Smaller Towns in Mexico

On Friday night we went downtown in Xalapa to walk around the central part of the city (either called Centro or the Zocalo depending on the region). Xalapa is the capitol of Veracruz and so has some prosperity. And it is a city of universities (often called the Athens of Southeastern Mexico) so it has a lot of students. But it also has characteristics of a small town. We had been downtown to take my wife to a friend's restaurant (Kukiaio - which I have written about before and now has a sister restaurant specializing in homemade Gelato and Pizza called La Diabola).

But after a great mid-day meal we walked around. Mexican lunches as one of my good friends told me, often run into the late afternoon (starting a bit later than American lunches and lasting a bit longer - although that is changing all over Mexico). First we went up a shopping lane where a group of vendors offered their trinkets. Nothing extraordinary but lots of variety. But what struck me about this particular Friday afternoon was how central the center of the city is in towns like this. Families were in the central park looking at a raft of plants for sale and just generally hanging out.

There were the food stands - but not with the noisy hawkers like you would often find in Mexico City but still doing a brisk business. We watched one mother with a daughter of about 8 and a very young daughter, holding the younger one and playing ball with the older one (who showed real delight in the game). We saw an Abuelo pushing his young grandson around in a stroller, while the boy's parents watched the sun dip over El Perote - which dominates part of the skyline. It was a relaxing afternoon.

On other afternoons the center of the town becomes a focal point of activities with generations coming down just to hang out. It is hard not to like that relaxed atmosphere.