A Day of Contrast & Entertainment

Monday, October 14, 2024

We started today by visiting the home of an indigenous family of Mayo Indians.  There was nothing fake about this experience. 

After spraying ourselves down with bug spray, we strolled down a dirt road to this family’s plot of land.

The kitchen with a touch of modern convenience.   See the old TV?
Their oven

The Mayo people are closely related to the Yaqui.  The Mayo philosophy is that the world is a place of poverty, and a man should be poor because all good people are poor. 

“Their culture and traditions reflect the diversity of the land, and their Mayo dances mimic the movement of the animals in the wild, the hunt, and the relationship of nature with people”.

We saw this Mayo statue in El Fuente, and then we experienced two of their dances in person
Those are not shells, but dried moth cocoons.
The Deer Dance appeases the deer spirit to help the hunt and cure disease
Different masks represent different animals.  Here he was a roadrunner
They create different blends of herbs for natural healing
Lots of rattlesnakes on their land.  They eat the meat and grind up the skins.  They believe it helps to keep cancer at bay
The women make the corn tortillas, while the men make the flour tortillas.  Corn tortillas are harder to make….
Handmade tortillas, beans, salsa, and cheese.   It tasted much better than this looks
The dancer is 60 years old.  Just proves that “motion is lotion”
Their church outside the village

We then had the opposite experience in Navojoa, Sonora, visiting a magnificent home owned by this family for 50 years

The kids are grown and gone, so they are empty nesters and sharing their home
ESPECIALLY after visiting the Mayo home this morning, we were all blown away by the opulence
She provided a lovely lunch of fresh salad.  After all the Mexican food it was quite welcome!
A few of us ate in the formal dining room
Look at this tub!
Museum quality artwork throughout
We had full access to explore the entire house, but not to sample!
The lady of the house.  So gracious!

Next stop …. Alamos

The courtyard of our hacienda
After checking in, we just HAD to check out the cantina
And so did Beth Ann!
Some of our group stayed across the street in another house/hotel.  Two musicians played, and some of us even danced!
After dinner, we were treated to a performance by this group
Check out the little boy!!

You can find them on Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/EstudiantinaDrAlfonsoOrtizTirado/

The ribbons represent all the competitions they’ve won

It was a very long and eventful day.  I will admit that I’m starting to get a little worn out.

I’m looking forward to being on The Sea of Cortez tomorrow. 

By the way, if you are on Facebook, check out Joe Madrid and Beth Ann Schnurr King’s pages as we all have different perspectives on our experiences.  


4 thoughts on “A Day of Contrast & Entertainment

  1. azbrujo's avatar azbrujo


    excellent post Baby. Love the contrast you showed between the two places we visited. But most of all I loved our Dancing together last night. That will always be my favorite. The incredible group with the little boy was especially good. And yes, starting to feel a bit tired, bit cant wait for the next adventure ❤️❤️

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Debra's avatar Debra

    I’m playing catch-up here. WOW, what an experience you’ve had so far! And, the latter family obviously doesn’t accept the Mayo philosophy “that the world is a place of poverty, and a man should be poor because all good people are poor.”

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