flaming balls!

Day of the Dead was amazing... Jeremy and Gama took us to Tzintzuntzun, where there were hundreds of people in the road leading to the ruins, lots of people selling things and drinks and food on the side. At the site everyone is mostly just taking pictures of themselves beside them, and on them.. nothing ceremonial. Gama wanted to go there mostly to protect the site, as the lead archaeologist. She politely asked people to get the hell off the ruins.
Then they played an ancient Purhepecha game of pelota - field hockey with a flaming ball. SO AWESOME! The grass was catching on fire and the flaming ball would hit the players in the chest or fly over their head. The game ended when it flew over the edge of the site into the pueblo.
After this we wandered into the panteon, the pueblo`s cemetary where the whole ground glowed in candle light, covered in flowers, modest altars to giant wooden-beamed ofrendas. All the families sat by while the gourds of tourists observed.
We didn`t stay too long because Gama said it would be lot more tranquilo on Pacanda, in the lake. So, everyone in Mexico goes to Lake Patzcuaro for Day of the Dead, and then everyone in Patzcuaro goes to Janitizio, the biggest island in the lake. Picanda is the smallest, so there was hardly anybody there (aside from the families). We took a chilly boat ride from Uca to the quiet island. On the way up to the cemetary they served us ponche, like hot apple cider. The panteon was filled with the families of the dead, but so much more silent and calm.
We ended up getting back about four in the morning, so when we all woke up super late the next day, we had a huge stack of Mexican pancakes.

After our last weekend in Patzcuaro, staying at Gama`s house, we left for Morelia on Monday. There we couchsurfed with Josue, who had given us a ride up to the bosque. He had two couchsurfers already from El Salvador, and a friend of a friend in the bosque. We wandered Morelia with the El Salvadorians and ate pizza. Yesterday we got to meet up with some friends in Morelia and had a really full one day back in the city.

This morning we woke up before dawn to catch a bus to Mexico City. The ride was about 4 and a half hours, but it was executive stlye, so they played movies and gave us a snack. Way nicer than Greyhound! Our host met us at the bus station and we took the metro to his apartment in the Coyoacan neighborhood of D.F. It was confusing and a little disconcerting, I´m not sure how I feel about this place yet. Javier says he may get off work after dark, so he`ll have to stay at a friend`s house on that side of town, becase it`s confusing to take public transportation in the dark, taxis are more expensive at night, and it`s dangerous. Today we decided to stick to the street in front of the apartment complex and found some pizza. We`re thinking about making out way to the Frida museum soon.