More on Mexico - A Church in Puerto Vallarta

partly to please Hannah and Bobbi Jo...

I'll attempt a series of snapshots from our cruise to Mexico.

I don't think I can cover the experience in any sort of comprehensive detail and if I could the post would be random and grueling. Instead I'll just catch pieces when the time and urge comes upon me. ;-)

Puerto Vallarta is gorgeous.

One of my favorite pieces is the promenade along the waterfront and all the people thinking of creative things to do for money and tips--rock balancing, music, complicated sand sculptures, swinging about upside down from poles, lemonade, donuts, and painting oneself in sand to name a few.

The best part is the plaza and the artists. Besides a bracelet in Cabo this is where I spent all of my trip money. Most of the artists paint scenes you can see around Puerto Vallarta and this church is predominate in the town. One man paints only with his mouth! The art is good and cheap and the artists think of it as daily work in a way most "arty" Americans don't.

Last time we were in Puerto Vallarta we didn't get to walk up to the church although you can see it down most streets. This time we did. We marched in with a horde of other tourists clutching "Holland America" bags, snapping photos, and talking loudly.

There were a lot of locals sitting in the pews praying or just staring.

One very old, Mexican woman walked up limping and got down on her knees. She slowly crawled up the whole aisle, stopping every few shuffles to bow very low to the dusty floor and pray.

It is one of the pictures that sticks closest in my mind.

Nearly everyone wearing crosses. Images of saints everywhere. Numerous gold embellished churches. People laughing and friendly, ready to bargain down to the last peso. Street and drug fighting-- so bad that we can not dock at one of our ports. Messes and chaos everywhere...sometimes happy sometimes dangerous.

This is Mexico to me.

What drastic differences there are in a post Christian American culture and Mexico...just in the way we drive.

Thanks for reading.

Miss Pickwickian