Wandering Mind Written Down

2025 Q3 Part 3 – La Mezquitera, Juchipila, Zacatecas, MX

So not everything planned worked out the way I thought it would, but it was all good…honestly.  After getting my rental, which ended being a Nissan X-Trail Advance, and leaving the airport area, but prior to arriving at the City Express by Marriott hotel I detoured to Sam’s Club Santa Monica in Aguascalientes to pick up some items my parents requested for the house.  Mind you, these are items they could have purchased in Juchipila, but sometimes you can’t argue or reason with parents.

I did manage to wake up around 5am the next morning but didn’t leave the hotel until 7am, mainly because I stopped at Starbucks which conveniently happened to be next door to the hotel.  If anyone is remotely curious to know, you can use the USA region of the Starbucks app in Mexico to pay for your order, unfortunately you won’t be able to accrue points unless you use the Mexico region of the app which I didn’t have.  Not sure if the region on your cell phone changes automatically to accommodate the region/country you are in and allows you to download that specific region’s apps.  The carrier did change from T-Mobile to Telcel, but I didn’t bother looking at apps. I ran into the same issue at Sam’s Club; big difference is that you had to pay with cash or credit/debit card and not via the app.  I’ll figure it out next time I go.  Unless you know and would like to share.

The drive from Aguascalientes to La Mezquitera was a wonderful 2-hour drive which I truly enjoyed.  The scenic views were fantastic and I’m so glad I took those Ray-Ban Meta glasses – they clearly captured the images and video I recorded during the drive which I promptly shared with family, friends and the world when I posted them into my Instagram stories.  I ran into zero issues during the drive despite what the media feeds us.  Sure, not 100% of Mexico (or any country, for that matter) is safe but I’m so glad the road I drove through and the areas I passed by felt solidly stable – even if some of the road signs pointing to specific main destinations had seen better days.

Then I arrived to La Mezquitera Sur.  I really felt an overwhelming sense of happiness, excitement, nostalgia and joy to have finally returned.  I last visited during the summer of 2022 and prior to that, 2004, when my daughter had just turned a year old. I only lived here for three years after my parents moved my sisters and I from Los Angeles, CA in the early 90s.  I returned to where I attended middle school and made so many friends and got to grow up with cousins that I might not have felt any connection and familiarity with, even if I visited Mexico every summer. My life experiences have been remarkable but having been given the opportunity to live within a proud and strong culture will be one that I will always cherish. 

Maybe I’m seeing life and things through the lens of the middle-aged man that I am. My birth and youth are way behind me and old age and death are way ahead of me, or so I like to think – and in the center of these crossroads it was so difficult to not sit inside the parked rental car and reminisce.  Without spending a full day here, I already didn’t want to leave.

Lucky for me, I wasn’t given enough time to relax as the day of my arrival marked day 1 of 3 of the fiestas for the patron saint, Santo Santiago in La Mezquitera Sur – for non-native, Santo Santiago is Saint James the Apostle and these festivities are mostly celebrated in regions inhabited by the Chichimecas and are an observance of what is now known as the Mixton War where the Caxcanes and other indigenous groups fought against the conquering Spaniards and the indoctrination of Christianity.  The three days of fiestas have men dressed up as tastuanes who dance throughout the late afternoons and evenings – the tastuanes represent the indigenous people and the dance, the fight against the physical conquering by the Spaniards and religious indoctrination made on behalf of Santo Santiago, their warrior saint. 

 The history is deep and rich, and I honestly promote you to do research and read on this chapter of Mexican history – and to be perfectly honest, explore all of Mexico’s history, it’s truly interesting.

Day 2 is just as interesting where – and mind you, I’m not a religious person by any means and though these festivities intertwine historical events and religion, it’s the cultural tradition that fuels this celebration as you not only find locals from the municipality of Juchipila, but also visitors from neighboring municipalities within Zacatecas and from states such as Jalisco and in an even wider scale, descendants and friends of the region who now live in the USA.

While la Mezquitera Norte and all other regions celebrate and honor Santo Santiago on July 25^th, la Mezquitera Sur has taken up the tradition of honoring the saint on August 1^st. It is during day 2 that las mañanitas is played at 5am with fireworks going off minutes before to announce it and morning mass taking place at 7am.  After the morning mass, the statue of Santo Santiago is taken in a pilgrimage from the church in la Mezquitera Sur to Juchipila’s main church, Parroquia San Francisco de Asis, where in average, over one hundred people accompany the saint, along with tastuanes. A mass is held in Juchipila, and the pilgrimage returns to la Mezquitera Sur.

It’s a total trek of approximately 1.2 miles each way and because I’m too lazy to walk the total 2.4 miles I opted to take the rental car early in the morning to Juchipila and park it there in order to make the way back to la Mezquitera Sur a quick trip.  LMAO!  It’s basically: follow the pilgrimage to Juchipila, deviate for some breakfast and drive back home.  I’m not going to complain because my parents didn’t either. 

Afternoon and evening celebrations for day 2 were similar as day 1, people sit on the bleachers to get a view of the tastuanes dancing – this is pretty much a thing to arrive early to see if you want a good view.  The tradition has changed to where it was a male dominated dancing to now a fourth day is reserved to allow women to also dress up as tastuanes and dance…and eventually a fifth day is set aside to allow young kids take part of this ritual.  Food, alcoholic beverages, toys and gift stands litter multiple streets, as well as carnival rides and large outdoor sitting venues to drink and listen to music are part of the evening ongoings.  I’m lucky that my parents’ house faces one of these streets so we usually will sit outside and watch the people passing by, and occasionally, with family and friends that join us for a bit.

Day 3 represents the last day of these festivities, this includes the escorting of la vieja (the old woman) and el viejo (the old man) which symbolizes the community and those indigenous people as they tried to fight off the conquest and indoctrination into Christianity culminating with the pair being taken to dance with the tastuanes and eventually having their clothes be stripped off (btw, la vieja is actually a man dressed up to represent the old woman) – a representation of the humiliation the Caxcanes and all other Chichimeca communities suffered through as their identity and beliefs were ripped from them. Next is the conclusion of the ceremony where, after being defeated, the acceptance to this new culture takes place as the tastuanes enter the church on their knees as they honor and bid Santo Santiago farewell.

And just like that, the reason why we all gather each summer comes to an end.  It’s a bittersweet reminder that even though this home away from home is merely a few hours away by flight, it still feels extremely far away.  I’m happy to have taken photos with both my Canon cameras, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses and my cell phone. These are memories I shared via my photography page in Instagram and here for you too. 

Good thing my trip was not yet over and there were more photos for me to take and a return trip to make to Aguascalientes, this time with my parents. That’s a story to tell on my next and final telling of this summer’s trip.  If you found the quick overview of the tastuanes, Caxcanes and Chichimecas, go online where you’ll find various articles. In my opinion there’s a lot of interesting facts to learn and educate yourself over.

To be concluded…

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In case you missed it, here are the links to part 1 and part 2 of the 2025 Q3 posts:

By the Quarters

By The Quarters