Morelia: Old and New

Daily life here is a strange mix. We attend classes and study Spanish with vigor; much of the rest of the day we attend to the most basic of chores like cleaning, laundry, shopping and cooking. We shop in chaotic and lively central city markets, but occasionally take a taxi to the Superama or Gigante, the 21^st century supermarkets at the edge of the city. We poke around three and four hundred year old buildings, then come back to our apartment and poke around the internet. Did we say this before – it’s a rich stew.
Last weekend, we journeyed to Patzcuaro and other places to the west of Morelia. We learned a lot about the pre-Spanish culture here, but also were introduced to the late 19^th century artist and satirist, Jose Guadalupe Posada, who used the traditions of Mexican, Catholic, and indigenous culture at the time of Pancho Villa to make a new set of symbols that have come to seem familiar even to us Nordamericanos.

"I write because I am afraid of being forgotten."
From the Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech of Orhan Pamuk, as posted on http://www.moleskinerie.com, 20 December, 2006.