Zacatecas

The ride from Parral took all day. We left at 7 am and were on the road until about 7 or 8 pm, with a couple breaks for food. Stopped in Durango at a veggie joint for lunch. After lunch, Alejandro noticed that the sky looked a bit, shall we say, cloudy, but we'd been in the desert for so long that even the concept of rain seemed so foreign, impossible.

Of course, between Durango and Zacatecas, on a highway in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields, we saw the storm. Two storms actually, one on either side of the road. Alejandro gunned the engine, and it looked like we'd be able to pass right through the middle and into the clear skies ahead. It didn't quite work out as planned, however. We got caught in a massive downpour and had to pull over on the side of the road where we saw a little brick structure that we figured would let us get out of the rain, since all our rain gear was buried at the bottom of our bags after so many weeks of desert. Turned out the little shelter had been converted into a makeshift toilet...

Eventually we got our stuff on and our bags covered and moved on. Zacatecas is beautiful. And the people we've met here seem like they're doing really good work -- it's the first time on the trip that we've talked to people who are putting on real actions. Yesterday we participated in an event in Guadalupe, a city right next to Zacatecas, in the plaza principal, to spread the word about Atenco and la Otra Campana. Lots of people came, lots of families with little kids, and we had activities for them -- painting, puppet shows, theater, music, the works. A good time was had by all.

Today we're going to give a little talk about la otra in California and the U.S. And tomorrow we're off again, rumbo al D.F. The next stop will either be Irapuato or Queretaro.

As before, photos to follow.