El Recodo and Siqueros

Just heard from our friend back home. The price of propane has doubled what with all the very cold weather still hanging around there. Egad! Oh Oh I need to correct that last statement. Our neighbor just called. Our propane tank is down to 15% and there is no propane available in a five state area. It is being trucked in from Texas! Never mind the price jump. So he and our house sitter are going to drain everything, fill things up with antifreeze and basically shut the house down until this next batch - predicting 10 more days of below freezing weather is over. What a winter!
Okay lets talk about Friday – As I mention in short post it was a long and interesting day. See map in previous post. 

First let me tell you about Francisca Elena Corrales. She is 49 years old and has the energy of the Energizer Bunny. She is married.

She is a Diputada Federal por el Sexto Distrito del Estado de Sinaloa. A Federal Deputy (as near as I can understand like our state representatives) for the 6^th District of the State of Sinaloa – which includes part of Mazatlan and the surrounding areas. Strangely enough her brother-in-law is the other representative for the Mazatlan area. Yesterday she did some presentations in his area!

Looked this up - "The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal representative (in spanish Diputado Federal,) for every 200,000 citizens. There are about 500 deputies. 

The Chamber of Deputies is completely replaced every three years since deputies are not permitted to serve consecutive terms. Thus, the Chamber of Deputies is one of the few legislative bodies in the world that is completely renewed at an election."

She took office September 1 - so in a little over two years she will have to find another job. She wants to be Presidente - mayor - of Mazatlan. 

We left home at 7:30 to meet up with everyone at the El Bambu restaurant right in the center of Mazatlan.

There were 25 to 30 people there. Most of them reporters from on line sites, newspapers, radio and TV stations.

Some how we ended up sitting at the head of the table with Paquis for a while. Look at the mikes in front of her. I made sure I didn’t say a word.

After leaving the restaurant we headed over to the government building. A meeting was set up with the mayor of Mazatlan for Saturday. While walking through the plaza she continued to give interviews.

Roberto and Bill – checking out the days schedule.

From there we headed to El Recodo. Lots of miles out through desert and farm land. The mountains in the background. Last time we took this road it was full of potholes. Nice new asphalt now.

 Our last visit to El Recodo to visit the tannery in 2012

Entering El Recodo. Their arch.

Driving down the main street. See the tope there?

The pretty very pink church next to the plaza.

I was taking this picture when a very nice gentleman came up to me and said he would unlock the church if I wanted to go inside. Is the Pope Argentine? So he opened the doors for me. Very nice and simple inside.

Then he showed me these bells with their cracks –they were made in 1855. They used to be in the bell tower.

The gentleman was also telling me he had the keys to the museum. Unfortunately I had to catch up with Bill. Between the church and the plaza is a statue representing the band that made the town famous. I wrote some about it in the link I posted.

By the time I got to the plaza the show was on. Bill saying how much he enjoys being in Mexico etc.  When we are introduced at the political gatherings we are introduced as “My friends Bill and Carol. They are tourists from the United States and love this country so much they want to help us as much as they can. (I’m usually hiding in the back somewhere - I do help pass out the blankets and smile a lot.)

Some of the people listening. See the stack of blankets off to the right. The man in the pink shirt is the main organizer of the trips. 

Such a typical mixture. Young and old, women up front, men holding back to listen.

She always asks who is the person with the least in the crowd. This time it was this man. He has next to nothing so he will be getting, a bed, blankets, table, chairs, pots, pans and dishes. When Paquis asked him if he wanted a wife too he turned and practically ran off the stage. He was finally coaxed back when promised no wife would be included. Paquis and her husband go out and purchase all these items themselves with their own money.

Three gents watching and listening. Check out the poses – almost all the same. Told Bill he needs a hat to blend in more. He doesn't want to wear his regular hat as "It looks too gringo."

She is very charismatic – the crowd really responds to her. And they don’t always agree with her either. By the time she leaves everyone loves her. 

By the time we were on the road again the temperature was up to 93F. -see first paragraph - quit complaining right. 

Heading towards Siqueros [this is correct spelling of name] – little did we know what was ahead…..

But then – the truck with the blankets that we were following turned off the main road on to a dirt road – that got rougher and narrower the further we went. Was there really a town at the end of this? Another "Keep the dust cloud in sight" road trip.

OMG OMG the truck turned right and drove down a bank into the river. Willie – stopped – well I guess Bill stopped but I don’t think Willie thought this was a good idea either.

Nothing to do but go. Small waterfalls on both sides. Rough rock under the water. Follow the truck! Do we need a snorkel? Guess not. About half way across.

this deserves a bigger picture -see the road continue at the end 

Somehow in the next day or two I'm going to get the video posted.

Looking down the river – some cattle standing in the water. They look happy.

Coming up out of the water onto the cobblestone street of the town. This guy was probably wondering, “What was that dumb gringo thinking?”

Just one of many pretty houses we passed heading for the plaza.

The main street – the church in the back ground. Notice the TV satellite dishes.

Looks like this house is in for a renovation. All the bricks are collected. They buy them as they can afford them. So when the addition or renovation is done it is already paid for. 

The gazebo. It looks like there might have at one time been little oval pools on each side of the gazebo.

The church. No one to open the doors for me this time.

The other side of the plaza.

Some of the women listening to Paquis talk.

This woman stayed home and listened through her open door.

Telling about the programs and asking for the person with the least.

This woman looks pretty spiffy and happy.

After the speech and blanket give away we were on the road again. Leaving Siqueros – THERE IS A PAVED ROAD!!!! What the heck? Going under the arch. The explanation for taking the river road.  If you’re coming from El Recodo it is shorter to take the dirt/river road than go way to the main Highway 15 and come back. Just chalk it up as another adventure.

I’ll continue this day and several more towns in next post. As the day continued I took fewer and fewer pictures.