Houses have doorways and window openings but seldom have doors or windows. If they do have then they are generally left open and chickens freely run in and out.
Most house are built of concrete block on a concrete slab. The blocks aren't used to form the corners of the buildings as in Canada. The corners are reinforced concrete pilasters with the rebar left extending.
Many homes have toilets, without seats or reservoirs, which they flush with a pail of water as they have no running water. If the house has running water it isn't used for drinking or washing food. All homes use bottled water for such activities. Small 1/2 litre bottles of water, which we pay 75 cents to $1.50 for, sell for $4 ($=Pesos) to $7 in Tuxpan. When buying in a small store one must check the seal to be sure it isn't a refilled bottle. Homes usually subscribe to a service which brings them large bottles, they prefer glass to plastic, at a cost of $21.
Many homes have out houses and many homes have no electricity. In Canada, if the electricity is disconnected and the meter is removed a cover will be put on the base. In Tuxpan when a building is not actively connected, the meter base, about head height, is left open where anyone could touch the live wires.
Pictures of Tuxpan.Mexicans come in many skin shades, from nearly white to nearly black. They are of all heights, from tall to short and all girths, from corpulent to gaunt. Hair colour is from light brown to shiny black.
Whatever their size or colour the women try to dress nice, they want men to admire them. They spend time with their makeup, wear push up bras, dress gaily, and expect men to notice. They love to have men flirt with them, to compliment them, to buy them trinkets and roses.
The men dress up, have short hair, and take pride in clean shoes. There are literally rows of shoe shine stands in the Plazas.
It is a land of romance, wine, music. A country where men are men and women are women and not afraid to admit it.
In the evenings the young men, and ladies, stroll the centro to see, and be seen.
On Saturday evening the young families might take their children to another plaza. In front of the Palacio Municipal (City Hall), facing the Rio (river) Tuxpan, is a paved courtyard. Here small children ride electric powered trucks and cars or bounce and toss long cylindrical balloons.
My first Monday there was a holiday and stores opened late with a few not opening at all. It was the weekend of the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Monday was a day of parades.
The parade in Tuxpan started at 9 AM and went until 12. I watched, enthralled,
buoyed by the cheerful faces in the crowd. Finally I had to break for lunch.
The parade continued.
There were no floats or commercial displays. There were some bands, the odd athletic group or sports team, basketball, baseball, football (soccer), celebrating a century of sports, but mostly schools, primary schools, elementary schools, and colleges.
Students by the hundreds, dressed in school uniforms. Like most poor countries that believe heavily in the church their main national product is children.
I foresee a lot of changes in Mexico's future as the majority of the children are female. Unlike the population of the past which was uneducated males, the future Mexico will be educated females, possibly a female President, someday.
With education will come the knowledge that the church is wrong, that contraception is not a sin but a necessity in this overpopulated planet. The sin is giving all your money to the church and allowing children to starve.
I was about to continue but this is a travel story not an ecology seminar. Back to Tuxpan.
After the parade, families set up stalls, in competition with normal vendors, to sell home made cakes and hot tamales wrapped in banana leaves.
Tuesday, things got back to normal and I was able to find a laundromat that was open.
Though the first few days turned cool it warmed up again and despite the drizzle I was able to walk about in a t-shirt. When it wasn't raining hard enough to distort my vision through my spectacles I did a lot of walking and nearly circumnavigated the city.
Outside of town, I walked along a paved road that meandered through rolling country side. I saw lakes, streams, valleys, and hillsides. On the lakes were storks and other fowl.
I had been told by the man in the camera store to take the center boat, of the three that docked at the Palacio Municipal, across the river and I would find many different types of birds, nesting (Dec.). I kept planning on doing so but never made it. The vegetation was green from the fall rains. I came across several subdivisions, a country pub, and a pleasant looking motel.
Many homes are surrounded by fences of metal or rock. If the fence is metal it will probably have a row of spikes along the top. If the fence is rock or concrete the top will probably be embedded with broken glass or bottles.
Like any other city there is no lack of crime, nor is it more prevalent than elsewhere. The police and the army drive through town constantly on the lookout for wrong doers. The police transito concern themselves only with traffic problems and are unarmed.
The city police carry automatic weapons and never concern themselves with traffic offenses. They ride around in new pickups, two officers in the front and one standing in the back holding onto a roll bar. The blue and red lights are constantly on though they are seldom in a hurry and no traffic pulls over to let them by. Not that there would be room in the constantly congested, narrow streets.
As well as police, who sometimes guard banks, many banks hire private guards. All are armed with automatic weapons. I saw a policeman standing in the corner of a building and from across the street I pointed at him and then pointed at my camera. He gave me a palm down sign as if to say, "Don't attract attention to me." I turned around and took pictures of a hotel. I believe he was watching someone.
Later I saw police in a pickup, I pointed at them and at my camera. The driver nodded his head in indication that he didn't mind if I took his picture.
A while later I was standing in an intersection taking a picture of some workers. When I looked up a police truck had quietly pulled into the intersection and was waiting for me to get out of the way. It was the same officer I had taken a picture of half an hour ago. I gave him a sheepish smile and stepped onto the sidewalk. He just shook his head.
Having read the stories of people being besieged by beggars in poor countries I had come equipped with candies to give to the children instead of money. I only encountered three children who asked for money. Though Tuxpan has many tourist they are from other parts of Mexico.
I wore Canadian flags on my clothes and back pack so the locals wouldn't mistake me for an American but the locals are barely aware of what an American is and have virtually no idea what or where Canada is. There are no souvenir shops and even at the kiosk in the bus depot I was unable to find postcards.
In both Prince George and Tuxpan you will find dealers for: International Harvester; Case; New Holland; Nestle ice cream; Coca cola, Radio Shack, Pepsi Cola, Chev, Ford, VW, Boston Pizza, Domino's pizza, Volvo, and Kenworth. Also they both have a Rotary club.
One thing you won't find in Prince George is a rack of delivery scooters out front of the pizza parlours. Another Mexican exclusive is buses and trucks made by Dina.
Both cities have traffic congestion but where the majority of the vehicles
in Prince George is probably personal 4 x 4's the majority of the traffic in
Tuxpan, Ver. is taxis and buses. In Prince George the most common truck on
the road would be a logging truck. In Tuxpan, Ver. the most prevalent would
be Coca Cola trucks. They use all size vehicles, from little trucks, 4 feet
wide, 6 ft. tall, by 10 ft. long, that look like they are going to fall over
the first time they hit a bump, to tandem tractors pulling two full length
tridem (3 axles) trailers.
There are very few bus stops in Tuxpan. The local taxis and busses run the same routes. To know where a taxi goes, unless you hire him for a specific address, you have to know where he is parked downtown. Busses, on the other hand, paint the name of their route on the windshield.
Taxis, mostly Nissans, sit in their line until they are full, five passengers, not necessarily going to the same stop. When the first cab leaves the other cabs move forward by man power. As the drivers are usually out of their car socializing they simply push their car forward by hand.
Once on the road the busses and cabs, if they have room, stop for anyone who waves at them. If you are not paying attention they will honk at you to get your attention. If you hold up your hand they will stop regardless of traffic behind them. When you want off they will stop whenever you tell them to.
The fare is $4 for a taxi and $3.80 for the bus. Most busses will have a conductor who will collect the fare.
There are two cross country bus lines that serve Tuxpan and they generally run Dina and Mercedes busses. These busses are kept fairly clean and travel at high speed once out of the city. I chose ADO busses as my means of transportation North as they offered a bus that took me directly to McAllen, Texas where my plane reservation awaited. I wasn't sorry to leave Mexico. I saw the poor conditions that people live in. They, however, do not think of themselves as poor. They are only poor in our eyes. I saw how friendly and happy the people are and I believe it is us that are poor.
I left Mexico with a lot of memories, too many to share in this small space. The reason I wasn't sorry to leave was because I had a plane ticket, sitting at home, to take me back to Mexico, within two months.
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To My TUXPAN PAGE
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Pictures of El Centro.
Pictures of the Parade.
Pictures of the Regatta held after the Parade.
Pictures from the outskirts of Tuxpan.
More Pictures of Tuxpan.
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