A SHORT WALK THROUGH TOWN

     Mazamitla was founded by the Aztecs in 1156, so people have lived in this area a loooong time.  In 2005 we were designated a Pueblo Magico, a Magic City. You can read more about that at this link ....  http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2932-did-you-know-mexico-has-36-magic-towns
     
    Today I'm taking a walk to the ATM for some pesos. I live on a quiet street, not too far from the Plaza.
   
   Most streets are either up hill or down hill, since the town is on the side of a mountain, and cobblestone streets.
         

        

 

          This is one of the main streets, pretty much what you would find in the States. If you look closely you can see the church spires way in the background. 

            Because we are a Pueblo Magico, we are restricted as to what businesses can open here. I am surprised we have a Oxxo, as it is a chain similar to 7-11 in the States

            Stores here are family owned. The shops don't have doors but the whole front is open. Generally shops open about 10 :00. Close 2- 4:00 for lunch and are open through the evening. Its quite common that Mom is running the store and the kids are with her in the shop. Nothing is set in stone. Stores may or may not be open. These are family stores, not big businesses. You really need to go with the flow. It's a much more casual way of life. If you easily get your knickers in a knot, you wouldn't be happy living here.

 
          This is the phone store. I stopped here to get minutes added to my phone. It is run by a couple and their little dog. Pets are also common in shops. There is a small grocery store in town that has several parrots in their store. 

 
      This is looking down the main street. It's crowded with cars today as it's the weekend and people come to this beautiful town to just get away. I would say most people come down from Guadalajara and very, very few gringos come. It's really an undiscovered town for them. 

            This is one of several Farmacias (pharmacies) in town. The shops here are mostly very small. I've seen walk-in closets bigger than some of our shops.

          This store sells cereals, grains, some imported things from the States. Also, as you can see .... pinatas.

           A view down one of the side streets. The store on the corner is a Zapateria. They sell shoes. 

        You don't really find much here made in China, but this strip has it. But there is also local made things in these shops. 

              There are many, many street vendors.

The church is in the Plaza. You can see how crowded it is.

There are shops all around the Plaza.

There is something always going on in the Plaza on weekends. 

       I like the way this store looks. Reminds me of an old time store in the south.

I don't know if this is someones home or a business. But I like the glass room.

    Headed back home now. Going to go through the street that is thought to be the oldest street here. It's closed to traffic.

         Cart with home made ice cream.

  
                                           Many businesses on this closed street.

             There's three puppies wandering the street. They seemed to belong to this woman. Was she selling them???????

           I pass more shops on the way home.

         All kinds of home made goodies here. 

                                  The Farmacia in the back sells generic drugs.

             The table on the bottom left is selling orchids.

                         There was a man selling something to drink from this large gourd. I don't know what it was but I got some. It was kind of sweet and kind of tart. 

     So to go with my drink, I got some fresh churros.

        There are two booths that sell fresh churros and freshly made potato (papas) chips.

          These are the type of souvenirs that are made here. All kinds of things made of pine. We are in a pine forest.  

          These baskets are made from long pine needles.

    Passed this guy on the way home. Just had to take his picture. I'm partial to little schnauzers.

A view up one of the side streets.

       Quatromotos are a very popular mode of travel here, plus they rent them to tourists.

  
                                          

                 Surrounded by mountains.

     On my street now, The white wall on the left is mine.

         Here we are .... home. Hope you enjoyed the walk.

EXPO CAN 2013 Part 2

      This show was held in the World Trade Center near downtown in Mexico City. Armbands were picked up in the lobby, which was very time consuming. Dogs were allowed in there and there was plastic and sawdust strategically placed to make any accidents easily cleaned up. Even in the show area everything was very well protected.
                                                        

                                                       

                                                                World Trade Center

 

                                                             Area around the show site

 

       This was day seven, so the big rush was probably on the first day.The same numbers were kept all 10 days, you could enter as many days as you wanted. It took Alberto about 45 minutes to get his armbands.

 

 

 

                                                             Lots of plastic and sawdust

 

 

 

    Parking and unloading opened at 7AM, we were there shortly before it opened every morning. No one had  RV's. There were some large panel trucks used to haul dogs.

   The colors of the show were red & yellow, The carpets were red and every morning a large riding machine vacuumed them and the floors were hand mopped, using a bucket of water and a rag mop.

 

                                             

                                                             Early in the morning................

 

 

 

  

   Grooming areas were a little different than from the States, at least I've never seen it there. Handlers can rent a private space to groom in, that can be locked. They can keep what they need inside of it and many even kept the dogs in there overnight.They come in different sizes. We had one about 8x10. The expo hall was on the ground level, as was the loading dock, which is where others groomed. There must have been a bathing area out there too because I know people were walking somewhere to go wash their dogs. Pedigree dog food supplied small personal areas to groom in but they were open booths.

 

                                               One of the lines of private grooming rooms

 

 

  Some handlers had a lot of dogs and had to move out in the public area, but everything there was cleaned up and put away by opening time, which I believe was about 9:30-10:00AM.

 

 

 

 Looking into our grooming room. The dogs in here went home each night

 

 

Pedigree private grooming area

 

 

 Loading dock grooming area

 

 

There was something going on from morning till night. The Federales did demonstrations with their dogs each day, Agility, and other Agility type competitions, Frisbee, all kinds of what appeared to be relay races, Rally, and I am sure there were things I didn't get a chance to see.

 

 

 

 

And the booths were a shoppers delight. In Mexico families almost always include their children. So in many booths the whole family was working there. There were rescue booths and booths that sold puppies. Many of the visitors dogs wore clothes, which seems to be very popular, some even had shoes on. And yes there are MANY Chihuahuas, even in my small town.  I've never seen the snippy, snappy ones so frequently seen north of the border. Here they are regular dogs that walk in the ground --- mostly.

 

 

                                The whole family is there to work in the booth, very typical.

 

 

 

     Very interesting collars............................

 

 

     These little nuggets were the cutest thing... this picture does not capture how tiny they were

     . 

 

 

 You could even buy a mini pig ........ this was Mama

 

And these were babies, again this picture doesn't capture how tiny! OHHHHH  I wanted one!

 

 

 

                                         And one of several Chihuahuas that had on shoes!

 

 

.  It appeared people picked up after their own dogs even in the ring, I only saw a clean up person a couple of times.  I saw an Obedience person whose dog fouled the ring and he pulled a bag out of his pocket, picked it up and, of course, was excused from the ring.With all the pet dogs you would think the floor would have been a land mine but I only saw one pile on the floor all the time I was there. Everything is protected from urine with sawdust and plastic sheets .  It's around the wall, garbage cans, everything, to protect it. I think it's a good idea.

 

  Handlers in the breed ring wore everything from suits and dresses, like in the States, to blue jeans and a work shirt. It's nice to see everyone come together in a common interest. Every one seemed to have respect for everyone else no matter what they were wearing.The judges were all in suits or nice clothes, They were from Italy, Russia, U.S.A.,Argentina and Hungary. The Groups are different from AKC. I think there are more plus there are quite a few different breeds than AKC recognizes.

 

  I don't know what his class was called but he and his young puppy were practicing his handling with his father. You can use an empty ring up to one hour before a class starts in it. You can even play with your dog in it, if you want or practice obedience.

 

 

 

 

                                           These are the two little kids showing their dogs

 

 Looking down the center aisle for the handlers and owners

 

The crowd of people are in the middle aisle waiting to show or watching their dog being shown

 

This was some kind of a puppy class.

 

                                                            Australian Shepherds

 

                                                     Boxers, notice the one with a tail.

 

  Rottweilers, I liked the one with the tail. Great attitude.

 

Standard Bull Terriers, no minis

 

                                              I really liked this little dog.. Chinese Crested

 

     It was ten days of showing. I don't know how handlers and dogs did it.  Alberto only showed four days and was exhausted. I was too! But it was fun and a great experience. Again thank you Alberto for letting me hang out with you and meeting so many nice and interesting people. Now it's time to pack it up and for them to go home.

 

   Waiting to load up....How many Chihuahuas can you put in a crate? Kind of like gumballs.

 

 

 

                               The best little Corgis ........ Paul & Ivy going home for some R&R.

 

                                                             Waiting for our van.

 

 

                     For me? I go to my hotel and pack up for my next adventure in Mexico City. Almost a week of seeing wonderful things. Watch for my next Blog in about a week or so.