This past weekend I fulfilled one of my goals for my time in Mexico - I went to Michoacan. This was not an original goal, but since I've been in Guanajuato, everyone I have talked to has advised me to go there. Adjectives such as beautiful, magical (in Spanish this doesn't sound so corny), indigenous, charming, and completely worth it were all used and captured my attention. This past weekend was also Dia de los Muertos which turned out to be perfect because Michoacan is famous for it's celebrations surrounding this very Mexican holiday. I'm spliting my trip up into two blogs...one about Michoacan and the other specifically about Dia de los Muertos. This one is about Michoacan.
The next day we took a boat from the muelle to the Isla de Janitzio which is famous for its Dia de los Muertos celebrations. The island was a really neat place. There are no cars or animals larger than dogs on the island and all the people that live there are indigenous. They have shops lining the streets that sell local artisan products for incredibly cheap. The whole island is a hill rising out of the lake and at the top there is a statue of one of the heroes of the Mexican war for independence. We were able to climb up the inside and look out over the whole lake. It was beautiful, but climbing the spiral staircase was really scary. We spent a good part of the day in the Panteon (cemetery) looking at all the graves and how the families decorated them to honor their loved ones. My favorite part of the day was the sunset. There are mountains surrounding the lake and they get all misty in the evening and when the sun set, the clouds turned pink and orange and gold. All this was reflected in the water which just served to magnify how incredibly beautiful it was. 
The following day, we decided to check out one of the other towns located around the lake. We chose to go to Tzintzuntzan (pronounced sin-sun-san) which means "place of the hummingbirds" in the Purepecha language. We had been told that there were some really neat prehispanic ruins there. It was true, there were ruins and they had round pyramids. The area where the pyramids were was beautiful and peaceful, so Jessica and I spent some time just relaxing in the grass. We visited the Panteon there as well before heading back to Patzcuaro.
My friend Jessica and I traveled by bus to Patzcuaro where we stayed for three nights. Patzcuaro is the largest of the towns surrounding the Lago de Patzcuaro and it really is a charming town. It is very different from Guanajuato, most noticeably through the architecture. All the buildings in Patzcuaro are white with red, slate roofs. The buses (called camis, short for camiones) in the city are basically vans that have benches around the edges of the inside...personal space is virtually non-existant. Everyone we met was really friendly and excited that we were there to visit. There was a huge market in the main plaza where vendors from all around the lake region brought their wares to sell to the people visiting for Dia de los Muertos.
The evening that we arrived, Jessica and I went to one of the muelles (docks) where there was supposed to be a performance of the Purepecha people which is the indigenous group that lives around the lake. While we were there we watched the sunset over the lake and ate some incredible fish at one of the small restaurants. As a side note, fish tacos are amazing especially with avocado and tomato.
The performance was a lot of fun - they showed all the different traditional dances of the Purepecha. My favorite was the dance of the viejitos (old men). The dancers are not old men, but they all wear masks, have canes and walk bent over like it's too painful to straighten their backs. The best part was that they had a tiny little boy dressed like this. He was three and was dancing and stomping as best he could. He was so cute!
Fishing is a huge part of the culture in the region and the people who live on the Isla de Janitzio have an especially unique way of catching the fish. The fishermen have small boats and huge nets called butterfly nets. They paddle out into the lake and then gather in a circle to dip their nets in the water and see what they can catch. It looks really cool when they raise the nets out of the water.
The next day we took a boat from the muelle to the Isla de Janitzio which is famous for its Dia de los Muertos celebrations. The island was a really neat place. There are no cars or animals larger than dogs on the island and all the people that live there are indigenous. They have shops lining the streets that sell local artisan products for incredibly cheap. The whole island is a hill rising out of the lake and at the top there is a statue of one of the heroes of the Mexican war for independence. We were able to climb up the inside and look out over the whole lake. It was beautiful, but climbing the spiral staircase was really scary. We spent a good part of the day in the Panteon (cemetery) looking at all the graves and how the families decorated them to honor their loved ones. My favorite part of the day was the sunset. There are mountains surrounding the lake and they get all misty in the evening and when the sun set, the clouds turned pink and orange and gold. All this was reflected in the water which just served to magnify how incredibly beautiful it was. The following day, we decided to check out one of the other towns located around the lake. We chose to go to Tzintzuntzan (pronounced sin-sun-san) which means "place of the hummingbirds" in the Purepecha language. We had been told that there were some really neat prehispanic ruins there. It was true, there were ruins and they had round pyramids. The area where the pyramids were was beautiful and peaceful, so Jessica and I spent some time just relaxing in the grass. We visited the Panteon there as well before heading back to Patzcuaro.It was a great trip and I'm so glad we were able to go. Not only did I get to see a beautiful part of Mexico and learn about the Purepechas and their lifestyle, but I was able to witness a holiday that is so very Mexican in the unique mixture of prehispanic and Catholic inspired traditions. Although Michoacan shares a border with Guanajuato, it is a very different place. By traveling there I got the chance to see another aspect of life in Mexico, specifically the impact that the indigenous groups have had in the area.
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