In Search Of A Five Dollar Virgin - Mexico 2007 - part 8

Well, It's that time of year here in the village. Today I went into town to see if I could find a virgin. And what better place to look than outside the church in Petatlan?

I prefer smaller virgins. But, not too small. When it comes to shopping for virgins the general rule is, "The bigger the virgin, the higher the price."

Finally, I found one just the right size. And she only set me back 50 pesos. That's about 5 bucks to you gringos.

I was a little behind in putting together my Virgin of Guadalupe altar. It should have been up on the first of December. The neighbors across the street have had theirs up for 3 or 4 days.
But, here it was the fifth and I was just getting my decorations. I got the 50 peso virgin, a couple of strings of 100 lights for 25 pesos apiece, and three candles.

I scrounged around and found some scraps of wood to make a little shelf. Then I hung the virgin on the front porch and built my makeshift shelf at the virgin's feet. I strung the lights around my virgin and placed the candles, one red, one white, and one green on the shelf.

Now I'm sitting here with a tequila and Fresca on the porch. Norah Jones is singing from my laptop. It's midnight and the village is asleep. Except for one dog on the next street over who is barking at imaginary challenges to his territory. The lights are twinkling and the candles light up the solemn face of my 5 dollar virgin.

Life is good in the village!

Hasta pronto, Amigos...