of cocaine in their imitation louis vuittons…

i dont think they searched brandon either. luckyyyyy