I arranged to meet Christopher and Sam at the Jardin burger stand at midnight. Christopher was a little late, and Sam was nowhere to be found, so we hung out for a while and watched the music. The scene is best described as "battle of the bands". There are at least a dozen bandas (bands) setting up in various places in the Jardin, as well as smaller Mariachi groups. The bandas all have matching uniforms, and are predominantly horns and brass, usually at least ten people in size. They play a style called Norteño, and something else whose name I forget but is similar, which is fast paced and very danceable. Usually, a band plays a couple of songs, and then takes a break, when another band somewhere in the Jardin will start up for their two song set. A lot of young people were dancing, and it was fun to watch.
Sam finally appears about 2 AM, and has scoped out a local cantina (bar) where he wants to take us. Antonio has told me that cantinas can be trouble, and there are often fights, but since Sam has already scoped this place out and I have two buddies with me, I figure this is my best chance to experience one. Most cantinas have saloon doors, so it's easy to tell if you're about to go into one. Inside, the decor is rather stark, and there are about 40 Mexican men, three women, Christoper, Sam and me. Sam has already made friends with a 40-something named Manuel, and I get to talk to him for a while. (There's no better way to refine your Spanish than talking to a slightly drunk local.) Manuel lived in Oklahoma for a while, and fell in love with a gringa, whose name he has forgotten. He tells me this cantina is safe, as well as a few others in town, one of which is the Gato Negro which we pass every day.
After finishing our shots of reposado tequila, a parade is coming by the cantina, and since we're ready to go, we just hop right into the parade. Turns out this is the parade of San Miguel, and there are several people with large paper stars following the idol of San Miguel. We're in a group of two hundred or so, and everyone is hopping around. We talk to a few people in the midst of this (including a Dallas Cowboys fan), and eventually we are walking into the Jardin with a couple thousand people watching us. Sam's wife Ann suddenly appears, and joins us in the parade. This is about 3:30 or so.
Christopher, Ann and Sam on parade
Video from inside the parade
Finally, the parade stops, and we go to Jardin Burger for a late night snack. At 4 AM (right on schedule - imagine that!) the fireworks start. There are these popper things that shoot out from the Parroquia into the center of the open area, where people are dancing under a shower of sparks. The "poppers" are best described as bottle rockets that also explode in the air. Occasionally, one strays from it's intended destination, and explodes near us, but I figure if people are intentionally running around underneath most of them, the odds of getting hurt by one of them is really small. While the poppers rain repeatedly onto the crowd, every two minutes or so a flurry of loud rockets goes off into the sky - some noisy, and some colorful. Here's a two minute slice (out of 45 minutes total of this):
Fireworks
According to the local paper, this is called the "burning of the powder", and apparently about 6,000 small rockets and 700 large ones are set off during a 45 minute period. Before this happens, the man in charge of the local church - the majordomo - blessed the powder to the four winds asking the Lord's permission to begin the festivities.
At about 5 AM, now slightly deaf and smelling like gunpowder, I wander back to the taxi stand, and find a driver to take me home. It's been a really fun night, but I'm beat, and I have to wake up in four hours to get the kids to a tennis lesson.
I never did see the giant monkeys.
Update: Ann writes about her experience at the Alborada.
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