Out of the Frying Pan...

(image from the Weather Channel)

Last week I wrote about my friends who rode out Hurricane Irma in Miami Beach.  Fortunately the hurricane veered away from a direct hit on Miami, and they and their condo were fine.  They own two homes; their main residence is in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  On Saturday they flew back to Puerto Rico only to discover that a strengthening Hurricane Maria was headed their way.  

I received an email from my friend last night.  The emails that he had sent before and after Irma had sounded excessively nonchalant  ("Don't worry. We'll be fine.") perhaps to reassure worried family and friends. But in last night's email he sounded truly frightened.  The storm has intensified to a Category 5 and all the models show a direct hit on Puerto Rico.  They tried to book a flight off of the island, but there are no tickets available to anywhere. Everyone is trying to leave, and he described the situation as pandemonium.  He excoriated Puerto Rico's governor whom he describes as a "would-be Hugo Chavez" for having allowed the island's infrastructure... especially the electrical grid... to fall into disrepair.  There are still people without electricity from Irma.  He foresees that after Maria hits they will be without power for months.

I fear that it will be a devastating storm, and I am worried for my friends as well as everyone who is in the hurricane's path.  

Fireworks

Yesterday I posted a link to a YouTube video of the "Grito" (Cry of Independence) which is held each year on Mexico City's main plaza, the Zócalo, on the eve of Mexican Independence Day.  Today I follow that up with a link to another video which shows the fireworks show following the "Grito".

Independence Day Fireworks

The video, from Mexican television, has some great shots of the Zócalo, and you can appreciate its vast size.  The one thing that I found extremely annoying however is that the camera, every few seconds, moves from the spectacular fireworks, to the President and his family on the balcony of National Palace.  I'd prefer to see the fireworks uninterrupted rather than having to look at his mug, but there he is, waving to the crowd and smiling as if oblivious to the fact that he is one of the most unpopular people in Mexico. 

"El Grito"

(image from the web)

In my previous post I wrote about the celebration held each year on September 15, the eve of Mexico's Independence Day.   The President appears on the balcony of the National Palace and gives "el Grito"... the "Cry of Independence".

I found a video on YouTube of the live TV coverage of this year's event. Of course it is all in Spanish, but even if you don't understand the language, it will give you an idea of what the "Grito" is all about.  Click on the link below.

The celebration began Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM on Mexico City's main plaza, the Zócalo, with performances by numerous musical groups.  It wasn't until 11:00 PM that the President gives the "Grito".  In the video you will see President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, former soap opera actress Angélica Rivera.   Peña Nieto, who will finish his six year term next year, is the most unpopular President in recent memory, with an abysmal approval rating of 12%.  But I'll try to abstain from political discussion here.

The video begins with the President and First Lady in the National Palace.  It is an almost comical scene as they pass through one room after another with the doors of each hall closing behind them.  Finally they reach a reception hall overlooking the Zócalo.  Here, in a rigidly choreographed ceremony, the President receives the Mexican flag from a group of female cadets from the National Naval Academy.  He goes out onto the balcony, flag in hand, and rings the bell which was rung to begin Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain. Then he recites the "Grito".  It is not the call to arms that was proclaimed by Father Hidalgo in the early morning hours of September 16th, 1810.  Indeed, if he were to reenact the words of Father Hidalgo, he would probably be met with guffaws and catcalls when he would get to "Death to bad government!"  Instead, he lists the heroes of the War for Independence...  "Long live Hidalgo!", "Long live Morelos!", etc. etc.   He interjected, "Long live the solidarity of the Mexicans with Oaxaca and Chiapas (the states ravaged by the recent earthquake)", and concludes with  "¡Viva México!"  He rings the bell again (the Cathedral bells are now chiming in too), and waves the flag.  The national anthem is then played by a military band.

There are some good shots of the Zócalo, jammed with thousands of people.  You can see the holiday lights decorating the square and the illuminated Cathedral.  When the camera shows close-ups of the crowd they do not seem wildly enthusiastic about seeing their "Presidente".

Enjoy the video!

Click here... 

Grito de Independencia 2017

Independence Day

Tomorrow, September 16, is Mexico's Independence Day.  Two hundred seven years ago, Father Miguel Hidalgo, a parish priest in the little town of Dolores, rang the bell of his church to gather together his parishioners.  In an impassioned speech known as "el Grito" (the Cry) he called upon the people to rise up against the Spanish.  Thus began Mexico's war for independence.

Long before I left Mexico City just over a week ago, I saw the preparations for the celebration.  The city's main plaza was being decorated, as were many stores and restaurants.  Flags and other patriotic items in green, white and red were for sale in the markets.

Flags of all sizes were for sale at this stand.  I wonder if they were made in China?

The most important part of the celebration will be tonight.  The Zócalo, Mexico City's central square, is already jammed with thousands of people.  Later tonight, the President will appear on the balcony of the National Palace, give the "Grito" and ring the bell which Father Hidalgo rang.  Since it is the rainy season, many times the event is a soggy affair.  Pacific hurricane Max threatened to bring rain, but it quickly fizzled out in the mountains.  The weather forecast for tonight is for 0% probability of rain.

To all my readers south of the border...

¡Feliz Día de Independencia!

In Harm's Way

(image from the Weather Channel)

It is always distressing to heart news of natural disasters such as Hurricane Irma, but they become much more terrifying when you personally know someone who is in harm's way.

I have a high school friend who is in south Florida at this moment.  He and his husband live in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but they also own a condo in Miami Beach.  While I was in Mexico, when it seemed that Irma was heading toward Puerto Rico, I sent him an email telling them to be safe.  He replied the next day that they had gone to their Florida home for Labor Day weekend.  They had planned to return to San Juan, but had decided to stay put in Miami Beach when they saw the predicted course of the hurricane just to the north of Puerto Rico.  But, by that time Irma was possibly going to hit Florida also, and they didn't know what to do.  I told them to get out of there... possibly head up to Ohio where his mom still lives.

As it turned out Puerto Rico did not receive a direct hit from the hurricane.  However, it became more likely that Florida was going to bear the brunt of the storm.  They did go to the airport to try to go to Ohio, but all flights were completely booked.  The interstates heading north are gridlocked with bumper-to bumper traffic (and good luck if you need to fill up the gas tank).  As it became more probable that Miami would take a direct hit, and as a mandatory evacuation of Miami Beach was announced, I became more worried.  Their condo is just two blocks away from the ocean, and they are talking about a 12 foot storm surge.  Another high school friend and I have been sending them emails and leaving phone messages urging them to get to a shelter away from the ocean.  

I finally received an email today.  In spite of the evacuation order, they have planned to ride out the storm in their condo.  He said they have a week's supply of food and water, that they are on the fifth floor of the concrete building, and that the windows are all shuttered.  There are others in their building that have made the same decision.  For their sake I was relieved to hear today that the hurricane will probably veer a bit to the west.  (Good news for Miami, but terrible news for cities like Naples, Fort Myers and on up to the Tampa area.)  But hurricanes can be unpredictable, and it will not be until tomorrow morning that we know exactly where Irma makes landfall.  I still think that they should head to a shelter, but time is running out for that.  I will anxiously await news from them.

UPDATE:  Fortunately Irma was not as disastrous as it might have been.  I received an email from my friend in Miami Beach, and they weathered the storm with no problems. 

Back Home... A Day Late

As I wrote in my last post, yours truly messed up on the date of my departure from Mexico.  I had it in my mind that I was leaving on September 7th, when in fact I was supposed to leave on the 6th.  Fortunately I had no problem getting a one-way ticket home for yesterday, and it did not cost too much.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30 AM, and very early in the morning, Alejandro drove me to the airport.

The flight from Mexico City to Houston was pleasant.  The plane was not very crowded, and I had the section of three seats all to myself.  I scooted over to the window seat and took a few pictures.

While we were on the runway, awaiting our turn to take off, the silhouette of the volcano Popocatépetl briefly made an appearance from among the clouds.

There were still puddles from the heavy rains last week which temporarily flooded the airport.

There was a long line of planes waiting to take off, and after a half hour we finally were in the air.

As we made our descent to Houston, I could see no obvious signs of the disastrous flooding from Hurricane Harvey last week.  I had lunch at one of the restaurants at the airport, and I talked with a couple of the employees there.  One of them lost her home in the flooding.  The other said that her home was not damaged, but that there was flooding all around her.  She was stuck in her house for four days.

My flight to Cleveland was not as pleasant since the plane was very full.  But we arrived  around 4:30 PM, twenty minutes ahead of schedule.

When I got up this morning, I read the news on the internet about the earthquake which hit Mexico last night around midnight.  It was an 8.1 magnitude quake, about the same as the devastating earthquake which destroyed much of Mexico City in 1985.  The hardest hit areas were the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco, and the death toll at this point stands at 58.  In Mexico City the earthquake was strongly felt, but major damage was not reported.  

I immediately wrote an email to my friend Alejandro, and he called me a short time later.  He and his family are fine, and the house appears to have come through the quake with no damage.  It was, however, a terrifying experience.  Classes at his nephew's school were cancelled today so that the building could be inspected.

On top of this, Katia, a Category 2 Hurricane, is expected to hit the coast of Veracruz sometime tonight with 100 mph winds.  It is a serious threat to the coastal region, although once it comes to the mountains, it will break up very quickly.  By tomorrow afternoon it is predicted to be nothing more than a tropical depression.  Mexico City will probably get nothing more than rain.  (However, as I have written previously, Mexico City does not handle heavy rains well.)

I guess I made it out of Mexico just in time. 

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

I just pulled the biggest travel blunder of my entire life!

I had it firmly in my mind that my return flight to the U.S. was tomorrow, Thursday, September 7th.  It is not possible to print a boarding pass ahead of time for the Interjet flight from Mexico City to Chicago, but I can print the pass for my United flight from Chicago to Cleveland.  So today at 5:30 PM, twenty four hours before my flight to Cleveland, I went to the United website to check-in.  I received a message that I could not check-in because the plane was about to depart.  WHAT?!

I went back and checked my itinerary, and yes, indeed, I was supposed to be flying home TODAY!  I immediately went back to the United website and booked a flight for tomorrow.  I will fly with United for the entire flight via Houston, rather than going through the bother of making separate reservations with both Interjet and United.

Well, I guess I just didn't want to leave Mexico!