One other thing about buses (and I can’t believe I didn’t notice it until this week): The other day I got on and handed my money to the driver. As he pulls away, in between shifting gears, checking the rear-view mirror, and handing me my change, he crosses himself (catholic style). Very quick, very subtle, but unmistakable. It registers in my head as I drop the change into my pocket that I saw another bus driver do that too. I’m thinking to myself “must be a bus driver thing” but as I turn to walk down the isle of the bus I notice a passenger is also crossing herself.

So I started paying attention, and it turns out it wasn’t an isolated incident. On any given morning fully 10-20% of the passengers on my bus will cross themselves as the bus pulls away from my stop. I assume they do it at every stop, but my ride is so short that there are no other stops between where I get on and where I get off, so I can’t say for certain. Maybe it has something to do with me getting on? Are gringos considered bad luck?!

Anyway, speaking of buses, last Sunday we rode one to the Macroplaza downtown. It took a bit of trial and error to find the right bus (ruta 214), but it was worth it. We all had a great time. Ostensibly we went because we wanted to go to the public library. There’s only one, and it’s at the Macroplaza. I didn’t even want to think about trying to find parking in that part of town, hence the bus trip. The library turned out to be closed on Sundays, but as I said we had a great time anyway so it didn’t matter.

The Macroplaza, as the name implies, is huge, and is surrounded by various municipal buildings, museums, theaters, the library, etc. The north and south ends have grassy areas with trees, which are very pleasant. There were lots of families relaxing there in the shade. In the middle of the plaza there are some large statues and stuff. The only bad part was crossing the plaza in the afternoon heat. With the sun beating down from above and also reflecting up off the paving stones it was pretty intense. But aside from that, it was great, and just really nice to be out of the house doing something. At the south end they always set up a dance floor and have a public concert on Sunday evenings, but last Sunday something special was going on because there were huge lines of people waiting for food. Judging by the length of the lines, I assume the food must have been free. A big crew of people were working under a shade canopy to cook it. They had big kettles and skillets about five feet in diameter, and three or four people with spoons the size of canoe paddles stirring each one. At the concert stage some kind of musical show for kids was going on that was hosted by a very slim women in a skin-tight blue bodysuit. Her name was Lilly. She wore silver mascara and lipstick, and had two enormous blond ponytails. Her co-host was a giant chicken (well, someone dressed in a giant chicken suit anyway). It was all very loud and goofy and confusing. Enid loved it.

The library isn’t open Sundays, but it is open on Saturdays. Since we know which bus to take now, we may go back there tomorrow. We brought quite a few of Enid’s books with us to Mexico, but not enough to keep me from getting quite bored reading them over and over again at bedtime each night. Hopefully we can obtain a library card and start bringing home fresh reading material from time to time.