CARNAVAL!

It was the best of times.
The good times did, indeed, roll on Fat Tuesday. It seems we have spent much of our time on this trip fixing things, coping with rough seas, fixing things, coping with colds and injuries, and fixing things. It hasn't felt much like a vacation. But on Tuesday, we broke away and took our cameras to the Malecon to watch and photograph Mazatlan's last Carnaval parade of the year.







Knowing Avenida Del Mar would be blocked to bus traffic, we splurged on a pulmonia, the speedy little open-air VW taxis specially made in Mazatlan which I haven't seen anywhere else. When we got off, we first looked for sustenance since we hadn't taken time for lunch. On the Malecon we found a restaurant with a good view of the floats, though, alas, not of the marchers and dancers, and facing into the afternoon sun. But it was a choice of shooting with better light and starving, or shooting into the light, getting silhouettes sometimes, and getting fed. So we happily noshed on beef burritos while taking photos through the window, and occasionally dashing into the street for those gotta-have-em shots. The Capt. used the DVD camera, so we captured all the music too.







I had my aperture set on fast the entire time because my subjects were in constant motion, dancing to one live band after another: sambas, charangas, mambos, you name it. Carnivale is all about music, fireworks, pretty chicas, handsome young caballeros and mystical themes: everything from ancient Rome to European Renaissance to Chinese...anything but traditional Mexican, in fact. There were dragons and mermaids, pirates and cartoon characters, all bouncing to Latin tunes blasted at top volume while lovely lasses tossed candies to the crowds.

The lasses, by the way, weren't in skimpy costume such as you'd see in Brazil, but tasteful and modest gowns and fanciful headdresses. They compete for the title of Queen and (first runner-up) Queen of the Flower Games, and their entry price of 50,000 pesos is raised by their support teams of porras (cheerleaders) who sponsor fundraising events during Carnaval week. But the Queen is chosen by a panel of judges, and the title is not for sale, according to the local English language mag, "Pacific Pearl."

We missed the significance behind some of the artistic statements on the carros alegoricos (floats), but then there's always been something of the mysterious in Carnaval parades.





The afternoon was one of the high points of our two months of travel and I enjoyed myself so much my face hurt from grinning.



It was the worst of times.
Getting on the bus back to the boat I dug into my bag for change and somehow lost my wallet. I was reeling from shock, horror and profound regret (if only we hadn't gone out today...if only I'd left the wallet behind and brought only some pesos...if only I'd paid closer attention). My credit and debit cards were in the wallet and I spent the rest of the evening fending off thoughts of identity theft and fraud.

It turned out--surprise!--our cell phones don't work in Mazatlan and our Skype doesn't work here either. On this morning's Cruisers' Net I found a couple from Napa who have a cell phone with unlimited minutes (a Cingular program which is no longer available, in case you wondered) who kindly allowed me to make the essential calls to cancel the cards and get new ones sent out. I found a branch of my Mexican bank where the angel of a manager issued me an emergency replacement for my debit card.

So while I'm still feeling somewhat sheepish and humiliated over the loss, I think I'll live. I was grateful to the Capt., who took it all in stride and helped prevent me from spinning out of control in my anxiety. I learned some things about prevention and what to do if it ever happens again. And I'm again reminded how well we've been provided for on this trip, with everything we need coming to us, just when we need it most.

Life is still good.