Juárez: Fourth Date: Dancers and Photographers

Dancing in Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

February 2017


All of my dates with Juárez here. 


I tapped my toes to the tunes of the dancers in the zoot suits of the 1940s, pachucos.

Dancing in Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Dancing in Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

You come, too:

Then from another era, another dancer:

Dancing in Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

A continuation of my visit to the Museum of the Revolution on the Border

Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

The museum devotes a room to photographers, both professional and amateur. When I use the word "amateur," I don't mean trifling; I mean a person who is serious about their photography, but does not derive their livelihood from it.

Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

I like that the museum curators included a photojournalist who was a woman. 

Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

A very young photographer also received recognition:

Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

When you look at the bent heads of the photographers, their focus intent on a screen below them, does it remind you of any behavior in our current times?

Juarez: Fourth Date: Adelita!

Adelita, Museum of the Revolution on the Border, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

On my 4th date with Juarez, I visited the El Museo de la Revolucion en La Frontera aka the Museum of the Revolution on the Border.

That's where I met Adelita.

Adelita is armed and can jump on a horse while wearing stilettos and a very tight dress.

Adelita is a blend of real life, fantasy, and the romanticized archetype of hundreds (thousands?) of women who fought in the Mexican Revolution.

There are stories and songs of Adelita. A movie. Art.

The video below, Adelitas: The Unknown Heroes of the Mexican Revolution, is a quirky, yet informative telling of history, produced by students in El Paso:

Here's the famous song about Adelita, performed in Spanish but with English subtitles:

But below are two soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution, more tied to reality, photographed by Agustin Victor Casasola.

Soldaderas, Mexican Revolution. Photo by: Agustin Victor Casasola.

Shep Lenchek wrote an instructive piece about women soldiers in Mexico, not only during the Mexican Revolution, but during the Spanish Conquest, in Soldaderas - Mexican Women at War. An excerpt: 

While there may be some lingering doubt about the exact role of women in the Conquest, their participation in the Mexican revolution is well documented. However, now they were oft times classified simply as camp followers or prostitutes. Perhaps here too male chauvinism played a part in denying or minimizing the truth that female Soldaderas often stood shoulder to shoulder with male soldiers and fought to the death. ....

.... While it is true that the vast majority of the Mexican women who were involved with the military were non-combatants, it is also factual that thousands of these women lost their lives while performing their very necessary tasks [in the front lines]. Because many of them did become involved sexually with the soldiers they served, either for love or for money, it has become too easy to dismiss all of them as simply prostitutes or else simply ignore their existence.

Mr. Lenchek introduces his readers to a book that examine the real soldaderas in Mexico:Soldaderas in the Mexican Military, by Elizabeth Salas.

Movie poster of 1958 movie Si Adelita se fuera con otro. Source: Stanford University.

This article gives me an excuse to post - again - this painting by Carlos Flores:

Carlos Flores painting, El Paso, Texas.

Viva la Revolución, hermanas Adelitas.

Mexico: Juarez: Fourth Date: Grasshoppers and Cow Udders

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

This visit to Juarez was my time for adventurous eating. Chapulines and tacos de ubre.

As soon as I saw the shiny buckets of grasshoppers - crickets? - I knew I had to have some.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

They cost 35 pesos, or about $1.50 USD, for about 2/3 cup.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

You can have 'em with lime or with hot sauce. Or both, I guess. I chose lime, but I soon set that aside just to munch on the crispy crickets alone. Tasty.

Some more shots of the chapulines at the bottom of this post. And some info here and here and here on the delectables. It doesn't seem that chapulines are actually in season right now, so I don't know the story on these that I saw in February. Could be from last year's crop; could be some grasshopper species outside the traditional chapulin.

For lunch, I had four diminutive tacos. With the help of another customer, I noted my filling options included tripe (tripa), liver (hígado), steak (bistec), cow udder (ubre), and some other choices.

I went with liver and cow udder. The liver tasted like liver and the cow udder was surprisingly flavorful.

Ubre tacos (on left) and hígado (liver) tacos on right, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Lunch cost 28 pesos - 18 pesos for the tacos and 10 pesos for the bottle of Coke Light. 28 pesos is about $2.50 USD.

Apparently, cooked cow udders used to be quite commonplace in Great Britain a couple of generations ago. Here's someone who really went to town with cow udder. Here's a roasted cow udder recipe. 

Mexico: Juarez: Third Date

Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

On the Friday after New Year's Day, Juarez going in and coming out was much speedier than pre-holidays.

Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

The sun shined, but a brisk breeze blew. I wore my black hoodie jacket and gloves, but I wished I'd brought my wide black-and-gray winter scarf. 

Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

On this visit, I covered some of the territory I've walked before. The photos above are of the Municipal Palace, the front exterior and the interior courtyard. On my first two visits to the city, the horses in front used to be on Calle 16 de Septiembre, near the Abrazo Monument. 

Statue of Vicente Guerrero on Calle Francisco Villa, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Each time I go into Juarez, I try to explore new territory. So far, I've only entered the city by walking over the bridge on El Paso Street, but there are three other ways to Juarez from the El Paso metro area.

House-and-tree at 175 Amado Nervo Street, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

At 175 Amado Nervo Street is this unlikely marriage between an elderly house and tree. One wonders which is supporting the other? I think it must be a mutual partnership.

House-and-tree at 175 Amado Nervo Street, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

From Amado Nervo, I turned left onto Calle Miguel Ahumada. There's something about the lucha libre that charms me.

Lucha libre poster, Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

On Calle Miguel Ahumado, a number of motels intrigued me. Their upstairs flats with wrought-ironed balconies seemed a distant cousin of a New Orleans esthetic. Which is, of course, a derivative of its ancestral settlers' own designs from back home in Spain, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, coastal Africa ... .

Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

I captured a Juarense sidewalk tourist trap for my collection:

Tourist trap, Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

When I came across a pocket park, I took a sharp right onto Nicolas Bravo.

An apartment perched on the top of a corner building waved at me with her tattered black veil.

The music, sidewalk menu, and a red parking meter added flavor to the moment.

Juarez has a fascinating highway system that seems to live under the city. On my second visit to Juarez, in the Plaza de Armas, I heard a rapid whistling-rumbling noise. I looked all around me to catch where the sound came from. I asked a nearby man what it was, maybe a train? He said, no, and pointed to a raised cement platform with a grille over it. It was a highway.

The highway beneath Plaza de Armas, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

I stepped on top of the platform and peered through the grille. Well, hot damn, cars charging through on a two-lane highway tunnel below. Here's the video:

I'm trying to visualize how this all hangs together in Juarez.

As I ambled up Calle Santos Degollado (I think), a sorbet-and-white wall, shedding its skin, a-peeling:

Calle Santos Degollado, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Unfortunately, an inebriated fellow chose that moment to try and shake me down for some change, and I pushed on without striving for a better shot. Maybe another day.

From this approach to the park that I think is called La Gran Plaza, I enjoyed a happy view of the lucha libre mural I'd seen on my first visit.

Murals on Calle Ignacio Mariscal, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Two minutely different takes on the same scene. Just can't decide which I like better. 

Murals on Calle Ignacio Mariscal, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

It looked so grand against the backdrop of that dramatic sky.



Related posts

• Juarez: First Date: Introduction
• Juarez: First Date: Going and Coming
• Juarez: First Date: The Kentucky Club
• Juarez: First Date: Horses
• Juarez: Three Quarters
• El Paso Sister: Juarez: The Name of the City
• Juarez: Second Date

Mexico: Juarez: Second Date

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

December 2016

I had my second date with Juarez a couple of days before Christmas.

On Fridays, there are food kiosks in the plaza in front of the old church. Smokes and smells and colors of delectables scintillate.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

A coffee shop has live inside entertainment by an accomplished singer.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

A parking lot's walls host disturbing, compelling art.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

I don't know what the heck Don Quixote de la Mancha is doing there, but it's a tad curious, out in the open 'n all.

Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2016.

A slide show below:

Related posts

• Juarez: First Date: Introduction
• Juarez: First Date: Going and Coming
• Juarez: First Date: The Kentucky Club
• Juarez: First Date: Horses
• Juarez: Three Quarters
• El Paso Sister: Juarez: The Name of the City

Mexico: Juárez: First Date: Horses

I've been to locations that featured art themes with:

• Burros
• Brains
• Fiddles
• Frogs

With Juárez, I add horses.

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

The artsy fiberglass herd stood in the promenade in front of the Museum of the Revolution of the Border (neé Aduana Fronteriza when first the building was constructed).

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

If I were a more museum-y kinda gal, I would have scrutinized the provenance of each horse and been able to share same with you. But I'm not, so all I've got are the photos.

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

But there's this for information seekers.

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

According to the article linked above, the horses are stallions. Please. Normally, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about this specificity, but I'm writing this post after my experience at the Fountain Theater and during the early days of an era in which my head of state can boast about how he grasps women's groins without their prior consent, with impunity. This is why I don't read the fine print of exhibits. I had been happy just thinking "horses."

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

Horse art, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. November 2016.

Mexico: Juarez: First Date: Introduction

The El Paso-Juárez Bus mural outside the El Paso History Museum, El Paso, Texas. November 2016.

One of the reasons I chose El Paso as my year's home was its proximity to Mexico, and more specifically, its proximity to Juárez.

It is a continuing source of wonder to me that I live in a conjoined city, with each sister in a different country. Severed but still attached, still sisters.

You strike at one of the sisters and the other sister feels the pain, too. Through money or blood or both. You love one sister, and both bloom.

Some El Pasoans have never been to Juárez. Some used to go, especially as adolescents, to party, but haven't been in years. Some grew up in Juárez, but haven't been back since the high killing times. Some live in El Paso, but work in Juárez. Some live in Juárez, but work in El Paso. There are fabulously wealthy Juarenses, astoundingly poor Juarenses, and everyone in between.


My first date with Juarez was a Friday afternoon in November.

I didn't think about November being among the busiest months for the border crossing, as so many Juarenses come to El Paso to buy Christmas gifts. In other words, it's pretty fast work to walk into Juárez, but slow, slow, slow at times to walk back into El Paso. Plus I happened to choose Veteran's Day for my first foray into Juárez. Doh. LOTS of traffic going in to El Paso. Not only Christmas shopping season, but good sales happening in El Paso.  (Oh, you didn't realize that Mexico brings money TO the United States economy?)

Long vehicle line to get from Juárez to El Paso. November 2016.

I'm going to go into more detail about my first date with Juárez in separate posts, but below is a video and a slide show about that day.

To come:

• The Kentucky Club
• Horses
• Murals
• Coming and going

Video below, Friday Afternoon in Juarez:

And a slide show of my first date with Juarez here: