La Guadalupana

It's clear to me from my fuzzy photos that I need to get more practice shooting my camera at night. But at least last night I had the camera with me, and that's a start.

Our San Fernando church choir provided the music for the Guadalupe mass late last night, outdoors under the street lights in a beautiful setting in front of the church. Not by choice, but from necessity. The church's main sanctuary was destroyed when its dome collapsed during Hurricane Jimena. So we bundled up in red rebozos and scarves and sat in little folding chairs, with Lolita, our maestra, sitting at a tiny keyboard desperately trying to keep her sheet music from blowing away. The padre, standing on a dais in front of the grotto with Mary's statue towering over him, wasn't very warm in his usual white vestments and he made jokes about the cold, but when he talked about losing our "casa" he was close to tears. San Fernando is the oldest and grandest church in Guaymas, but except for some intact outer rooms it's an empty shell, perhaps for years.

The Guadalupe mass traditionally includes mariachi, and I was not disappointed when a band showed up for their annual blessing, not in the usual mariachi suits but looking a little ragtag, like laborers on their night off. Which they may have been.  I was so pleased that I remembered at least the first two verses of "Las Mañanitas."

Afterward the choir packed up our music and trooped over to Lolita's house, a block away, for menudo and buñuelas. Lolita pulled off her black poncho and modeled her special Guadalupe outfit, aglow with sequins and satin ribbons. We sat around the living room singing, and I was thrilled to join in when they got to my favorite song, "Sabor a Mi."  

The buñuelos were crisp and the menudo was superb, prepared by Malena, Lolita's housekeeper. "¡Que rico!" I said, "I don't care what's in it,  ¡muy sabroso!"

Before I left, Lolita asked the name of my friend in the hospital so they could say special prayers for him. So, Timoteo, if you start to feel a little better, thank the choir of San Fernando.

Feliz Dia de Guadalupe, amigos!