17. Chiapas de Corso

17.


Chiapas de Corso, Mexico:

I meet a young man in this village who urges me to stay here for a couple of weeks to experience a yearly religious festival which features a famous “combate naval”, on the river that flows through this off the beaten path village.

The Parisians must return home soon anyway so we bid each other bon voyage and they head off to Isla Mujeres which they say is a Mecca for female tourists from France.

I discover a tiny room, costing one dollar per night, on the second floor of a pension with a balcony overlooking the town plaza The religious festival is in full cry when I move in.

Ye gods, what noise!

Skyrockets whistle and bang at two minute intervals all day and most of the night, deafening amplified music and announcements blast from loudspeakers mounted on tall poles and crowds of people, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and animals, all generating their signature noises at top volume, surround and fill the square.

This indescribable racket lasts without pause for the entire two weeks I stay at the pension.

The strangest noise is music produced by roving bands of costumed boys. Wearing identical white-faced staring-eyed masks, blond rope wigs, colorful serapes, chaps and sometimes boots, these kids are supposed to represent the Spanish conquistadors. Each gang chants a song honoring a saint accompanied by enthusiastic shaking of gravel-filled rattles.

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