Obituary Cocktail, 2008 - Mexico

We all met for cocktails on Friday, at the usual time of 6 p.m., at the Hotel Casa de la Sierra Nevada, Parque Juarez, in San Miguel de Allende. Normally, ‘The Grande and Secret Order of the Obituary Cocktail’ meets for cocktails on Fridays somewhere in New Orleans - there are enough fascinating saloons in the Vieux Carre alone to keep us from circling back around to the same place much before two or three years of Fridays, although we do have a few favorites that get requested every year, like Tujagues. However, every year, our fearless Obit leader, John Murphy (who only occasionally imbibes alcoholic beverages himself) also organizes an Obituary Cocktail somewhere else in the world, outside of New Orleans. Last year, the gang went to China and reputedly had a blast.

This year, John set up the ‘Travelling Obit’ for Mexico, and the location was such a hit, that Obiters actually planned a full month of Obit Fridays there, starting July 15th , culminating in The Official Travelling Obituary Cocktail on August 8th at the Casa de la Sierra Nevada. We were there, with a big, boisterous crowd from New Orleans, and we met some great new people: Eleanor, the Irish nurse, who landed in New Orleans 20 years ago; my new friend, Carolyn, a New Orleans area Emergency Room physician; and her fascinating brother from Wichita, Kansas, to name just a few.
We are now all gung-ho to visit Wichita - not just to pass through on the way to skiing in Colorado either! Maybe Obit 2009?

John and Karen Murphy graciously hosted us in a beautiful house up in the Balcones Barrio - yes, as in a balcony neighborhood up the mountain overlooking the charming colonial town of San Miguel de Allende. We could taxi between the town and the house, but John preferred walking up the mountain. What a hiker he is. He wore us all out, but it kept us in shape (relatively…) and very much deserving of - a cocktail! By the way, Obituary Cocktail is named after a cocktail invented in New Orleans (like so many others): a Martini with a dash of Absinthe (which is now legally sold again, thanks to the intrepid, persistent lobbying of a New Orleanian, of course).

After leaving San Miguel, we spent a few days in Mexico City - I especially wanted to return to see the incredible Anthropology Museum after renovations a few years back. Gerald drove around Mexico City, with all the unpronounceable Aztec name road signs, with the same aplomb as he did in Wales (equally unpronounceable place names, although in a totally different way…). Except this was Mexico City - a big sprawling capital city, with Chaos, Contamination and Secuestros. I admit sitting next to him at times, as he drove merrily along, with my mouth dry with fear. Como si nada for Gerald. He did have to ask directions a few times to get us to the Presidente Intercontinental, but prudently only stopped to talk to police officers - yeah, possibly part of a gang, but the street taxi drivers are even less safe. We had a fun time in Mexico City though - great food and incredible museums, especially if you have an interest in Mexican history and archaeology.

We returned home last night, and I recovered from the Distrito Federal by eating a basketful of citrus - a nice assortment of lemons, limes and oranges. It was so good to get back home again. Everything was okay at Tigre, except that Flopsy had been bitten by a snake. After Samantha died from a Terciopelo bite a little while ago, we got more organized. William (one of the builders) noticed Flopsy reacting to the bite - somersaulting and howling in pain - and Janet and Jose jumped into action. They got Flopsy to the Vet and an IV started with serum in less than 45 minutes. When Gerald went to pay the Vet, Jorge said that he didn’t think it was a normal Terciopelo bite - else little Flopsy would almost certainly have died; perhaps a less venomous snake, or even a baby Terciopelo. Normally, the cats kill baby snakes, and Jose and the other guys take care of the adults, but you can never be sure - it’s definitely a jungle out there…

When we first bought Reserva El Tigre in 2004, Jose, Hugo and Armando killed well over 40 Terciopelos in the charral below the gardens (they produce around 90 eggs at a time!). We put a bounty on them and, the next year, the number dropped to the low teens. Last year, Jose only killed a few down in the charral and also a Coral Snake that moved in too close to Janet’s apartment. The reason for this, besides simple elimination, is that the guys have also reduced the breeding grounds near the house. We keep the gardens and trails groomed and tidy - sometimes too tidy, however.

I went down the main trail today, and noticed that they had cut back some plants that I had hoped to see in bloom - two piper species and a Kohleria species in the Gesneriaceae family. The latter was just about to bloom as we left for Mexico but I wanted to nail the species, so I went down there today to take pictures - and found them all cut back by Hugo’s machete… Apparently, they were growing too close to the horse trails where Jose tries to eliminate Terciopelo breeding sites. Thus, I agreed (grudgingly) that he did the right thing - safety first.

However, apart from the slaughtered plants, I had much entertainment in store. The horses all looked great, despite the fly season. The citronella cream helps them a lot, and I only saw a fly here and there. Thankfully, the fly season (most intense in July - Mid August) is coming to an end and we will have a respite until next year. Meanwhile, I hope to develop, before the next fly season, a longer-lasting repellent ointment for the horses. It’s a matter of ‘trial and error’, learning lessons, and then more trial and error…

All the other animals are fine - our ancient Persian cat, Fea (named so, as Gerald likes to say, because she is…) is still with us, and Eddie the Beagle is doing just great! He follows me everywhere. Now, I find myself hiking with 3 to 5 dogs: Flopsy (always), Lula, Chispa, Spotty and Eddie and sometimes Sol. Tigger and Zinc rarely ever hike any more, and the only cat who comes with us is Grisela. And she only joins us if Eddie doesn’t, and Eddie almost always comes now, so poor Grisela is gaining weight again.

Eddie is a smart dog, contrary to popular belief… He doesn’t bark at the monkeys. And now that the other dogs - especially Spotty - have stopped barking at the monkeys too, I can observe them, and be observed, in peace. They actually observe me a lot more than I observe them. As it should be! I understand White-Faced monkeys from several sources that I’ve read. But the monkeys have not read anything, and can only understand me better by observing me. I first noticed being observed by a monkey several weeks ago. Not the whole tribe - just a male moving along behind me. I detect his presence by a snapped twig and for a second can see him - before he drops his head behind the foliage and, thus, becomes completely camouflaged. But I know he’s there - and he knows that I know. The rest of the tribe, including the females and babies, normally just ignore other mammalian species, and go about their business grooming each other and eating whatever fruit is in season.

The exception is when humans happen to stop for a snack below the particular tree that the monkeys want to sit in and eat fruit - like the huge Ficus tree down by Tiger Hill. If I sit with the dogs quietly some distance away from the fig tree, the monkeys will feed quietly and we kind of observe each other. However, if the guys insist upon sitting directly under the tree while taking their breakfast break, then the monkeys will shriek at them and throw fig seeds and branches down at them. One time Hugo came back and said, “My God, those damned monkeys wouldn’t let us sip our coffee in peace - shrieks and branches crashing down all around us!”
The monkeys never shriek or rabblerouse at me. Sometimes I can hear them “eerrrrk” quietly to each other - probably saying something like, “It’s okay, this human controls her dogs…”

While I’m happily out in the forest, Gerald is busy managing the construction and admin; and booking flights for us back to New Orleans. He can’t leave the country before his residency papers have been renewed on September 26th but I imagine it won’t be more than a few days afterwards that we’re flying back to the Vieux Carre. He found a great fare for only $410 just before we left for Mexico - I thought the fare was too good to be true, considering the oil price increases earlier this summer- so we wanted to lock it in as soon as possible. Turns out the great fare was only out-going, for a one-way-ticket…
The phone line was really bad when he explained this to me, and all I could hear was that he was purchasing a one-way ticket back to New Orleans. The call got disconnected at that point and I really panicked! I know he’s sick of eating in Janet’s kitchen, with animals and kids, but our kitchen will be done as soon as the weather improves and the carpenter can finish the cabinets without staining them with humidity…
Luckily, he returned home and explained what he really meant: that the fare for the roundtrip will cost us over $900 each. Now I’m howling about the expense but he won’t hear it. We’re going, y punto.