School event (Roca)

Woke up to a beautiful day and noticed that the soccer field had a lot of activity. There were hundreds of young adults doing stuff. As time passed we saw groups of these teens march on to the field wearing costumes.  Each group was introduced by a mega sound system that played US rock music non stop.

After all the groups were in place, the MC, in Spanish of course, told the crowd that the flag of Mexico would be presented and asked for respect. A color guard marched on to the field. Not a peep from any of those hundreds of teenagers. Deathly quiet. They then sang the national anthem with their had on their chest (I think, I was too far away). Again, total respect.

Later we walked over to the judging area. We later learned that this was school event and cheerleading dance competition followed by lunch and then sports events all afternoon. It didn't wrap up until after 7PM! Each group did a show and some were great. We were impressed with how courteous the teens were. Some groups didn't do very well but they were still shown respect and got applause from the others. One group had at least 2 handicapped teens in it and they too got huge applause. On the sidelines, the audience was attentive and respectful. The teachers had nothing to do but watch the show. We noticed many of the teens coming up to their teachers (maestro in Spanish) and joking with each other. We've observed everywhere how respectful Mexican teens seem to be...and they don't have their pants hanging down to their knees! I'm sure that there are exceptions and all is not peaches and cream but we haven't seen it and we've been in the midst of the citizens a lot.

Your Spanish Lesson for the Day

rugs,

Judges Table

We re-learned something about schools here. We asked Teo, the manager why we saw school age kids everywhere during the day. He said the schools run on 2 shifts: morning and afternoon. Total change over of teachers! Its because of over crowding and this way they can keep classes at a good size without building schools. I forgot that Chris and Juan told us this, or maybe I thought it was a Monterrey thing. Mentioned before that the students wear nice looking uniforms, different colors for different schools. We had noticed that some kids were not wearing them. He said some think it is not cool to wear a uniform so they only wear them on schools grounds!

It was a great cultural experience. We were welcomed and even once one of the Maestros tried to get us to join the Star Wars group when they took to the field for their show.

Wanted to get a roast chicken for dinner because a place in town has some that smell so great!!!! But, we haven't figured out the Mexican dining scene. Restaurants start closing at 5PM. This chicken place was done at 5. No pollo. Hmmm. The pizza places were open so we scored. A grande (more of a medium in the US) and a calzone...total price: $7.06!  Oh and picked up a huge load of laundry including towels, king flannel sheets, etc., all nice and folded. Cost: $5.27

Another great Mexican day!