Macho as he is, Raúl decided to give his gimpy ankle a day of rest. I, on the other hand, thought that I could wander through the mesa above the rim, to get acquainted with the flora and fauna of the highlands. Of course, I can only distinguish pines, oaks, and brush as far as flora goes, and bird, squirrel, and snake as far as the fauna is concerned. Nonetheless, it was a very pretty area, and I approached the rim on several occasions to get my fill of the never-ending beauty of the barrancas. The morning was a lot foggier than it had been yesterday, and from time to time the canyon would completely disappear from view. Perhaps even more impressive was when the top of the clouds was at the same level than the rim, in which case it was very easy to imagine that this was the end of the world.
I wonder if the Tarahumaras of the highlands had special links with the Tarahumaras of the canyons. I can see, for example, that two sisters from the highlands would marry two brothers from the canyons, and that one couple would live up on high and the other down in the barranca, and that they would be “linked” so they would exchange the products of one region from the products of the other. The highlands have bitter snowy winters, so the highland couple could go live with the canyon couple in winter, and the opposite could happen during the hot months of summer.
The Tarahumaras of the highlands are famous for their speed and stamina when running (in fact, several have distinguished themselves as marathon runners internationally). It seems they just like to run. For example in feasts the women would hitch up their ample and colorful skirts, and would run after a hoop for miles and miles, “herding” it along with thin long sticks. The men, on the other hand, play chasing a wooden ball, maybe the side of a softball, which they kick and again chase for 50 kilometers or more; last man standing is the winner so these can be very long races indeed.
On one of those many times in which I sat at the edge of the precipice, practicing my gifts at meditation, I heard a piercing zziinggg that almost startled me into the abyss. What was that? A drone? Then I looked straight down and saw, 200 meters below me, the first of the ziplines and a tiny person speeding down it at great speed. I could also see the first of the hanging bridges, which from my vantage point looked awfully precarious and dangly. Ay, ay, ay … God must love crazy people.
On the way back I stopped again at the gorditas of the Adventure Park, and had for lunch a gordita de chile pasado (a large, purple chile cooked with chicharron), arrachera con hongos, and carne deshebrada. It might had been a combination of good cooking on the part of the young lady and my well-earned hunger, but I am ready to proclaim them the best gorditas in the land!
No comments:
Post a Comment